 Thank you very much. Welcome back to the closing plenary of the 2018 Edinburgh International Culture Summit. This particular session aims to bring together the various threads of discussion that we have had over the past few days. I would like to start, by inviting our four lead rubberters back to report back on the policy discussions starting with Ruth Pogarth. WORTH CYBREADER I thank you, Presiding o. I thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. Those are the top headlines from this morning's culture and wellbeing sessions. The top one in terms of wellbeing is that medicine alone cannot do everything. I'm obviously not going to be able to do justice to all the conversations that have taken place this morning, so allow me just to pull out three very top-level common themes. First, from a research point of view, it is really striking that there is a substantial body of data and evidence-based to demonstrate the value of arts and culture to health and wellbeing. That is across a wide range of disciplines, from arts and cultural studies to psychology and neuroscience to education and to politics, and across the full range of artistic practice too, from performing and visual arts to literature, museums and of course digital art forms. So I think we can now say unequivocally that the evidence is there. Participation in arts and culture really does enhance wellbeing. Let's put that data to use. Secondly, in terms of the artist, and that's my short hand for all arts and cultural practitioners, what emerged from the roundtables was the imperative for including the kind of experiential and embodied knowledge that an artist brings into wellbeing research into health provision and into policy making. We bring together theory, practice and policy with the artist integrally engaged as a practice-based researcher, as a co-creator of knowledge and of policy and crucially as a driver of innovation. Artists think differently. That's obviously already happening, as we've seen all throughout these two days, but it's often still too difficult to work across the boundaries. There are still too many barriers to this kind of collaboration for all sorts of reasons, from economic scarcity, restricted funding models, mismatches between policy and practice. I think someone mentioned fear, mistrust and, to a lack of joined up policy making in arts, in health, in education and in provision. Third and last point I want to make, while it's really clear in this area, I thought, more than of all the three areas, there are huge opportunities. But there are still big challenges, not least, and despite a huge amount of goodwill, policy makers struggle with the stark reality of budgets. We just have to acknowledge that. But leaving money aside for the moment, if we can, another challenge which came across, which I thought was really interesting, was that of translation. I'm an artist, I don't do data. I'm an artist, I'm not a therapist. By translation, I mean trying to bridge the gap between the languages of the artist, the academy and the policy maker. Of course there are exceptions, but for most people, people working in these different fields come from different tribes and they need to learn to speak each other's languages, to work together more effectively for wellbeing. I think that this summit has been an excellent opportunity to bridge that gap. So thank you to Jonathan, and that's all from me. Thank you. Thank you very much Ruth, and now Catherine Holden to report back on the culture and investment strand. Good afternoon everybody. Culture and investments, what's the bottom line? Adam Smith, the Scottish economist, published The Wealth of Nations 250 years ago, a seismic shift in economic thinking at the dawn of the industrial revolution. As we now ride the digital revolution, can we redefine notions of wealth? Is a new wealth of nations found in creativity, in knowledge resources, in communicative power and in culture? So our sessions looked at ideas of value and worth, at the places, at what you might call the plumbing of cultural infrastructure and the people who make it all happen. How do we assess where we invest and whose culture we invest in? We heard from artists and economists, architects and directors, professors and practitioners, researchers and designers, film makers, placemakers and policy makers. We explored regional and national investment models from across the globe, from full state funding, with all its comforts, but all its dangers, of dependency, complacency and political influence. We looked at a more Darwinian competitive sphere, reliant on responsiveness to markets and funders' plural agendas for better or for worse. However, speakers often reflected that investment is not only about money, but investing time, offering wisdom, sharing skills. It's about the practicalities providing places for artists to work, to create, to perform an exhibit, mapping underused areas and zoning them for artistic practice in the face of competition for housing or commercial development. It's about sharing facilities, equipment, materials and accommodating the glorious messiness of artistic production. It's also about supporting artists' own self-sustainability in professional practice, in knowledge of marketing, business development, legal compliance, insurance, tax, all the maybe deeply unsexy sides of life, but nevertheless the stuff of economic life. Twenty-one years now, after Bill Bow gave birth to what we now know as the Guggenheim Effect, we heard about the role of the V&A in igniting what