Eduardo Saravia

Jimmy Savy

Shain Shapiro

Heejin Shim

Haerin Shin

Phina So

Andrés Felipe Solano M.

Pooja Sood

Gerfried Stocker

Inga-Lill Sundset

Susannah Tantemsapya

Haniko Te Kurapa

Hiroko Tsuboi-Friedman

Hai-Yuean Tualima

Nevena Tudor Perković

Frances Koya Vaka’uta

Christopher Waiwori

Eva Marie Wang

Alexandra Xanthaki

Manojna Yeluri

Samba Yonga

Sang-Keun Yoo

Daryna Zhyvohliadova

Zun Ei Phyu

Ms Aika Alemi is an artist, business coach, mentor, speaker, author, art director and event organiser. She is the creator of the Business of Creation methodology, her proprietary 10-step startup framework that has helped more than 3,500 creatives and innovators build their brands and enterprises. Ms Alemi currently serves as Director of the Central Asia Creative Incubator and Born Nomad and chairs the Creative Industries Alliance of Qazaqstan. She contributes to Elle Kazakhstan and Forbes Kazakhstan. 

Ms Alemi is a womenswear finalist for the International Woolmark Prize 2017 (Europe) and awarded Best Mentor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Women Entrepreneurs Programme 2018. She has organised over 50 major events including Central Asia Creative Incubator, Responsible Fashion Series Silk Road and Shymkent Art Days. 

Ms Alemi serves as a director on boards including for Duke University CIS, De Montfort University Kazakhstan, and NarXoz University Graduate Business School. She holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and speaks multiple languages including Kazakh, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Russian and German. 

Ms Sophia Alexandersson is a musician and pedagogue. She is currently the Chief Executive and Artistic Director, ShareMusic & Performing Arts – the Swedish knowledge centre for artistic development and inclusion. Under her leadership, ShareMusic has been at the forefront of technological innovation, particularly in music, exploring how new technologies and digitalisation can enhance artistic participation and creation for people with disabilities.  

Ms Alexandersson maintains a strong commitment to accessibility and inclusion, advocating for the right to engage in arts and culture on equal terms. She has extensive experience in this field as a project leader for both national and international initiatives. She conducts workshops and lectures on how the arts can empower people with disability and promote their visibility in society.  

Ms Alexandersson holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and a Postgraduate degree in Performance and Communication from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK. 

Mr Santiago Alfaro Rotondo is a lecturer at both the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the University of the Republic (Uruguay). His research interests focus on cultural policy, inequalities in the cultural and creative industries, audience development, and the intercultural approach in public policy.

Mr Alfaro Rotondo has held various roles including Programme Officer of Indigenous Rights and Interculturality at Oxfam America; Deputy Manager of Performing Arts and Cultural Industries at the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima; and General Director of Cultural Industries and Arts at the Ministry of Culture of Peru. He has worked as an external consultant for the British Council and the Inter-American Development Bank and as a researcher at the Leeds Institute for Excellence Teaching at the University of Leeds, UK.

Mr Alfaro Rotondo holds a Master of Arts degree in Society, Culture and Media from the University of Leeds, UK.

Mr Abdullah Alkafri is the Executive Director and Co-founder of Ettijahat–Independent Culture, which supports artists from Syria and the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region.

Mr Alkafri is a playwright, cultural manager and cultural activist. His work spans cultural policy, strategic planning and arts education. As an author and researcher, he has published academic works on art, society and cultural change, including On the Margin’s Margin: Some Fragmented Thoughts on the Circumstances of Those who Make Art. His writing focuses on cultural displacement and artistic expression during crises, examining independent culture in the SWANA region. Based between Brussels and Beirut, he lectures at the Institute of Fine Arts and Audiovisual Studies, Beirut, teaching cultural production sociology, playwriting and theatre direction.

Mr Alkafri holds a PhD in theatre studies from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon. Previously, he has served on the International Programme Advisory Committee for the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture (2019, Malaysia).

Dr José Antonio Ancan Jara is the Deputy Director, National Deputy Directorate of Indigenous Peoples of the Cultural Heritage Service at the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Chile since 2015. The National Deputy Directorate works with Indigenous and Afro-Chilean institutions on cultural revitalisation. Dr Ancan Jara had oversight over two significant consultation processes to Indigenous Peoples: the first for the creation of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage (2014-2015), and the second, for the new cultural heritage legislation in 2023–2024.   

Dr Ancan Jara is a creative and works in research and cultural management. He has authored numerous academic articles, participated in internships at the National Museum of the American Indian, USA and Auckland University, New Zealand, among others. 

Dr Ancan Jara holds a BA with a major in Art Theory and History from the University of Chile; an MA in Anthropology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain and a PhD in Latin American Cultural Studies from the University of Chile. 

Mrs Atang L.S. Arnold is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and founder of The Space Botswana Art Gallery and Creative Hub based in Maun, Botswana. Her work bridges art, climate activism and community engagement, focusing on themes of water, conservation and sustainable practices.  

Mrs Arnold has curated exhibitions including Threads of Water at Art Basel Miami Week 2024, The UP-UP Cycle supported by the We Are Family Foundation and the Elephant Studies show in collaboration with Sir Alexander McCall Smith. She leads art residencies, workshops and innovative upcycling projects that address climate change and the circular economy and is passionate about empowering marginalised communities.  

Mrs Arnold is an alumna of The Museums Lab, Global Cultural Relations Programme (GCRP) and the Climate Leaders of the Future, Earthshot Prize 2024. She has a vision to host an international art fair in Botswana and continues to use art as a transformative tool for social change across Southern Africa. 

Mr Toni Attard is Founder of Culture Venture, an international firm supporting cultural projects, creative industries and policy initiatives. He has many years of strategic experience in Malta's arts sector: he has co-authored national cultural policies, served as the first Director of Strategy at Arts Council Malta and was Vice President of the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association. As an arts practitioner he is creative producer of Udjenza and has directed numerous theatre productions and arts festivals including ZiguZajg International Festival and the arts programme of EuroPride 2023.  

As a champion of cultural rights and a founding member of Opening Doors Association for artists with learning disabilities, Mr Attard’s work bridges artistic practice, community engagement and strategy development. His international contributions include his current role as an expert on the European Capitals of Culture Monitoring and Selection Panel and his past role as chair of the International Programme Advisory Committee for the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture (2019, Malaysia). 

Dr Jazmín Alejandra Beirak Ulanosky is the General Director of Cultural Rights of the Ministry of Culture of Spain since March 2024. She is a cultural manager, cultural policies researcher and expert in cultural rights and holds a degree in History and Theory of Art from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). Dr Beirak graduated in Advanced Studies in the same institution and is a career public servant.  

As a cultural manager, Dr Beirak has worked at the Museum of the National Library of Spain and participated in research projects such as Art and Transition (Brumaria, 2012) and Horizontes del Arte en España (Horizons of Art in Spain) (YGBArt, 2013), both in collaboration with the National Museum Centre of Art Reina Sofía. In politics, she has advocated cultural rights as a member of parliament and spokesperson for culture at the Madrid Assembly. She is also the author of Ingovernable Culture (Ariel, 2022), an essay on culture and cultural policies. 

Paula Carr is from Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, Te Atiawa, Ngā Rauru tribes of Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, where she was raised on her family farm and ancestral lands. She has a diverse career spanning central government, corporate, Māori Development, Treaty of Waitangi Settlements, Arts and Sports and she has held various governance roles at tribal levels.    

Ms Carr is Senior Manager, Māori Strategy and Partnerships at Creative New Zealand – Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa overseeing the organisations national strategy for Māori arts. She also chairs the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture working group, implementing a major review to strengthen the 50+ year-old Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC), the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous artists in the Pacific.   

Ms Michelle Chawla is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Council for the Arts, a role she commenced on 26 June 2023.   

Prior to this appointment, she was the Director General of Strategy, Public Affairs and Arts Engagement, responsible for the executive leadership and direction of a wide range of functions, including strategy development, communications, partnerships, strategic planning, research, international coordination, and cultural diplomacy. She has previously held the position of Secretary-General at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Ms Chawla has a wealth of experience in leadership roles, particularly in arts and culture policy, equity and inclusion, corporate governance, government relations, and transformation initiatives.    

Ms Chawla is bilingual, with a Punjabi and Quebecois background, and is a proud member of the Sikh community. She is passionate about ensuring that diverse voices are valued, heard, and respected through arts and culture.   

Mr Maanka A. Chipindi is a seasoned arts administrator, project manager and consultant with a 15-year journey behind him in spearheading the creative and cultural sectors of Zambia. His areas of expertise include creative business operations, project management, strategic planning, as well as policy development, implementation and technical support for the advancement of the arts.   

Currently, Mr Chipindi is Director and CEO, National Arts Council of Zambia. His tenure at the National Arts Council has established him as a well-known and widely respected arts leader with an expansive network within and beyond the creative industries.   

Mr Chipindi is a Fulbright Scholar alumnus. Currently, he is an IFACCA-Globus Fellow 2024-2025, part of the learning and exchange programme launched by IFACCA in collaboration with the Nordic Culture Fund's global initiative Globus. 

Dr Jung Yun Cho is currently the Executive Director of Cultural Affairs at the Busan Cultural Foundation and oversees the Cultural Sharing, Arts Education and Cultural Heritage teams. Within his previous leadership roles at the Busan Cultural Foundation, he led the cultural heritage team responsible for the Joseon Tongshinsa, a UNESCO Memory of the World, achieving a co-nomination with Japan in 2017.  

Dr Cho has previously served as Director of the Performing Arts Department at Mapo Arts Center in Seoul and as an Arts Advisor in Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province. He has also worked as Cultural Policy Advisor for the Busan Mayor and was the Head of the Regional Cultural Policy Research Center at the Korea Association of Regional Cultural Foundations. 

