City of Johannesburg reflects on THE SÃO PAULO SUMMIT 2023
Vuyisile Mshudulu, Johannesburg’s Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage, shares his experience of attending the World Cities Culture Summit in São Paulo and growing the representation of African cities in the network.
The World Cities Culture Summit hosted over 140 city leaders and culture policy makers, in the mega-metropolis of Saõ Paulo for its annual Summit held from 25-27 October 2023.
World Cities Culture Forum is a diverse network of global leaders in the cultural and creative industries and the passion of the delegates was palpable in their ideas and enthusiasm for the programme in Saõ Paulo. This was perfectly aligned to the theme under which this year’s Summit was hosted “Culture, Courage and Leadership for a New World”.
When one listened to the Secretary of Culture in Saõ Paulo, Aline Torres, the courage and quality of her leadership was clear. Together with Justine Simons OBE, London’s Deputy Mayor of Culture and Creative Industries and Chair of World Cities Culture Forum, their leadership inspired quality, excellence, and seamless cooperation to deliver what many delegates dubbed ‘the best Summit ever’.
It was inspiring to see discussions on Museums and Ethics finding expression in the programme – allowing conversations, usually held in hush tones, to find centre stage on such an important global platform. Delegates delved freely into topics such as the repatriation of museum objects and human remains taken through colonial conquests and other means. This followed an insightful presentation by Dr. Britta von Husen about how the City of Cologne’s have made strides in returning artefacts whose provenance was found to be ethically unsound.
The Summit programme was well-curated and progressive, demonstrating an in-depth awareness of the most pertinent issues in the cultural and creative industries.
Most vitally, it demonstrated a boldness in how it dealt with issues of race and gender and highlighted them with an honesty that enhanced our collective understanding and tolerance for the cultural diversity the network represents. The presentation made by Ms. Adriana Barbosa, President of Feira Preta (the largest Black cultural event in Latin America, celebrating Afro-Brazilian talent and entrepreneurship) set the tone for how global leaders in culture must recognise and address issues of racial discrimination by drawing from the experience of Black creatives from Brazil and Latin America.
The programme also dealt with the importance of indigenous knowledge and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the cultural and creative industries. It reflected on questions of access, sustainable funding models, the flow of money, cultural tourism, the nighttime economy, and the relationship of culture and justice amongst many other fascinating topics.
The Summit programme was an outstandingly introspective exercise for global leaders in culture to critically reflect on their respective leadership styles and how they contribute to the growth, development and promotion of culture.
Delegates recognised the need to invest in the next generation of leadership so that the skills they possess are not lost. A leadership training session for heads of culture that was excellently facilitated by Obi James, exposed how similar the pressures and challenges are in cities irrespective of the differences in size, economy, or history.
One of the outcomes of the Summit was a reiterated commitment to grow the participation of African Cities through the establishment of an African Fellowship programme. This programme will be founded on Afrocentric principles and will be inclusive of cities beyond the African continent and diaspora. The Cities of Johannesburg and Nairobi pledged their support to engage other cities to achieve this important milestone.
The Summit concluded with the launch of the A Goal for Culture: The Saõ Paulo Manifesto which advocates for Culture to become a dedicated United Nations Sustainable Development Goal post 2030. Member cities were invited to pledge their commitment towards the manifesto and by the end of the Summit, 21 cities had signed up.
We are looking forward to more cities joining the network and ensuring that the vibrations of the voice of culture are felt in all cities across the world.
Vuyisile Mshudulu is the Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage in the City of Johannesburg. Johannesburg were invited to join the Summit as an Observer city.