the local papers are calling Dundee's New Dawn. Working in an innovative partnership with universities, with city authorities, with enterprise agencies, businesses and donors, to change a city, no small ambition, which Dundonian novelist Ale Kennedy previously saw as a grey, lifeless place she was once desperate to leave to a place now labelled by GQ as Britain's coolest little city. Some of us will see that tonight. Your place-making can be about the remarkable mega-build, costing mega-millions, but also about rediscovering what you already have, the talents of the nation, the potential of your assets. It's yes to the shiny and the new, but also to burnishing old gold, allowing and encouraging artists to animate your parks, your squares and your streets, just look at Edinburgh now. This is let us do the show right here. It's less about expense and more about experience. Aligned with this, we heard about agile cities and lively infrastructures, using pilot pop-up and experimental spaces, creating temporary structures which enable producers to test ideas for big developments and trial them live in real time with real people. We agreed culture is not a crude tool of regeneration, a socio-economic food parcel to parachute drop. Real success springs from below and is rooted in genuine need. In this way, cultural projects tackle rather than compete with civic challenges. The investment choice is not capital versus community, but capital because of community. That community can be complex. Major developments can embrace difficulty, ambiguity and sensitivities. The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington expects its visitors to work to grapple with issues, and this investment has produced not just a museum, but a social space, a pilgrimage site and a place of resistance. This is winning thousands of visitors a day, millions a year. Our speakers also encouraged us to take the long view and develop longer standing relationships with our architects, our city planners, our social and educational services and take a whole life view of our buildings, programmes and institutions, their birth, maturing and aftermath, which flexes with changing times. Finally, we too heard a plea for a different kind of multilingualism. Let's get fluent in the language of other policy makers, the ones who aren't in the room today, the community leaders, grassroots influencers, budget holders and decision makers in political, economic, social and educational circles. All investors want a payoff, a return on investment. The good news is that, as our three sessions showed, culture can deliver individually and in community. Resilience, pride, creativity, confidence, health and wellbeing, a sense of identity and self-worth and, surely, this is the true life of wealth. Asif Magid, who will report on the culture in a networked world strand, will now hear from him. As far as culture in a networked world is concerned, I want to speak on four main points—tensions, research questions and things we need to think about moving forward, what might look in terms of policy proposals and then just a few thoughts to make it possible for us to really tap into the experience that we've had over the past two days. In terms of tensions, the first thing I want to recognise is that none of the categories that I'm speaking about are things that need to be understood as static rather than need to be understood as dynamic, fluid and always moving. Networks are, in fact, about connectivity and culture itself is something that continues to be shaped by the experiences of what's around it and also what's within it. Some of the tensions that emerged within the small group discussions that we had were things around multiplicity compared to integration, the local and the global, the ecosystem versus the ego system, tradition or contemporary practice, independent or interdependent, private public, pride, anxiety, professional, personal, structures and individuals, top-down versus bottom-up, and then, of course, complexity and simplicity. Now, again, the thing that we need to recognise when we're looking at this from a policy perspective is that every single one of these categories requires a constant oscillation, requires a constant recognition of the fact that we cannot say that only complexity is the answer or only simplicity is the answer. So to that effect, some of the research questions and things we might be thinking about in terms of a way forward have to do with how we can wrestle with both creating structures from a political and policy perspective that institutionalise the space that artists, young people and practitioners need to be able to work effectively in the context in which they find themselves. An example of this would be how can we institutionalise open space that enables person-to-person connections? How do we diffuse power from ministerial politics to young artists? How do we deal with multi-faceted policies that can be implemented at interpersonal, local, community, regional and national levels that serve as gateways for artists to take the lead? And also, how do policy makers integrate art makers into their decision-making processes and fund the art-making experience over and above the product of art itself? When it comes down to it making the possibility for these spaces, even if they are institutionally structured, it makes something that is significantly more relevant to the way in which actual practice is happening on the ground. So, in terms of the policy proposals and things that we might be thinking