Dr Cho holds a Bachelor of Arts from Korea University (Republic of Korea), a Master of Arts Management from City, University of London (UK) and a PhD in Performing Arts from Sungkyunkwan University (Republic of Korea). 

Ms Jiwon Choi is the Director General of the Climate Change Center (CCC), the Republic of Korea’s first NGO dedicated to climate action. Since joining in 2020, she has led climate communication and awareness initiatives for future generations and leaders. In 2024, she took on broader responsibilities, overseeing policy research, advocacy, education and international cooperation to strengthen climate resilience in developing economies.  

Ms Choi has previously worked in the arts and culture sector for 15 years, producing classical music performances and festivals and leading sound content production and archival projects for a private music company. She believes achieving carbon neutrality is possible when individuals and communities embrace climate consciousness, with culture and the arts serving as powerful catalyst for change. 

Ms Choi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Korean traditional music and Korean studies from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea and is pursuing graduate studies in climate and environmental science at Korea University, Republic of Korea. 

Dr Byoung Gug Choung has served as the Chair of Arts Council Korea (ARKO) since 2023. He was formerly the 45th Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea from January 2011 to September 2011 and a member of the National Assembly from 2000 to 2020.  

During Dr Chuong’s term of office as Minister in 2011, Pyeongchang won its bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics. Additionally, he was the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting, and Communications of the National Assembly in 2010.   

Dr Choung holds a doctoral degree in Political Science from Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Yonsei University, Republic of Korea. He was also a Senior Researcher of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea from 2021 to 2023. 

Ms Serang Chung is a writer who has written novels since 2010 and been a screenwriter since 2017.  

Ms Chung’s literary accomplishments and accolades include winning the seventh Changbi Novel Award in 2013 with This Much Close (이만큼 가까이) and the fiftieth Hanguk Ilbo Literary Award in 2017 with Everybody Will be Dancing (피프티 피플). Her most well-known works include Jain, Jaewook, Jaehoon (재인, 재욱, 재훈), the story of three siblings with trivial superpowers and The School Nurse Files (보건교사 안은영), the remarkable activities of a school nurse who can perform exorcism.  

Ms Chung’s works are translated into more than 12 languages and The School Nurse Files was made into a Netflix original drama series. She has also written an episode of Starwars Visions for Season two. 

Mr Adrian Collette AM is Chief Executive Officer of Creative Australia. He led the organisation through COVID-19 and, in 2023, oversaw the integration of Creative Partnerships Australia into the Australia Council, transitioning it to Creative Australia. He served on the National Cultural Policy Advisory Group, which was appointed to provide overarching strategic advice to inform the development of the 2023 National Cultural Policy. He currently sits on the Board of IFACCA.

Mr Collette held the position of Chief Executive of Opera Australia, Australia’s largest performing arts company for 16 years. He also worked as Managing Director, Reed Books, a Division of Reed Elsevier and Vice-Principal (Engagement) at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He served on the Australia Council Board from 2013-2018 and chaired the Major Performing Arts Panel.  

Mr Collette was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for services to the performing arts, publishing, mentoring young artists and the community at large. 

Mr Bernan Joseph R. Corpuz is the Deputy Executive Director for Operations of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Philippines since November 2021. He is a cultural worker and manager working in government services for almost 33 years.

Mr Corpuz is a heritage advocate and art enthusiast, working for the continued preservation, safeguarding, dissemination, and conservation of Philippine arts and culture. In his role at NCCA, he is responsible for the efficient and effective delivery of duties of the frontline Divisions and Offices including the Program Management Division, Cultural Properties Regulation Division, Metropolitan Theater Operations Office and the Office of the Chairman Secretariat which coordinates and handles technical concerns as well as implementing its programmes and productions.

Mr Corpuz holds a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Economics from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines with a Master’s in Public Management Development Program at the Development Academy of the Philippines.

Dr Raquel da Cruz Lima is a human rights lawyer and researcher with more than 15 years of experience working in civil society organisations in Brazil, focusing on the criminal justice system, gender justice and freedom of expression.   

Dr da Cruz Lima is currently the Head of the Legal Reference Center at ARTICLE 19 Brazil and South America. In this role, she monitors censorship in the arts and she advocates for regional standards to protect the right to artistic freedom of expression.  

Dr da Cruz Lima holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Juris Doctor and a PhD in International Law from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in the Inter-American human rights system and is the supervising professor at the Center for Advanced Studies in International Human Rights Law (NEADIDH), a research centre that brings together law students from various colleges in the state of Pará, Brazil. 

Mrs Kristin Danielsen is the CEO of Arts and Culture Norway. She is an experienced cultural leader combining formal leadership education with a background as a performing artist. She specialises in strengthening and developing organisations within the cultural sector and is passionate about highlighting the role of art and culture in societal development. She currently serves as the Chair of IFACCA.   

Mrs Danielsen is an active public speaker, lecturer and contributor to societal debates. She has held various board and advisory roles and has extensive experience in board governance.   

Mrs Danielsen started her career as a dancer and choreographer and was educated at the Norwegian Ballet Academy, Oslo and Ballet Arts/Broadway Dance Centre, New York. She holds a Master in Arts Management from City University of London, UK specialising in international cultural relations.  

Mrs Dereka Deleveaux-Grant is an eager advocate for cultural development, a performer and an educator dedicated to the artistic and cultural evolution of The Bahamas. As the Director of Culture for The Bahamas Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Culture, she is committed to utilising culture, the arts and heritage for connection and growth and to empower communities through cultural expression.   

Mrs Deleveaux-Grant has over 40 years of experience as a performer in dance and circus arts. She is a teacher and has mentored hundreds of students throughout The Bahamas, the Caribbean and the USA, passionately influencing the next generation of performers. As the co-owner of Emanji Circus Arts and Emanji School of Performing Arts, she continues to cultivate talent and expand opportunities in the creative sector. Mrs Deleveaux-Grant firmly believes that every individual should have the opportunity to experience, participate in and create culture.  

Mrs Deleveaux-Grant is currently an IFACCA-Globus Fellow 2024-2025, part of the learning and exchange programme launched by IFACCA in collaboration with the Nordic Culture Fund's global initiative Globus.  

Mr Mauricio Delfin is Co-Director of the Culture and Arts Policy Institute in New York, a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility on the Governance of Culture and a Research Associate at the Center for Artistic Activism, USA.   

Mr Delfin’s research and advocacy work advances open government principles in the arts and cultural sectors. He co-founded and directed Realidad Visual, the Peruvian National Summit of Culture and Culturaperu, a cultural information system. As director of Asociación Civil Solar and technical secretary of the Peruvian Alliance of Cultural Organisations, he helped create its governance framework and its Agenda for Shared Advocacy.  

Mr Delfin received the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2014 and was selected as both an OAS Open Government Fellow and a Fellow for the Latin American Initiative for Open Data. He holds Joint Honors in Anthropology and International Development Studies from McGill University, Canada and an MA in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University, USA. 

Ms Julie Diphofa currently serves as the Interim CEO of the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC), where she is dedicated to developing, advocating for, and promoting the arts. With 22 years of experience at senior management and executive levels, she has shaped funding policies, overseen grant disbursement and led monitoring and evaluation processes.  

Ms Diphofa has played a key role in securing the continuation of MMINO (South African – Norwegian Music Programme) and led the successful bid to host the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture in South Africa in 2009. She currently serves as Deputy Chairperson of the IFACCA Board and Chair of the Africa Chapter. 

Ms Diphofa is passionate about fostering collaborations and strategic partnerships with artists and cultural institutions and brings leadership, integrity and a commitment to advancing the arts in South Africa and beyond. She holds a Master’s degree in Adult Education from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and has a background in teaching. 

Dr Diane Dodd is a Regional Adviser for IFACCA. She is the President and co-founder of IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts, and Tourism) and the founder of the World Region of Gastronomy Award.  

Dr Dodd has pioneered international initiatives including the European Young Chef Award, the Food Film Menu, the World Food Gift Challenge and the Top Foodie Websites list. With over 30 years of experience in cultural policy and management, she contributes as an independent evaluator for the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes programme and has provided expert guidance to successful European Capital of Culture bids.  

Dr Dodd leads an Master’s course in Cultural Institutions and Policies at the International University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain and a Master’s course in Events and Destination Management at Sant Pol School of Hospitality and Culinary Management, Spain. She earned her PhD from the University of Girona, Spain in 2010. 

Mr Gilles Doré has been active in the performing arts sector for over 30 years with expertise in arts export, show production and creative centre management. Since March 2022, he has been the Executive Director of CINARS, after joining the organisation as Director of International Development in 2019. In his roles at CINARS, he has led prospecting missions, developed strategic alliances and designed digital initiatives such as the Cap Sur... webinar series.

Prior to working at CINARS, Mr Doré was Director of International Development at Art Circulation (2010-2019), worked at O Vertigo (2008-2010) and served as a consultant for various cultural institutions. He also managed the Caserne Letourneux creative center and represented Théâtre Sans Fil internationally. He has experience as a professional actor and has worked at GALA Systems. He has extensive international expertise in the promotion of performing arts worldwide.

Ms Sylvie Durán Salvatierra is an expert in cultural policy and development, actress and cultural manager with more than 20 years of experience in the design and implementation of cultural policies at sector, government and international levels. From 2015 to 2022 as Minister of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, she led the National Policy on Cultural Rights (2014-2023), and succeeded to incorporate the cultural sector into the National Development Plan for the Bicentennial 2019-2022 resulting in strategies for inter-institutional collaboration, territorial development and innovation. During this period, she was responsible for managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in the cultural field.  

Ms Durán Salvatierra has collaborated with international networks on intangible heritage, cultural and creative sectors and industries, cultural tourism and public policies. As an international consultant, she curated and coordinated the Towards MONDIACULT Forum on Culture and Sustainable Development of Secretary General of Ibero-America SEGIB (2022).  

Ms Durán Salvatierra combines her sector experience, institutional leadership, policy development and inter-ministerial collaboration to strengthen culture as a driver of development. 

Ms Khadija El Bennaoui is a creative agent who pioneered Art Moves Africa in 2005 and is the Head of Abu Dhabi UNESCO Creative City of Music. She has over two decades of experience in curating artistic programs, event organisation, research, and advocacy to foster the growth of independent arts and cultural sectors in the Global South.  

Ms El Bennaoui is currently the Head of Performing Arts at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi and engages with New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi as a Visiting Scholar and J-term Visiting Professor. In 2023, Ms El Bennaoui was selected to participate in the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility and has previously authored the chapter ‘Surviving the Paradoxes of Mobility’ in the UNESCO Global Report 2018, addressing the implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.   

In Ms El Bennaoui’s capacity as an independent consultant, she has partnered with organisations such as UNESCO, the European Commission, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Ford Foundation, among others.   

Ms Paloma Estévez is a New York-based, Chile-born performing arts manager, producer, and curator with extensive experience working with artists and cultural institutions. She currently serves as the Director of Artistic Programming at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City (NYC). Here, she leads Summer for the City, one of NYC’s largest outdoor festivals. Ms Estévez also curates year-round programming and oversees the organisation’s line-producing team.   

In her current role at the at Lincoln Center, Ms Estévez leverages her expertise across disciplines, taking pride in her artist-centred approach while fostering partnerships, growing audiences and advocating for a radically equitable field.  

Ms Estévez began her career in Santiago, Chile, managing theatre companies and producing large-scale cultural events for nearly a decade. In 2016, she relocated to New York City and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University, USA.   

Mr Alastair Evans is Director of Strategy and Planning at Creative Scotland. He leads on strategy development, policy co-ordination, research and corporate planning. This includes responsibility for delivery of Creative Scotland’s ambitions for placemaking, diversity, climate and the cultural workforce.   

Mr Evans began his career in applied social research, working in the UK Civil Service across a range of public policy areas. At Creative Scotland he has managed major studies of social and economic impact and evaluations of major events, including Olympic and Commonwealth Games Cultural Programmes. He is particularly interested in dimensions of value in the arts, frameworks of cultural rights and strategies for ensuring access to culture and creativity.    

Mr Evans sits on the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) panel for Art and Design and is currently Chair of the Scotland + Venice Partnership, overseeing Scotland’s presentations at the Venice Biennale. His own interests include electronic music, visual art, photography and film. 

Dr Amareswar Galla is an IndoAustralian who is a highly experienced culture in poverty alleviation practitioner with demonstrated record on arts and cultural policy development, Intangible heritage, World Heritage, Indigenous peoples, intercultural dialogue, heritage tourism and the SDGs. He is the Founding Executive Director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum.  

Dr Galla is a founding member of the UNESCO-UNITWIN Network on Culture, Tourism and Development; UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development, ANU, India (2021-2025); UNESCO accredited facilitator and mentor for the UNESCO 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Heritage; producer and editor of the flagship project and publication for the 40th Anniversary of the UNESCO 1972 World Heritage Convention: World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, Cambridge University Press & UNESCO Publishing, 2012 (French and Korean versions in 2013). 

Ms Renu Ghimire is a social activist from Nepal leveraging art, media and technology to drive social change. As Program Associate at Freedom Studio, a youth-led non-profit based in Kathmandu expanding civic expression, she leads initiatives that promote civic expression, human rights, gender equality and climate advocacy. 

Ms Ghimire’s work addresses systemic inequities, supports marginalised groups and fosters vibrant civic spaces. She is dedicated to championing freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. She is a founding member of The Artivist Network, an independent collective of artists, activists and social workers. 

With a background in social work and a deep interest in historical narratives and peacebuilding, Ms Ghimire works to empower communities through visual storytelling, artivism and digital media campaigns. She organises workshops, festivals and other creative events focused on feminist movements to equip individuals with creative tools to amplify social movements. 

Mr Andrés Gribnicow is a creative industries expert with expertise in management of cultural projects for public institutions, private organisations and NGOs, with extensive knowledge on the creative industries, arts and cultural policy. He is currently the Executive Director of the Friends Association of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Argentina.   

Mr Gribnicow has previously held the role of Secretary of Culture and Creativity (2017–2019) and Deputy Secretary of Creative Economy (2015–2017) at Argentina’s Ministry of Culture and prior to this, he was the Secretary of Culture and Tourism in Vicente López City (2014–2015). He served on the IFACCA board in 2019 and is a member of the Culture Expert Committee of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI).  

Mr Gribnicow holds a degree in Arts and Culture Management from Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Argentina and teaches at the University of San Andrés and Austral University in Argentina and Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Colombia.   

Associate Professor Dr Xin Gu is a cultural policy analyst, writer and speaker. She has been appointed a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility (2023-2026) for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression. She is Director of the Master of Cultural and Creative Industries at Monash University in Australia. She co-authored the report A crisis of sustainable careers? Examining working conditions for independent arts and cultural workers commissioned by the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), writing about the social protection of cultural work.  

Dr Gu has worked with governments and civil society organisations in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand to develop cultural policies and strategies. She has delivered many capacity building and public outreach programmes on the development of cultural economy in the Asia Pacific region for the EU, UNCTAD and UNESCO, among others. Her most recent book is Cultural Work and Creative Subjectivity (Routledge, 2023). 

Prof. Kiwon Hong teaches cultural policy and arts management at the School of Drama, Korea National University of Arts (KNUA). She has previously held the role of policy researcher and analyst at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea. 

Prof. Hong has served as a guest editor for the special edition of the International Journal of Culture and Politics of Korea (2019) and president of Korea Society for Arts and Cultural Management. She is currently serving as the executive/artistic director at the Center for Performance and Exhibition of KNUA and editor in chief for Korea Journal of Arts and Cultural Management. 

Prof. Hong has studied both Arts (Aesthetics) and Social Science (Public Administration) at Seoul National University (B.A.) and Yonsei University (Ph.D). She has worked with international cultural policy institutions including UNESCO and ICCPR, among others. 

Mr Abid Hussain is the Director, Diversity at Arts Council England (ACE) where he leads the Arts Council's work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, delivering more equitable access to creativity and culture. He is responsible for delivery of the Arts Council's equality objectives and equality action plan.  

Mr Hussain is the programme lead for All In - a UK and Ireland-wide scheme established to improve access to arts and cultural events for people with disabilities, developed in partnership with Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, and Creative Scotland. He is an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Programme and the Salzburg Global Seminar and holds an MBA from Aston University, UK.   

Mr Hussain has extensive experience working with cultural agencies, government and academia internationally and has contributed to several international conferences and academic texts and journals in his field of expertise.  

Ms Cislé Jacobs specialises in Intellectual Property (IP) law as a legal and cultural professional and currently serves as Chairperson for the National Arts Council of Namibia. As a certified IP Agent in Namibia, she advises creatives, entrepreneurs and institutions including the National Theatre of Namibia and the Namibia Society of Composers and Authors of Music.

Ms Jacobs is an IP and Legal Compliance Expert Facilitator at Basecamp Business Incubators Namibia, has worked as an EU/UNESCO National Expert, contributing to the revision of copyright legislation and served as a technical expert for the National Arts Fund Draft Bill and Regulations 2024. She is author of The Intellectual Property Regime in Namibia (2017) and Copyright Law: Contracts and Protective Procedures for Musicians (2021).

Ms Jacobs holds a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Namibia.

Ms Yoonhyung Jeon is a cultural policy professional specialising in audio-visual industries with over two decades working in the cultural and creative sector. 

Ms Jeon is the Director of Public Relations at the Korean Film Council, a national institution of the Republic of Korea. In this role she leads numerous strategies, operations and organisational projects and works with ministries, corporations and civil society organisations. Ms Jeon’s expertise includes policy research and implementation, international cooperation initiatives and filmmaking equity fund management. Ms Jeon is an Adjunct Professor at Dong-Eui University, Republic of Korea teaching media literacy. 

Ms Jeon is a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility Group for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression. She has participated in several policy implementation and capacity building programmes including for Ethiopia, Uganda and Mongolia. Ms Jeon also serves as a member of the Panel of Experts for UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity. 

Ms Youjin Jeon is a multidisciplinary artist who began her career in film scoring before expanding her practice into sound art, performance and sculpture utilising new media technology. 

Ms Jeon is a member of Seoul Express, an artist collective established with Mr Minki Hong in 2015. Seoul Express has presented performances such as Unlanguaged Seoul and I Walk with the Zombie. In 2017, she founded Woman Open Tech Lab in Seoul, which fosters discussions on the practice of technology from a feministic perspective in the Republic of Korea and aims to create a non-hierarchical technology culture. 

Ms Jeon develops workshops and educational programmes to create intersections between technology and art. She is a visiting professor at Dongguk University, Republic of Korea and has directed public programmes including The Technology for Resistance. 

Ms Avril Joffe is an Associate Researcher and holds the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Entrepreneurship and Policy at Cultural Policy and Management Department at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.  

Ms Joffe is an economic sociologist and works at the intersection of academia and practice in the fields of cultural policy; culture in urban life; culture and sustainable development; fairness in international cultural cooperation; decent work; the rights and status of artists and cultural professionals; and, teaching pedagogy for postgraduate studies in the cultural economy. Her focus areas are Africa and the Global South.  