about, there's a huge emphasis that came out of the discussions on relationships, and there's a huge emphasis on how do we preserve the humanity of the relationships from the top-down perspective of what a policy thinker might be focusing on compared to the bottom-up practice that an artist or a young person, for example, might be thinking on. The examples of Denmark and of Scotland in terms of their youth arts advisory councils were brought up and those were hugely successful, but also within that we need to recognise that youth is not a one-size-fits-all category. It is in fact differentiated and must be differentiatable within and among the types of youth that we see along race, class, gender, sexuality and other lines. A final thing that I might think about in terms of policy proposals is that within this, policy must be considered at multifarious and sort of multifaceted levels, things that address various stakeholders and account for the differentiation that recognises that context matters. It cannot again be a one-size-fits-all solution. In terms of structures and how we make it possible to include the dynamism and flexibility, we need to be opened by design. One of the things that's been beautiful about this summit is the way in which the presiding officer, for example, has been really generous with allowing people to take the time that they need to speak, and allowing that flexibility as much as it's been... That wasn't a knock. Yeah, I know. I'm right there with you. As much as that's something that we have to in-build because there are structures that we need to fit into and boxes that we need to map, there's also the importance to recognise that things take time and it's okay to let them do that. The last thing then that I would mention is a return to three moments of connection that we all experienced together in this chamber to remind us of what it is like to be in a networked world and to use culture as the way of dealing with it. The moment of silence that we all held together, standing in honour of Kofi Anan, singing this morning with Toto and David, which though they were not part of the culture in a networked world stream, definitely connected all the way across, and also together our instantaneous and collective decision to offer a standing ovation for Julian after his performance this morning. These moments are the types of moments that we need to clarify and we need to be able to make happen as much as humanly possible in ways that are both institutionalised but also recognise the facet of this. I'll leave you then with two ideas. There is radical potential in creating beautiful things. That's idea one. And the second idea returns to Aung Kong Sen's idea from the very first speech that he gave, which is that we need to hold on to the lived experience of being with one another because failure to do so means failure to understand that our networks are really about the people that we are with on a day to day basis. Thank you. Thank you, Asif. And our last reporters are reporting back on the youth programme, and I can invite Emma Rews and Arianne Welsh to present. So to report back on this year's youth programme, I need to throw us back to two years ago at the culture summit 2016, which was the first time young people were invited to attend. The youth summit started as a completely separate strand and throughout the three days became intertwined. And I stood here and I spoke to all the delegates and I asked them all to go back to their country and to talk to their young people. I was ecstatic a year later when we were approached by the culture summit team to lead on the youth delegations here at the summit. We are the National Youth Arts advisory group. You may have heard us over the past few days. I know we've not been quiet. We've been some of your delegates, speakers and rapporteurs. And outside of us throughout the programme, there has been young people integrated seamlessly. Even when the young people haven't been present at discussions, the discussions have still mentioned them. They've still been involved. And it's been incredible to see the support that everyone in this room has for the value of young people across the globe. We've also, as Eve mentioned, seen the value of their having a National Youth Arts advisory group. So anyone who might be interested should definitely consider going back to their country and trying to create something similar or see what they could possibly do to allow the youth of their country to have voices. In case you are interested, there is a document about NIAG, the National Youth Arts advisory group, inside your delegation pack that I would definitely recommend reading and includes an incredible introduction from our Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop. One of the most important things we've definitely done over the past three days was to hold a youth delegate meeting prior to the opening of the summit. It was incredible to hear what everyone had to say and get the opportunity to meet them, as this is the first time every country was invited to bring their own youth delegate. We spoke about the key themes, though I won't delve into that too much as we've had three incredible summaries already, and much of it was in alignment. But we also asked them the question, what does culture mean to you? And what one of the youth delegates said I thought was incredible, so I'll just repeat it to you now. Culture is a way of life, a way of how I express myself, a way my life is formed, culture defines me and it is not how I define