Ms Joffe is an active member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility Group for Cultural Policy and Governance; the Global Creative Economy Council; the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance; and,  the external international advisory panel for the Horizon Europe programme, IN SITU - Place-based Innovation of Cultural and Creative Industries in Non-urban Areas. 

Mr Emile Kairua is Secretary and Head of Ministry, Ministry of Cultural Development, Cook Islands. He has an extensive background in marketing and public relations, driving business development efforts in tourism and travel related businesses in the Cook Islands.    

Prior to joining the Ministry, Mr Kairua has held various positions including being on the first Māori Language Commission. He has worked as Producer and Director of Kairoi, a five-hour a week cultural TV programme at Cook Islands Broadcasting. Subsequently, he served as General Manager and Managing Director at Cook Islands Broadcasting. Mr Kairua has previously worked as Product and Marketing Manager for Island Hopper Vacations and at The Edgewater Resort and Spa, serving as the Director of Sales and Marketing, Cultural Ambassador and General Manager. 

Ms Yarri Kamara is an independent cultural policy researcher, writer and translator. She provides research and policy advice to institutions and governments supporting cultural sector development, particularly in Africa. A member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression, she authored the chapter ‘Culture and Sustainable Development’ in UNESCO’s 2022 report Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity and co-authored UNESCO’s flagship 2023 report on the African fashion sector. 

As an advisor, Ms Kamara has supported Gambia in deploying its first survey on the status of women cultural professionals and provided technical assistance for the development of Zimbabwe’s first national music strategy. She currently serves on the artistic advisory board of the Swiss-based intercultural festival Culturescapes.  

As a writer, Ms Kamara was a finalist for the National Translation in Prose Award, USA for her translation of Monique Ilboudo’s novel So Distant from My Life and co-edited the anthology Sahara: A thousand paths into the future. 

Ms Niusha Khanmohammadi is a Senior Advisor for the Swedish Arts Council’s Artistic Freedom Programme, supporting cultural actors and organisations across the Global South. With over a decade of experience in international development, cultural policy, and human rights, she has worked extensively across the MENA region, the Western Balkans, and Central Asia.

Previously, Ms Khanmohammadi led a Swedish cultural development programme in Albania and Armenia, focusing on building regional networks for artistic resilience. She holds a background in human rights and political science and has worked at international institutions such as UN Women and the European Union. Beyond her professional roles, she has also exhibited her work as a visual artist and published her writing, often exploring themes of identity, belonging, and creative resistance.

Jahye Khoo is the director, playwright and head of Theatre Definitely, a socially engaged theatre collective that has primarily created plays on social disasters. The 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster fundamentally transformed Khoo’s approach to theatre, recognising actors as citizens who, like audiences, witness social catastrophes.

Khoo reimagines accessibility for audiences and performers, exploring how to ensure the safety of actors on stage and to build trust with audiences. They believe in the power of theatre but also resists its authority, conventions, and theatrical illusion, which can be seen in their work Roadkill in the Theater. The driving force behind Khoo’s theatre-making is seeing theatre as a form of social resistance.

Khoo also champions queer visibility through plays like We Are (Not) Jokes, which centres transgender voices. Their recent solo performance explores the survival strategies of older queer individuals. For Khoo, amplifying queer presence and reconfiguring accessibility—including for those on stage—are fundamental to redefining the relationship between theatre and the world.

Ms Ayoung Kim weaves reality anew through a tapestry of hybrid narratives while integrating geopolitics, mythology, technology and futuristic iconography in her work. The outcomes of synthesized narratives result in far-reaching speculation, establishing connections between biopolitics and border controls, the memories of stones and virtual memories, and ancestral origins and imminent futures in the forms of video, moving image, virtual reality, game simulation, installation, performance and texts. 

Ms Kim’s work has been presented at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2025); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2025); ACMI, Melbourne (2024); MoMA, New York (2024); M+, Hong Kong (2024); Sharjah Biennial (2023); Ars Electronica, Linz (2023); Berlin International Film Festival (2020); Gwangju Biennial (2018); Palais de Tokyo (2016) and the Venice Biennale (2015) among others. Kim has received the LG Guggenheim Award, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (2025), ACC Future Prize, National Asian Culture Center, Korea (2024), Golden Nica Award, Prix Ars Electronica, Austria (2023), and Terayama Shuji Prize, Image Forum Festival, Japan (2023). 

Dr Hae-Bo Kim is the Advising Director of the Policy and Strategy Division at the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC). Since joining SFAC in 2004, he has overseen business management, arts education, research and policy development, arts grants, cultural space development and festival production. He regularly contributes to the SFAC Issue Paper Culture + Policy.

As Director of the Korea Regional Culture Policy Institute, affiliated with the National Assembly of Foundations for Arts and Culture, Dr Kim leads collaborative research across 17 metropolitan cultural foundations. He recently led research on regional cultural development titled Research on Strategies to Enhance Regional Attractiveness and Vitality through Locality and Culture, for the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development.

Dr Kim lectures on culture and technology and cultural policy at the University of Seoul (UOS), Republic of Korea, exploring topics like cultural globalisation, algorithmic culture and emotional economics. He holds a PhD in Sociology from UOS.

Dr  Hee-sun Kim is currently Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Kookmin University, Republic of Korea. She is the Executive Director of the Jeonju International Sori Festival and is a music scholar.  

From 2018 to 2022, Dr Kim was Chair of the International Council for Traditional Music, Musics of East Asia (ICTM MEA). Between 2016–2020, she held the position of Director of the Gugak Research Office at the National Gugak Center, Republic of Korea.  

Dr Kim graduated from the Department of Korean Music at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea where she also attended graduate school.  She completed her PhD in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. 

Mr Kabsoo Kim is currently the President at the Korean Federation of Regional Cultural Foundations and the 9th Representative Director of Chungbuk Cultural Foundation in 2024. Prior to these roles he was the Deputy Chair of Korea Sports Promotion Foundation from 2019 to 2022. 

Mr Kim worked at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea from 1988 to 2019, as Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Office from 2017 to 2019, Director of Korean Culture and Information Service in 2016, Director of Korean Culture Centre UK from 2012 to 2016) and the Director General of the Content Policy Bureau from 2011 to 2012, and Media Policy Bureau from 2009 to 2011. 

Ms Jo Kukathas is an actor, writer, dramaturg, director and comedian. She is Artistic Director of The Instant Café Theatre Company, Malaysia which started in 1989 and is best known for its political satire and theatre reflecting Malaysia’s diverse ethnic, linguistic, religious and migratory composition.

Ms Kukathas has directed works in various languages including Farsi when she worked with Afghan refugees in Malaysia. Her work deals with issues of race, religion, politics, gender, censorship, climate change, migration, xenophobia and borders. Her work has taken her to various countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, China (Taiwan Province), Philippines, Australia, UK, USA and Brazil.

Ms Kukathas is an Asian Public Intellectual (API) Fellow and De La Salle Democracy Discourse (DDS) Fellow and has a number of comic and public alter-egos including the Deputy Minister of Moral Panic.

Mr Octavio Kulesz is a philosopher, digital publisher and director of Teseo, one of Latin America’s leading electronic publishing houses. As an expert collaborating with international organisations including UNESCO, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), IFACCA and the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, his research focuses on issues related to cultural diversity and creative industries in the digital age. He currently serves on the International Programme Advisory Committee (IPAC) for this 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture.  

Some of Mr Kulesz’ articles, such as Culture, Platforms and Machines (UNESCO, 2018), presciently anticipated the contemporary challenges associated with the impact of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the cultural sectors by over five years. In 2020, he was selected by UNESCO, along with 23 other international experts, to draft the text of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first standard-setting instrument on this topic.  

Mr Kulesz divides his time between Turin (Italy) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).  

RAY LC is an artist and researcher whose practice investigates how humans adapt to new methods of interaction in creative expression involving artificial intelligence (AI) and machines. He holds a PhD in Neuroscience from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, New York. He is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong and is the Founder of the Studio for Narrative Spaces.

RAY LC’s artistic practice is informed by his neuroscience research Nature Communications and human-computer interaction. He has exhibited his work internationally, including at the New York Hall of Science, KYOTO Design Lab, Ars Electronica, Osage Gallery, Goethe Institute, Hong Kong Arts Centre, and International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA). His work has received awards from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Hong Kong Arts Development Council and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Dr Jinjoon Lee FRSA is a professor and internationally acclaimed contemporary artist exploring the liminoid experience of utopian space ideologies with new technologies. He specialises in transforming spaces that address synesthetic experiences and directing interdisciplinary performances and data-driven art and design utilising advanced technology like AI, VR, and Brain Computer Interface.   

Dr Lee is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a selected Artist for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021, UK. In 2024, he was awarded a full fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center.  

Dr Lee graduated from Seoul National University, Royal College of Art in London and holds a DPhil from the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford. He contributes his expertise as an adviser to the Korean Government, directs the KAIST Art & Technology Research Center, teaches at KAIST's the graduate school for Culture Technology as an associate professor, and also serves as a distinguished professor at the New Contents Academy, Korea Creative Content Agency. 

Dr Zune Lee is a multifaceted artist, researcher, educator and designer who blends various disciplines to innovate and impact art, design and education and technology. He explores topics like technology-enhanced multi-sensory art, socio-critical art and arts in games, contributing extensively to Korea’s multidisciplinary art ecosystem and media art preservation.  

Since 2001, Dr Lee has pioneered the concept of nature-human-machine communication, starting with Trialogue at Art Center Nabi in Seoul. His visionary works on human-non-human co-evolution and social critique through art have earned him invitations to international biennials and exhibitions, including the Seoul International Media Art Biennale and TransLife in Beijing.  

As an educator, Dr Lee has developed and taught courses in physical computing, interaction design and new media art at major Korean institutions. He founded the Digital Design Department at Daegu Catholic University and currently serves as an associate professor at Korea University’s School of Art and Design, fostering interdisciplinary innovation in arts education. 

Ms Marie Le Sourd has been Secretary General of On the Move, the international cultural mobility information network, since 2012. In this role she leads the daily management of On the Move and the implementation of its strategic plan.

Prior to this position, Ms Le Sourd directed the French Cultural Centre in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2006 -2011) and worked at the Culture Department of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), Singapore (1999-2006), including as Acting Director.

Over the years, Ms Le Sourd has developed extensive knowledge of international cultural cooperation and funding schemes for the mobility of artists, cultural professionals and networks. She is deeply interested in the multiple and evolving needs, motivations, contexts and realities of mobility for artists and cultural professionals. 

Mr Humberto López La Bella is currently the Director General of the Cabinet at the National Secretariat of Culture, Paraguay. He has formerly served as the Director General of Planning, Development and Cultural Innovation, as well as the Director General of Diversity, Rights and Cultural Processes at the same institution. He represents Paraguay for the Iberculturaviva programme, a cultural cooperation initiative that promotes intercultural dialogue, exchange, and collaboration among Ibero-American countries, and serves as an alternate representative of Paraguay before the Ibero-American Network of Cultural Diplomacy.   

Mr López La Bella holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from the International University of Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) and a postgraduate degree in International Cultural Cooperation and Management from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He teaches cultural management and financing of the arts at the National University of Asunción, Paraguay.   

Mr López La Bella is an IFACCA-Globus Fellow 2024-2025, part of the learning and exchange programme launched by IFACCA in collaboration with the Nordic Culture Fund's global initiative Globus.  

Ms Micaela Mantegna is a lawyer, researcher and council member of the World Economic Forum. She is also known as Abogamer and specialises in video game law and advocacy, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, extended reality (XR) policy and the intersection of AI with creativity, culture and copyright law.

A 2022 TED Fellow, Ms Mantegna’s talk on metaverse ethics has reached over 1.5 million views. She is currently affiliated with MetaLAB (Harvard, Berlin, Basel) and previously with the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, USA. She has been a Salzburg Global Fellow and a Datasphere Initiative Fellow.

Ms Mantegna’s published works include ARTficial: creativity, AI and copyright (2022) and she is working on Braindancing in the Metaverse: a capitalism of cognitive surveillance forthcoming in 2025, examining digital capitalism's impact on creativity, neuroscience, intellectual property, AI ethics and aesthetics.

Dr Kedmon Mapana is the Executive Secretary of the National Arts Council (BASATA). Before his appointment Dr Mapana was working at the University of Dar es Salaam as a senior Lecturer in Music. He was also the Head of the Department of Creative Arts University of Dar es Salaam.

Dr Mapana has delivered music and dance workshops and performances at numerous schools, universities, churches and community events worldwide. He has published several papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals and books. He received a presidential citation award as an outstanding graduate student in 2013 at Seattle Pacific University where he earned his PhD.

Dr Mapana has directed several arts and culture festivals including the JAMAFEST festival hosted by Tanzania and the Annual Cigogo Music Festival conducted at his hometown Chamwino. Dr Mapana is not only a leader in the arts but also is an artist himself. 

Ms Roisín McDonough has been Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland since 2000. In this role, Ms McDonough creates successful partnerships with Government organisations to implement a variety of arts programmes including the Arts and Older People Programme in partnership with the Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland and the Creative Schools initiative in collaboration with the Education Authority, Northern Ireland.  

Ms McDonough is a member of the organising committee for the British Irish Association established to promote understanding and dialogue between the governments and peoples of the UK and Ireland. She has served as a board member of the UK Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Council for 12 years and has served as Chair of the Women Chief Executives’ Forum for 10 years. She is an Institute of Directors (IoD) Chartered Director and is a passionate advocate for the arts role in building peace through bringing communities together as well as its inherent value to individuals.   

Mr Simon Mellor is Deputy Chief Executive, Arts and Museums for Arts Council England. He is a member of the Arts Council’s Executive Board, has responsibility for national arts and cultural strategy and provides executive board leadership for the Arts Council’s international strategy. Mr Mellor currently serves as Treasurer on the Board of IFACCA.  

Prior to joining the Arts Council in 2012, Mr Mellor helped set up the Manchester International Festival in 2006 and was its first General Director. Before that he was the Chief Executive of the Lyric Hammersmith, West London’s leading producing and presenting theatre. He was also the producer and founder of an international music theatre company, Gloria Theatre Company, UK. 

Mr Diego Mencaroni is currently the Residency Director at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in New York. He has served as Interim Executive Director for the Foundation in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Prior to this, Mr Mencaroni held the position of Program Coordinator at the Civitella Ranieri Center, New York.  Between 2014 to 2018, he was the spokesperson for the Democratic Party in the Perugia City Hall, Italy.  

Mr Mencaroni is a member of the Steering Committee of the Ecomuseo del Tevere, Italy where he carries out research on local traditions including folk music and local language. He writes plays, short stories and poetry and is fluent in English, French and Spanish. 

Mr Mencaroni holds a Bachelor in Political Science and a Master in Politics, Economy and Law of the EU from the University of Perugia, Italy. 

Mr Ángel Moreno is currently the Manager of the Honda Cultural Agency of the Bank of the Republic, Tolima since 2018. From 2016-2017, he was Director of Local Affairs and Participation of the Secretary of Culture, Recreation and Sport of the City of Bogotá. In 2017, he also served as Head of the Department of Culture and Manager of the Roberto Arias Pérez Theatre for the Colsubsidio Cooperation in Bogotá.  

From 2009 to 2016, Mr Moreno served as Advisor to the Office of the Minister of Culture of Colombia. And prior to this role, he held the position of Advisor to Culture of the international organisation Convenio Andrés Bello in Colombia. 

Mr Moreno is a social communicator with a postgraduate degree in Political Science from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia, a Diploma in Latin American Culture from the Universidad del Rosario, Colombia and a Diploma in Local Development from the Asia-Pacific University of Japan. 

Ms Magdalena Moreno Mujica has led IFACCA as Executive Director since 2017. She is a Chilean cultural administrator and a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility (2023-2026) for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression. She is the author of the chapter, Building resilient and sustainable cultural and creative sectors in the 2022 UNESCO Global Report, Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity – Addressing culture as a global public good.   

Prior to her current role, Ms Moreno Mujica was Head of International Affairs at the National Council for Culture and the Arts, Chile (CNCA) – now the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Chile – and Ministerial Adviser on international affairs. In this role, she oversaw Chile’s international arts and cultural strategy; served as Programme Director of the 6th World Summit on Arts and Culture (Santiago, 2014); delivered Chile’s participation in three Venice Biennales; served on the Board of Fundación Imagen de Chile; and represented Chile on the IFACCA Board (2012-2014).   

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, Australia and has served on several Boards, including for Diversity Arts Australia (2016-2018). 

Mr Farai Mpfunya specialises in non-profit management, with a focus on cultural governance, diversity, and development. He served as the co-founding Executive Director of the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting creative sector capacities for social impact within communities. Mr Mpfunya actively collaborates with regional and international organisations, contributing insights to initiatives in cultural policies, monitoring frameworks, and governance of culture.  

Mr Mpfunya is a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility, shaping governance, practices and perspectives on culture's role in different societal and international contexts. He contributes to the ‘Fair Culture Charter’ editorial team and was a member of the International Programme Advisory Committee (IPAC) for the 9th World Summit on Arts and Culture. Mr Mpfunya also has grant-making advisor roles for organisations like UNESCO Aschberg, the Nordic Culture Fund, as well as UNESCO IFCD. 

Dr Nguyen Phuong Hoa is the Director General, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Viet Nam. She has dedicated her 20 year-plus career in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to work in the area of international cultural cooperation. As a key author of Vietnam's Cultural External Relations Strategy, she has been actively leading the organisation of numerous Vietnamese Cultural Days/Week and Vietnamese Cultural Year worldwide and hosting a number of international art festivals in Viet Nam. Being the national focal point of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, she strongly advocates for the delivery of the National Strategy of Cultural Industries and facilitates cities in Viet Nam joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.  

Dr Hoa is the representative of Viet Nam at the World Exhibition Organization (BIE) and is a member of the IFACCA Board.  Currently, she serves as the Commissioner General of Viet Nam at EXPO Osaka Kansai 2025. 

Ojoma Ochai is managing director of CcHUB - Africa’s largest creative and innovation ecosystem enabler. She is a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression, where she supports state parties on creative industries development especially in the digital environment.

Ms Ochai is co-chair of the Microsoft / UNDP Reference Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Development. As a 2023 Rockefeller Bellagio Centre resident, she undertook research on the impact of emerging technologies like AI and blockchain on creative economy policy and practice in Africa.

Ms Ochai’s previous roles have included: Regional Director, British Council Sub-Saharan Africa Arts and Creative Economy, other roles on Creative Economy development projects for institutions including the Swedish Arts Council, World Bank and various national governments. She sits on boards including ₿trust (endowed by Jay Z and Jack Dorsey to support Bitcoin development in the global south) and Pixel Ray Studios (building global film infrastructure).

Professor Justin O’Connor is Professor of Cultural Economy at the University of South Australia and Visiting Professor at the School of Cultural Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China. Between 2012-18 he was a member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility Group for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression. He is currently working with the Reset Collective and with a coalition of cultural policy experts to promote the idea of culture as a global public good and as a sustainable development goal in the post 2030 agenda. 