my culture. The theme of this summit, connecting peoples and places, perhaps has never been so apt. As Scotland celebrates the year of young people, we also celebrate the fact that young people have been involved in every aspect of the past three days. As I can confidently and fully slightly biasly say, the variety organisation and structure of this year's summit has been vastly improved by involving young people. And this involvement prompts an interesting provocation. In the Our Shared World Youth Engagement discussion, which featured a panel entirely made up of young artists and game changers, it was suggested that we do not need to create a space where the ideas and values of young people can be explored. This space already exists. The focus should be on an integrating young people at all stages of the decision making and strategic planning process. Only then can arts and culture remain relevant and challenging. I'm reminded of Wednesday's opening statements from Sir Jonathan and also from First Minister Nicholas Sturgeon, who both referenced Robert F Kennedy. When asked about the value of youth, Mr Kennedy said, the world demands the qualities of youth, not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease. We often hear that young people are the next generation, the future of our country. But are we overlooking the contribution that young people can make today? We are the now. Young people have a unique ability to challenge and upset the status quo for the better. Our provocation for you all today is to use this power of imagination, harness this drive for change and who knows what incredible and defining things we can achieve together. Thank you. Emma and Ariane, I thank all our rapporteurs who presented this afternoon, but I also thank all the rapporteurs who worked throughout the conference to bring back and to pull these strands together. I think that we're all very grateful indeed for your work. We're now going to turn, I'm particularly conscious of what we've got, the heads of delegations would like to make a few contributions. I would just emphasise that this particular session, because there are buses waiting to take half of you to Dundee, the session has to begin to close at quarter to three. Please keep your contributions short, three minutes if possible, for the talks, and then we'll get everybody in. Can I call first from Zambia, the Honourable Charles R. Banda, Minister of Tourism and Arts? Mr Banda. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Let me also thank all my colleagues who have come to attend the summit. I wish to begin by saying that we are very grateful that you invited us, Zambia, to come and attend this summit, which we have found very, very, very useful. The presentations have been very good right from day one when we started listening to our colleagues expressing the different competencies on the topics that were given for us to discuss. It has come out very clearly here that all of us are discussing culture in the same vein. There are certain things maybe that we are lacking to reposition culture and put it exactly what it is supposed to be. In as far as our economies are concerned, well-being is concerned, we are talking about healthcare, also talking about connectivity. So through the different presentations that were given, we are very, very satisfied that we have been able to explain the importance of culture in as far as our lives are concerned. I attended a round table discussion this afternoon where one speaker actually asked all of us to go back home where we have come from and tell our ministers of health how important culture and art are to the well-being of the people. I believe it because looking at the presentation which was done by one professor here this morning who talked about culture, art and the mental status of different people and so forth and so on. I have every belief that we have a duty to ensure that we reposition culture, art and put them where they are supposed to be for the well-being of our people in all aspects right from the economies of our country's culture plays a part. When you talk about connectivity, culture plays a very big role. When you talk about healthcare, culture plays a very big role. As a policymaker, I think that I've got a duty to ensure that we revisit the position of culture now and ensure that we place culture and art where they belong. Thank you very much. I'm going to turn to Korea next and then on to that Gambia. First of all, from the Republic of Korea, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Woosung Lee. Hello to all delegations. This is Woosung Lee. I'm the Deputy Minister of Culture and Korean Government. I'm so honored to make speech at the closing date. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Scottish Government and the Parliament for the successful organisations of the 2018 Edinburgh International Cultural Summit. The overall theme of the 2018 Cultural Summit, culture connecting peoples and place, as well as the themes for the each sessions explore the expanded role of the culture as it move beyond the traditional and customary role it has played in the past. The Korean Government has for a long time been reflecting on the possible roles culture can play in a society that is currently fractured and conflicted. You are able to focus our response into culture vision 2030, Korean long-term cultural policy blueprint. It was announced to the public in May 2018. I would like to share this with you today. The Korean Government first expanded the meaning of culture so that through the culture itself we may be able to actively respond to and can serve social issues. Culture vision 2030 is a comprehensive policy blueprint that includes a range of people and human beings-centred cultural policies and programs. It is composed of three main values, autonomy, diversity and creativity. First, guaranteeing one's autonomy means that everyone has an inalienable right to freedom of expressions and freedom to enjoy culture. In order to achieve complete personal autonomy, we would like to first guarantee the status and the rights of cultural artists and workers. To this end, we plan to make amendments to the constitution so that freedom of expressions is explicitly stipulated and so that the prevention of a proven or prior censorship on such expression is clarified in the constitutional text. We will also be able to strengthen the autonomy of government-affiliated cultural institutions and we will be able to establish a social security system for artists and athletes. Moving forward in order to expand the public ability to exercise their cultural rights, the Korean Government plans to directly stimulate those cultural rights in the constitution and will endeavour to reduce cultural divide by providing a new-step cultural card, a government subsidy given to the households with a child entering the primary school. Secondly, this long-term policy is focused on the value of diversity. Minister, I can tell you that you have a number of points, but I wonder if I could ask you to make them short, to make your second and third point and conclude. A realisation of the diverse communities means respecting different cultures that are based on the unique identities which constitute societies such as class, gender, race and reason. In order to protect different cultures, the Korean Government will support arts that are based on the different cultural identities. We will also develop and provide diverse educations. Furthermore, in order to help colourful local cultures flourish, we will preserve, develop and authenticise the uniqueness of local cultures. The Korean Government plans to settle social issues that are challenging Korean society by spreading social creativity to the final value. We will strengthen the capacity to concentrate cultural resources by merging culture with different fields. To this course and we will be initiating various R&D projects so that we will merge arts and science, then we will be developing current that will bring together cultural industries. We will also pursue... Minister, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to conclude your remarks at that point. Okay, okay. Through these three main values, autonomy, diversity and creativity, as well as through programmes affording these values, Korean issues and cultural workers. Thank you. I apologise for interrupting anybody if they've got concluding remarks, but I really do make them concise, we'll get more in. I'm going to turn to the United Kingdom shortly, but first, Gambia. I'd like to call the Honourable Amat N.K. by the Minister of Tourism and Culture. Thank you. Minister, Presiding Officer, and, of course, officials around you there. Let me take this opportunity once again and say I am happy to be in this city of amazing beauty, so much of architectural design that I will be on human imagination. I became very impressed and fallen in love with Edinburgh for the first time I visited the city. Minister, Presiding Officer, I think you will not do justice to us as a delegation for three minutes on the issues that you want to discuss, knowing what has happened to others, has spoken for 20 minutes in the past and so forth. I just ask your intelligence to give me a little bit of extra time so that I can put my point across. First of all, when I looked at culture in general and listened to the Scottish music and the instrument that you are playing is exactly what we have at home. And as a result, there is a Serigambian musician called Baba Mal. He has virtually settled in Scotland because the music of Scottish music and the Fulani music, the type I came from is almost identical, unique. It shows how complex this wall is. And sometimes when I was in China last year, when I heard them play the music at a galladina, it was like if I was in my village. So it shows how this wall has come together and yet still we try to divide it. Let me go on the issue of culture. I was invited by the German Cultural Diplomatic Institute, myself and Gordon Brown and John Coffwell in my to give a speech on culture in general as a means of really resolving the current conflicts that we have on the wall. Mr President, if you are looking at the issues, I think culture alone can resolve both our economic, social and our problems in general. But unfortunately, policymakers are not taking culture seriously and the implications and the ramification of some of the decisions that we take how much it can affect society. I'll give you just a couple of examples. Closer home, you can find in Nigeria today, they have the nomads. It's part of their culture and their way of life. If you go to parliament, make a law to ban it without telling them an alternative for them to be able to practice their culture, what you invite is violence. And we've seen the hundreds of people that have been killed in Nigeria today because there is a cultural practice that they are trying to stop without giving an alternative. So as policymakers, we need to revisit, we need to examine what we do and how we do it. This is not unique to