Professor O’Connor is co-editor of the 2015 Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries; Cultural Industries in Shanghai: Policy and Planning inside a Global City, (2018); Re-Imagining Creative Cities in Asia (2020); Different Histories, Shared Futures: Dialogues on China and Australia (2022) and The Great Decoupling: A New Global (Dis)Order (2025). 

Professor O’Connor recently co-authored Red Creative: Culture and Modernity in China (2020) and Culture is Not an Industry, Manchester University Press. 

Mr Ernesto Ottone R. is the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO. Prior to this position, Mr Ottone R. served as Chile’s first Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage from 2015 to 2018. As Minister of Culture, he created a Department of First Peoples, a Migrants Unit and strengthened copyright laws and heritage protections. During this time, he also chaired the Regional Centre for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean (2016 – 2017).

From 2011 to 2015, Mr Ottone R. served as Director-General of the Artistic and Cultural Extension Center of the University of Chile, which manages the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, the Chilean National Ballet (BANCH), the Chile Symphony Choir and the Vocal Camerata. From 2001 to 2010, he held the position of Executive Director at the Matucana 100 Cultural Center in Santiago.

Mr Ottone R. holds a Master's degree in Management of Cultural Institutions and Policies from the University of Paris IX Dauphine (1998) and a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from the University of Chile (1995).

Ms Jisun Park is a creative producer, researcher and arts policy advisor with over twenty-five years of experience. She is a co-founder of Producer Group DOT, an independent performing arts producers’ organisation established in 2014. She has led programming for major performing arts festivals including the Chuncheon International Mime Festival and Seoul Performing Arts Festival.  

Ms Park has previously served as General Manager for Korea Arts Management Services (KAMS) and in this role she oversaw the Performing Arts Market in Seoul (PAMS). Ms Park co-founded the Asian Producers’ Platform (APP), advocating for non-hierarchical arts ecosystems and fosters collaborations between artists and non-artists to explore the contemporaneity of art. 

Deeply invested in sustainability and transformation, Ms Park focuses on projects addressing climate change, including climate change artist residencies and the Dance X Technology Creative Lab. 

Dr Tomás Peters is a cultural sociologist based in Santiago, Chile and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Communications and Image, University of Chile, Santiago. 

Dr Peters has previously held a visiting researcher position at the Ibero-American Institute, Germany and has taught as a visiting professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa (Mexico), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico) and University of Guadalajara (Mexico). Dr Peters was granted funding from Chile's National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) to research the relationship between the Chilean State and the cultural field. 

Dr Peters holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from Birkbeck, University of London, UK and his main areas of research include sociology of art, Latin American studies and cultural policy. He is the author of Sociology of Arts and Cultural Policy and The incessant gap: cultural policies and inequality in Chile. 

Dr Pavla Petrová is the Director of the Arts and Theatre Institute, Czech Republic and serves as the Assistant Professor at the Department of Arts Management of the Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic. She engages in teaching and scientific research activities focusing on cultural management, new business models and entrepreneurship in cultural and creative industries.

Dr Petrová is a member of various expert teams and working groups on cultural policy and brings years of professional experience from large cultural institutions and projects to her roles. She is the national author of the publication Cultural policy profile for the Czech Republic published by the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends.

Dr Petrová has a background in economics and management and continues professional engagement as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and as a member of the Czech Commission for UNESCO.

Mr Robert Piaskowski is a philologist, sociologist, manager and cultural animator. He is currently the Director of the National Centre for Culture in Poland and is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Krakow Film Music Festival. He has played a key role in major festivals including Misteria Paschalia, Opera Rara and the Miłosz Festival. He is a member of the Organising Committee of the Gdynia Polish Film Festival, the Council of the Polish Film Institute, the Programme Council of the Open Eyes Economy Summit and the Programme Council of the UN Global Compact Network Poland.   

From 2007 to 2019, Mr Piaskowski served as the Programme Director of the Krakow Festival Office and later as the Mayor of Krakow’s Plenipotentiary for Culture and the Director for Development and Creativity at the Department of Culture of the Krakow City Hall, Poland. He coordinated Krakow’s efforts to obtain the UNESCO Creative City title.  

Mr Piaskowski has lectured at Jagiellonian University, Poland among others.  

Ms Paz Portales is a Programme Coordinator in the Culture Sector at UNESCO, currently serving as Coordinator of the World Conference on Cultural Policies – MONDIACULT 2025. Her main areas of work include human rights, equity, and inclusion, contributing to the mandate of the Sustainable Development Goals across various fields. She coordinates joint actions on education and culture and oversees a portfolio of initiatives focused on knowledge production and information sharing.  

Ms Portales has served as Programme Coordinator in UNESCO’s Higher Education Section, where she led multiple projects and coordinated the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference held in Barcelona in May 2022. Previously, she was UNESCO's Education Programme Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, where she led the Regional Strategy on Teachers for eight years, overseeing numerous regional initiatives and contributing to a significant body of publications. She was also part of the United Nations Regional Coordination Team. 

Mr Phloeun Prim is the Executive Director of Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), Phnom Penh. A visionary cultural entrepreneur, Mr Prim has spearheaded CLA's transformation from a grassroots project reviving traditional arts to an organisation working as a catalyst in the country's rapidly expanding arts sector. Mr Prim continues to teach the CLA created university course Arts for Transformation: The Case of Cambodia, to New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi students and introduced the course in Cambodia for the first time in 2019. 

Mr Prim has been key to the initiation of Mekong Cultural Hub, a regional non-profit working at the intersection between arts and social development, and Connecting South, an initiative to further collaboration across the Global South. He is currently involved in a Connecting South project entitled ‘An AI of Our Own’, that aims to bring Global South communities into the heart of global efforts to democratise access to cultural heritage through technological innovation. 

Mr Zikri Rahman is a writer, translator, independent researcher, and curator. Mr Zikri is currently a Researcher for Malaysia, Arts Equator’s Southeast Asian Arts Censorship Database and an experienced Programme Coordinator at Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, an independent archive dedicated to documenting the people’s history of Malaysia and Singapore. In 2011, Mr Zikri co-founded Buku Jalanan, a grassroots street library movement aimed at decentralising and democratising knowledge and cultural production and initiated LiteraCity, a literary and cultural mapping project of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mr Zikri has contributed to projects including the DEMO: An Oral History of Protest in Malaysia project for Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, the Southeast Asian Arts Censorship Database for Arts Equator and is the co-editor for Where are the people? People’s theater in Inter-Asian Societies (2022).  

Ms Chaymaa Ramzy Zaatout has more than 17 years' international experience in arts management, production and consultancy across the Middle East and North Africa regions. She holds a BA in Business Administration from Alexandria University, Egypt and is an international fellow of Arts Management and Strategic Planning in the Arts from the DeVos Institute, USA and the Business School of the Arts, University of Maryland, USA.

Ms Ramzy Zaatout’s work focuses on strategic development in the arts and education, designing programmes that engage communities and building partnerships. She has a strong history of working with public, private and civil society partners across the creative sectors, particularly in arts, education and creative economy research.

Ms Ramzy Zaatout is the Founder of Creative Invest as well as Executive Director of Shelter Art Space, Alexandria, and previously served as Art Manager at the Anna Lindh Foundation, based in Alexandria.

Ms Kajsa Ravin began her term as Director General for the Swedish Arts Council in March 2020, managing the culture sector through the pandemic. She has special interest in international cultural relations and cultural diversity. Ms Ravin has worked with a wide variety of cultural expressions, and she is strongly committed to promote and safeguard artistic freedom in Sweden and abroad as well as making arts and culture accessible and relevant to broad audiences.  

Ms Ravin is a board member of IFACCA and the Nordic Culture Fund.  

Ms Ravin has been active in the cultural sector for more than twenty-five years and has comprehensive experience in driving development of culture organisations and cultural policy, both at the local, regional and national levels. Prior to joining the Swedish Arts Council, she managed the Department of Cultural Affairs in several Swedish cities and regions. 

Dr Diana Rey is a political scientist and independent consultant specialising in the design of conceptual, statistical and legal frameworks for the creative sectors. She develops both quantitative and qualitative research projects to provide high-level evidence for decision-making.  

Dr Rey is the lead author of the 2025 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics (FCS) and co-author of the 2015 UNESCO Culture Satellite Account methodology for Latin America, which has been implemented in over 15 countries. She has published extensively on cultural rights, cultural heritage and the digital economy.  

Over the past 20 years, Dr Rey has collaborated with various intergovernmental organisations including UNDP, UNESCO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Convenio Andrés Bello and UN Women. She has worked with governments in Colombia, Panama, Honduras and Ecuador on cultural policies and strategies. Dr Rey is a member of the Global Creative Economy Council, UK and the UNESCO Reflection Group on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Digital Environment.  

Ms Márcia Helena Gonçalves Rollemberg is currently the Secretary of Cultural Citizenship and Diversity at the Ministry of Culture, Brazil since 2023. She has previously held this position at the Ministry of Culture from 2011 to 2014.  

Ms Rollemberg has 30 years of experience working in public policy management and international cooperation, particularly in the areas of health, culture and heritage. She participated in the implementation of the Virtual and Health Libraries network in Brazil and the creation of the Centre for Culture at the Ministry of Health. 

Ms Rollemberg holds degrees in Social Work and Art Education specialising in health systems. In 2024, she obtained a Certificate in Latin American Studies from the Afro-Latin American Research Institute (ALARI) at Harvard University, USA.  

Ms Kaisa Rönkkö is currently the Director of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike). She has previously served as Executive Director of Music Finland, Head of the Orchestra Department at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, Senior Coordinator at the Defence Forces as well as manager and partner at Fazer Artists Management Inc.

Ms Rönkkö has a diverse expertise in entrepreneurship and business development and she has worked in numerous projects that combine new business models and entrepreneurial splashes with deep artistry and creativity. Her special interests (or passions) include the role of culture for resilience, peace and security and culture as a part of information warfare.

Ms Rönkkö promotes a message that arts and culture can foster and strengthen healthy, democratic dialogue and promote citizen participation.  

Ms Kathy Rowland is the Co-Founder and Head of Research at ArtsEquator. She has worked in the arts for over 30 years, in the areas of critical writing and arts advocacy, with a special interest in artistic freedom of expression. Through ArtsEquator, Ms Rowland has promoted critical discourse in Southeast Asia, designing programmes such as the Asian Arts Media Roundtable and Critics Live! and the ArtsEquator Writing Fellowship. Ms Rowland has written and presented on arts censorship and artistic freedom in Southeast Asia since the early 2000s. In 2022, she launched the Southeast Asian Artistic Freedom RADAR (Research and Documentation Resource) which researches and documents challenges to artistic freedom in Southeast Asia.  

In February 2025, Ms Rowland was a guest speaker on the Artistic Freedom: The Road Ahead panel, organised by the Permanent Delegations of Norway and Sweden at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. 

Mr Michael Running Wolf (Northern Cheyenne and Lakota) was raised in a rural prairie village in Montana, USA with intermittent water and electricity. Naturally he has a Master of Science in Computer Science, was an engineer at Amazon’s Alexa, and former faculty at Northeastern University, USA.

Mr Running Wolf is an artificial intelligence (AI) ethicist who envisions an Indigenous future where Indigenous communities, alongside reclaiming their languages, attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. His passion lies in leveraging artificial intelligence to revitalise Indigenous languages. To this end, he co-founded First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR) at the Mila Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, where he serves as the Lead Architect.

Mr Running Wolf is a 2024-25 The Tech for Global Good Laureate. His work researching an automatic speech recognition system for highly polysynthetic languages has been recognised with the Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize. 

Mr Eduardo Saravia is an economist with a Master’s degree in Economics and over 14 years of experience in designing, evaluating and implementing policies and initiatives for the cultural and creative sectors. He specialises in cultural economics, heritage, and creative industries, focusing on their role in economic and social development. 

Mr Saravia currently serves as Chief Economist at Sound Diplomacy, a global research and strategy consultancy dedicated to driving economic and social growth through music and cultural strategies. He has extensive experience across public and private sectors and has also collaborated with national entities, including the Ministry of Culture of Colombia. He brings significant international experience, having worked with the Inter-American Development Bank and UNESCO, among others.  

Serving on several UNESCO Expert Facilities, including those for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the Culture|2030 Indicators, he helps shape policies for the cultural industries and heritage globally and advance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Mr Jimmy Savy is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Arts and Crafts Council (NACC) of Seychelles. The NACC is an agency that has a mandate to ensure the development of arts and crafts in Seychelles. In October 2024, NACC Seychelles hosted the 13th Africa Chapter meeting. 

Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer, Mr Savy held the position of Director at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles. In the last 25 years, he has worked on producing and directing many cultural and artistic events in Seychelles, including the International Carnaval de Seychelles, Creole Festival of Seychelles, Seychelles national days, beauty pageants, Seychelles Biennale of Contemporary Arts, Seychelles Arts Festival and musical concerts. 

Mr Savy served as Executive Producer of international events such as Expo 2021, Seychelles cultural presentation at UNESCO in France 2022 and AngelField Festival in Liverpool, UK in March 2025. 

Dr Shain Shapiro is an author working at the intersection of music, culture and urban policy. He is founder and current Executive Chairman of Sound Diplomacy, which has offices in London, Barcelona, Berlin as well as in Delaware and Louisiana, USA. He is Executive Director of the Center for Music Ecosystems, which operates globally.

In his book This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better, Dr Shapiro explores fresh approaches to valuing music in cities and places. He writes extensively about music’s role in cities, tourism, the night-time economy, real estate and recovery. His work includes a comprehensive guide to music and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), developed in partnership with UN.

In 2014, Dr Shapiro delivered the first TEDx talk on music's role in cities. He has spoken at global conventions, including South by Southwest (SXSW) and the UN World Urban Forum. He earned his PhD from the University of London, UK.

Mr Heejin Shim currently represents Virgin Music Group as their Country Manager for the Republic of Korea. He has over 17 years of experience in music industry specialising in K-Pop music distribution. 

Mr Shim has previously worked for major Korean distributors and digital platforms. He maintains strong networks with Korean label partners and worldwide digital music stores, helping optimise localisation for foreign partnerships. He possesses a deep knowledge of Korean music copyright law. His experience includes working for entertainment companies CJ ENM and Genie Music. Mr Shim has worked with industry labels, distributors and platforms both locally and internationally.  

Mr Shim passionately believes in the future of Korea’s music scene and is keen to learn and further develop his career.  

Dr Haerin Shin is an Associate Professor of Media & Communication Studies and the Director of the Intercultural AI Ethics Research Center at Korea University, Republic of Korea.

Dr Shin’s research fields include Asian American literature and media, science fiction, and the ethics and aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence (AI). She has written on cyberbullying, posthuman spirituality, techno-Orientalism, the ethics of AI and surveillance technologies. She is currently working on a book on the representation of AI in science fiction.

Dr Shin received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Stanford University, USA working on contemporary American, Korean and Japanese literature, culture, critical theory and other forms of media such as film, animation and graphic narratives. Her research focuses on ontology and technology, cognitive literary theory, psychoanalytic criticism, cyborg theories, the posthuman, speculative fiction and Asian American literature.

Ms Phina So is currently the Director of Creative Industries of Cambodia Association for Development and Advocacy (CICADA), a member-based association that aims to advocate for more support for the cultural and creative industries in Cambodia. In her role she engages with the community on research and capacity building for cultural workers.  

Prior to CICADA, Ms So held the position of Manager of the Knowledge Networks and Policy Program at Cambodian Living Arts. In this role, she was responsible for running the Living Arts Fellows programme, a cultural leadership programme for Cambodian artists, managers, researchers and policymakers. A strong component of the programme focussed on developing knowledge and building networks within Southeast Asia. She curates and facilitates talks, seminars and conferences. She manages mobility grants for cultural practitioners and develops collaborations with local and international academic partners.  

Ms So is a writer, publisher and literary translator. She founded the Khmer Literature Festival and co-founded Kampu Mera Editions. 

Mr Andrés Felipe Solano M. is a Colombian novelist who published Los hermanos Cuervo (2012) and Salario Mínimo (2016), a long-form essay about his experience as a factory worker living on the minimum wage for six months in Medellín, Colombia. A previous version of this piece was chosen as the finalist for the prize awarded by the FNPI, chaired by Gabriel García Márquez in 2008. He has also published Corea, apuntes desde la cuerda floja, a non-fiction book about his life in South Korea, which received the 2016 Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana prize and was shortlisted in the Bucheon Diasporar Literary Award 2021. His third novel, Cementerios de neón (2017) is partly based in a Colombian veteran from the Korean war. He was featured in Granta 113: The Best of Young Spanish-language Novelists.  

Mr Solano M. currently lives in Seoul and works as a lecturer for the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. Gloria (2023), his latest book has been translated into English and Italian. 

Ms Pooja Sood is a founding member and Director of Khoj International Artists’ Association, an autonomous, not-for-profit society committed to experimentation and exchange in the visual arts in India. She has actively built a robust network of experimental spaces across South Asia resulting in the South Asian Network for the Arts (SANA).  

Ms Sood has previously served as Director General of the Government-owned Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) in India. She is the Founding Director of ArThinkSouthAsia and has been Artistic Director and curator of 48 Degrees Celsius Public. Art. Ecology, a nine-day festival situated around Delhi, India 

Ms Sood has served on several international art juries and participated in various forums on Indian contemporary art, art management and South Asian art. She is a Chevening scholar (Clore Leadership Programme, UK, 2009-2011) based in New Delhi, India.  

Mr Gerfried Stockeris a media artist and an engineer for communication technology. Since 1995, Mr Stocker has been Artistic and Managing Director of Ars Electronica, based in Linz, Austria. He oversees the developments of the various programmes of Ars Electronica in Linz as well as internationally.  

In 1995-96, Mr Stockerdeveloped the groundbreaking exhibition strategies of the Ars Electronica Centre with a small team of artists and technicians and was responsible for the setup of Ars Electronica’s own R & D facility, the Ars Electronica Futurelab.  

Mr Stocker is a consultant for numerous companies and institutions in the field of creativity and innovation management and is active as a guest lecturer at international conferences and universities. In 2019 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Aalto University, Finland. 

Ms Inga-Lill Sundset is currently the Head of Cultural heritage and museums at Arts and Culture Norway. As a Sámi she has an Indigenous background from Northern Scandinavia.    

Prior to her role at Arts and Culture Norway, Ms Sundset has worked in the culture and education sectors as head of section at the department of education at Nordland County council and director of education and culture at the municipality of Hattfjelldal. She has previously been chair of the board at Arran Lule Sami Center, the South Sami Theatre and Sijti Jarnge Sami Cultural center. She serves as chair of the board for the Midtre Nordland National Park Board for the period 2024-2025. In 2009-2011 she was a member of the Sami Parliament and a city council member in Bodø from 2011-2015.   

Ms Sundset holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway with a master’s in management from Nord University, Norway. 

Ms Susannah Tantemsapya is the founder and Executive Director of Creative Migration and Bangkok 1899, based in Los Angeles and Bangkok. She is the producer of Creatives for Climate Action - Thailand; a member of the convening team for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action initiative; a non-profit advisor for the Entertainment + Culture Pavilion; and serves on the Advisory Council of the Hollywood Climate Summit.