Nigeria. And I can tell you in general, most of our countries today, our minorities are at a disadvantage. They are at a disadvantage because those in power tend to use the media, the instrument of power to deprive them of their cultural rights and their cultural practices and their way of life. As a result, what they do, they result to violence. And we've seen what happened in Palestinian today. We've seen what happened with the ISIS. They've all been generated out of wrong policies that we as policymakers that we are doing and we are not taking into account. So if you want to keep peace today, cultural diplomacy must take centre stage. And culture generally embodied all our way of life, the way we eat today. Today in my country more people die of diabetes than any other disease. And yet still the West is saying diabetes is the disease of the rich man when we are coming from one of the poorest parts of the world and people are dying of diabetes on daily basis in my country. Because the cultural, our way of eating, our food culture have been abandoned and we are adopting mentors that are not part of our life. And we need to do how we again as policymakers, how we can really use culture to resolve our crisis as a judicial tool. How many times have we resolved at home using our cultural values and norms to resolve crisis without going through the judicial process? The modern judicial process. I think there are a lot of other issues that we can take into account today. By using culture we should be able to bring people closer together, not only about the economic gains. A country like United States of America get most of his revenue from the creative industry. We all know that as a fact of life. How many of us are now investing in culture to create the jobs, to support the system? Nigeria have succeeded in the theme industry. India have succeeded. But how many other countries have succeeded in Africa or in the developing country to develop our music industry, our theme industry, to make sure that the life of our people is changed in a positive manner? I want to hear you for 20 minutes, but we don't have it. So I'll give you another one minute absolute maximum. One more minute. So Mr President and officer, I want to believe that as we are gathered here today, we have learned so much. But I can tell you we could have given a lot more. And I think in future really, on organizing these conferences, people should be allowed and every country at least to be given 10, 15 minutes to be able to come out with what is policy. Today in my country, culture has been considered as a priority sector of our government. And therefore we are coming with a new cultural policy that takes all these things into account to address the differences and the issues that we have in order to bring people together and keep the country moving by virtue of the way if our people could have lived together 100 years ago using all the cultural values and practices. Why can't we do it today? I think it's because if we are wrong somewhere, our policies are wrong somewhere. It is not the power that can compel it. It is not the money that can buy this human spirit. And once that spirit is in us, we should be able to use culture as a tool of peace, culture as an economic tool, culture as a uniting force and I think that this is where we need to consider the future team of this country. Thank you, Mrs. Thank you very much, minister. And in a short second, we'll hear from Sierra Leone, but first, Filming United Kingdom, Minister Michael LSNP, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism. Well, thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the partners here today, the volunteers involved in organising such a wonderful event. And especially to you, Mr Presiding Officer, for graciously hosting us in this wonderful and magnificent chamber. This summit, of course, provides a brilliant opportunity for ministers, for artists, for practitioners. And of course, for this year's summit, notably young practitioners, to come from across the globe to discuss, to challenge and to formulate cultural strategies. And culture, as we know, has the power to bring people together, to bring places, to bring nations together and enrich the lives of all of our citizens. And so I very much applaud everyone who has made the effort to come to Edinburgh this year and engage in such lively discussions as we've been hearing. Everyone here today, Presiding Officer, knows that culture make our lives better. We also know that the opportunity to be an awd audience member or a participant of an arts event should be open, an opportunity open to everyone. Listening to the speeches this morning highlighted the positive role that culture can have on our lives, whether it's the research that Dr Habibi presented on the power of music on brain development or the work that Professor Bloom showed highlighting the impact of art on Parkinson's whilst amazing us with evidence that the choice to become an artist reduces the likelihood to contract Parkinson's. Amazing information there and what a privilege, if I may say so, to see such a wonderful performance from Mr Herman. I think we can all agree that we as policy makers in this room, we must continue to explore the potential use of our cultural assets in bettering the lives of people in our countries and across the globe. I think we can all agree also that we have heard some powerful evidence that we can take back to our own countries and use as we develop future policy. It's an exciting time for those who advocate