Ms Tantemsapya is global ambassador and fellow at the Royal Society of Arts; founding member of Soho House Bangkok and advisor for the exhibition, Brackish Water Los Angeles as part of Getty’s Pacific Standard Time initiative.

Ms Tantemsapya holds a BA in Photojournalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. She has participated in the National Outdoor Leadership School, USA and at an architecture workshop at Arcosanti, USA both of which shaped her commitment to environmental preservation.

Mr Haniko Te Kurapa is currently the Senior Manager, Te Kaupapa o Toi Aotearoa at Creative New Zealand – Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. With over forty years of arts experience, Mr Te Kurapa offers a Māori worldview on knowledge systems, encompassing relationships with the environment, ancestry, land, and the cosmos.    

The proverb Tūhoe Moumou Kai, moumou Taonga, moumou Tangata ki te pō reflects Mr Te Kurapa's identity as a member of the Tūhoe tribe, renowned for their generosity, gifting of treasures, and dedication to the survival of its people. Raised in Te Urewera in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, Mr Te Kurapa is a fluent speaker of the Māori language and deeply rooted in Tūhoe Mātauranga (heritage). 

Ms Hiroko Tsuboi-Friedman is a consultant and member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. She combines academic foundations in art history, sociology and cultural anthropology with expertise in arts and culture, finance and public administration to develop, implement and evaluate projects, workshops and symposiums. Additionally, she conducts research and delivers lectures on topics related to the 2005 Convention and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist.  

Ms Tsuboi-Friedman has served as Deputy Director for International Affairs at the Science Council of Japan Secretariat and as Senior Policy Researcher in the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. She is co-founder of Culture All Nippon to create a supportive environment for the cultural and creative sector in Japan. Shecontributes to various initiatives including the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD), the Civil Society Forum of the 2005 Convention and the Japan Association of Cultural Policy Research.   

Solamalemalo Dr Hai-Yuean Tualima is an expert in traditional knowledge and Intellectual Property (IP) in the Pacific. Currently she is Senior Law Lecturer at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her PhD research in Samoa, using Talanoa Research Methodology, offers practical solutions for the protection and preservation of traditional knowledge.

In 2023, Solamalemalo led Pacific country negotiations on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge. She was the first Pacific Islander appointed as a WIPO Indigenous Fellow (2015-2017).

Solamalemalo formally established the first National Human Rights Institution in Samoa (2013). She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, and Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She was admitted as Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand (2010) and to the bar in Samoa (2014).

Ms Nevena Tudor Perković is currently the Director, Cultural and Artistic Development at the Ministry of Culture and Media, Croatia. Her areas of responsibility are visual arts, performing arts, books and publishing, culture and creative industries and coordination of international projects (biennales, book fairs, etc).

Ms Tudor Perković’s previously roles include as a Curator at Klovicevi Dvori Museum; Assistant Director at Institut Français de Zagreb; Project Manager at British Council, Zagreb and Director at the Association of the Croatian Artists. As a freelance curator and project manager she worked as Director of the International Exhibition of Graphic Design and Visual Communications (ZGRAF 9).

Ms Tudor Perković studied at the University of Zagreb, Croatia where she graduated in Art History and French Language and Literature. Her main interests include contemporary visual arts, design and architecture, performing arts, cultural policies and multilateral initiatives.

Associate Professor Frances C. Koya Vaka‘uta has been the Team Leader for Culture for Development at the Pacific Community in Suva, Fiji, since 2021. Before this, she spent 23 years at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji teaching and researching in teacher education, curriculum studies, Pacific approaches to research, Pacific studies, and Pacific arts and culture.

Throughout her career, Dr Vaka’uta has held several leadership and management roles, including Director of the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies and Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Arts, Law, and Education. She is deeply passionate about Pacific arts, cultural and creative industries, and contextual education, safeguarding indigenous knowledge, Pacific research methodologies and culturally responsive approaches to development.

Dr Vaka’uta’s academic work includes a master’s thesis on multicultural education in Fiji and a doctoral study exploring Pacific conceptions of education for sustainable development and resilience through Samoan and Tongan heritage arts. She has also developed and taught over 20 courses across face-to-face, distance, and online learning modalities.

Mr Christopher Nisbert Waiwori is from Solomon Islands. He is currently the Acting Programme Manager for Arts & Culture/ Sport and Youth Development Programme and the Senior Executive Advisor to the Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat. He joined the Secretariat in July 2018.

Prior to joining the Secretariat, Mr Waiwori was Secretary to the Parliamentary Leader of the Independent Members of Parliament and was National Consultant and Policy Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Solomon Islands. Mr Waiwori served in various senior policy and political advisory positions in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Solomon Islands, the Office of the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.

Mr Waiwori holds a Postgraduate degree in Political Science from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.

Dr Eva Marie Wang is the founder and convenor of HIRAYA Collective for the Blind, a community of blind and sighted individuals in the Philippines, co-creating accessible and inclusive spaces for learning, creativity and innovation. HIRAYA focuses on the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 30 - Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport.   

Dr Wang serves as the co-convenor of Project ADAM (Audio Description Awareness Movement), a collaboration of 14 blind organisations advocating for inclusive media and championing the Philippine Audio Description Bill. She became right eye-blind and left eye vision-impaired due to Retinopathy of Prematurity and facilitates workshops on topics ranging from disability and accessibility to politics of international education.   

Dr Wang holds a PhD in Global Education Cooperation from Seoul National University (Republic of Korea), a Master’s in International Studies from Korea University (Republic of Korea) and a BA in Psychology from the University of the Philippines Diliman (Philippines).   

Dr Alexandra Xanthaki was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in October 2021. She is Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, UK. Throughout her academic career, Dr Xanthaki has published on the cultural rights of minorities and Indigenous peoples, cultural diversity, cultural heritage, balancing cultural rights with other rights and interests, multiculturalism and integration in international human rights law. She has worked with NGOs, civil society and has consulted States on such issues.  

Dr Xanthaki’s doctorate was on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations, under the supervision of Patrick Thornberry. She has a master's degree in Human Rights and Emergency Law.  

Dr Xanthaki is a member of the Summer Human Rights Faculty at Oxford. She is the founder of the Athens Refugee Project, where students have volunteered since early 2016 with refugee civil society organisations. 

Ms Manojna Yeluri is the Regional Representative for Asia & the Pacific at Artists at Risk Connection (ARC).

Since 2020, Ms Yeluri has worked across Asia to strengthen networks for at-risk creatives, co-authoring key publications and facilitating diverse workshops. She is also a lawyer and the founder of Artistik License, a legal consultancy and education platform helping artists navigate entertainment, intellectual property and cultural rights law.

Ms Yeluri holds a law degree from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law, India and a Master of Laws (LLM) in Entertainment, Media and Intellectual Property Rights Law from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, USA.

Ms Samba Yonga is a journalist, communications specialist and cultural curator based in Lusaka, Zambia. She is co-founder and Museum Director of the Women’s History Museum of Zambia, an institution established to research and restore African Indigenous narratives, knowledge and living histories of women using digital technologies.  

Ms Yonga curatorial work and research centres on preserving African cultural heritage as part of decolonial practice. She works to centre Indigenous knowledge systems alongside communities to support the process of correcting knowledge asymmetries to validate the knowledge production process of local communities. She is also involved in future-modelling design for museums and sites of memory for cultural heritage across Africa.  

Ms Yonga is the founder and managing partner of Ku-Atenga Media, a communications agency that designs strategies to impact development for Africans, by Africans.  

Dr Sang-Keun Yoo is an Assistant Professor in the English and Global Studies Department at Marist University in New York, USA. He is the author of Speculative Orientalism: Asian Religions in New Wave Science Fiction, published by Bloomsbury Academic.

Dr Yoo earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Riverside, USA with the support of a Fulbright scholarship. His work has been recognised with the Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) Women’s and Gender Studies Essay Award and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) Jamie Bishop Award.

Dr Yoo currently serves as Submissions Editor for The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts and as the Korea Representative for the Science Fiction Research Association.

Dr Daryna Zhyvohliadova’s is a cultural professional and academic from Ukraine with expertise in management and knowledge exchange practices for international cultural cooperation, as well as in strategies for safeguarding cultural heritage. She is currently the Academic Project Coordinator at KU Leuven for the HERitage UKRaine project within the Faculty of Arts, MoSa - History of Modernity and Society, Belgium. In 2023, she was awarded the Youth Cultural Protection Professional Award by the International Arts and Antiquities Forum, UK.   

Dr Zhyvohliadova has delivered guest lectures at universities worldwide, including the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), University of Maribor (Slovenia) and University of Technology Sydney (Australia). She has served as consultant to the ALIPH Foundation, Europa Nostra and the Cultural Relations Platform; led the Creative Europe Desk; and coordinated the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) humanitarian response for youth. As an individual member of leading European networks, including ENCATC and Culture Action Europe, she is a committed youth advocate and promotes culture as a cornerstone of sustainable development. 

Dr Zun Ei Phyu is the Program Manager for Networks and Alliances at Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH), an independent non-profit, non-government organisation that empowers diverse cultural practitioners to bring to life their visions for a sustainable and inclusive Asia. In her role, she works with grassroots arts organisations, supporting them to expand their networks, increase visibility, and build resilience. She coordinates projects with external partners seeking to collaborate with the practitioners and organisations in MCH’s network. 

Dr Zun Ei is a Fellow of MCH as an artist and expressive art therapist, focusing on healing, community well-being, and social justice through art. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is recognized for her consultancy and mentorship of youth, art and cultural practitioners, and community advocates for social change. 

Dr Zun Ei holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Medicine 2, Yangon, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Psychology.