the role of arts in health. My former colleague in his new role as Secretary of State for Health in the United Kingdom, Matt Hancock, recently announced £4.5 million for new or existing social prescribing projects in England. There is a great opportunity here, I think, for cultural organisations and arts practitioners to further demonstrate how their work can ensure a healthy society. Social and cultural relationships are key to good health and I think anyone here today who has sung an acquire, volunteered at a museum, taken part in any other number of ways can attest that the relationships forged can be truly meaningful and life-changing. So to conclude, Mr Presiding Officer, I hope everyone here has had the opportunity to engage in positive and sometimes challenging discussions, can take back thoughts, ideas and best practices to help formulate future cultural policies. If we can work together to demonstrate to others the true impact of arts and culture, society will become healthier and happier. We, the UK Government, look forward to keeping these conversations going in the future with you all. I hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy the festivals across Edinburgh during your time here. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much, Mr Ellis. Shortly, we'll hear from South Africa, but first from Sierra Leone, Mrs Mimina to be Pratt, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. Mrs Pratt. Presiding Officer, good afternoon to all the delegates, heath of delegations, distinguished guest ladies and gentlemen. I stand here on behalf of the Republic of Sierra Leone as the Minister of Tourism and Culture. Now, the past two days have been very insightful. It has been highly informative and all of the discussions have been really productive with many more ideas around the issue of culture. Today, we are looking at culture for many different dimensions. We are looking at culture in terms of the state of mind. How do we prepare citizens as to how they can be able to relate to culture physically and psychologically? In all of these discussions, what is imagined is that we are breaking the barriers that has to do with resentment for other people's culture and trying to cement the relationship in terms of respect for other people's values. This is extremely important so that we can be able to have common shared values. We can have common visions. What has been most important here is the stories that we will be listening to, the different stories in terms of experiences from various countries. I think that this is the most remarkable process through which we can be able to integrate culture across the world. We have seen during this meeting the powerful nature of culture, especially when it comes to music. The message is that we are now thinking of how we can move traditional modes through which we are looking at music into more modern ways in which music now can become as part of our life. Now we see music therapy emerging. For me, this is really a very good concept that I think we need to roll out our auto medical practitioners across the world. How can music therapy be part of the way of providing healing? Now for Sierra Leone, we have come a long way and of course quite recently we had elections so it's a very good new government and that has been in office for just like three months. But I should say that this is the very first time that the political will is there to support the establishment of the infrastructure for tourism and culture. And by that I mean, we are moving very quickly to change and to ensure that we transform our laws in order that we can create a neighbouring environment. And then we create the national heritage bill which can give us the opportunity of establishing the National Heritage Commission. Why are we doing this? We are doing this because we have huge value. We have interesting cultural heritage sites, huge touristic values that are still untapped. So we are trying to put the mechanisms in place. The second reason is that we are tying the cultural transformation into creating jobs. We have a country where we have over 60% of youth untrained and unemployed. So we are trying to link those concepts. How do we develop the creative industries and try to provide training and job market for these young people? So it carries a different meaning to us in terms of economic development and which makes me to the very important concept of investment in culture. Now in terms of looking at how do we see all of these species playing together in the network world? I believe this is the best way in which we can do it because all of us have been able to pattern our lives around the digital technology. But I think commuting together as global citizens is extremely important so that we can be able to see ourselves face to face and be able to interact more. I will finally say that for us, this summit is coming in a very timely manner because we are in the process of reviewing our laws. So it means most of what we are taking out of this meeting today or for the past two days are going to form the basis for the review of the new cultural policy. And secondly, we're going to use this in terms of how do we try to develop a more informed cultural education curriculum? Cultural education curriculum has its own deficits. I believe it's not only for Sierra Leone because we are looking at catching them young. How do we start to develop and ensure that we provide the right type of education? This is extremely important because we are living in a world we are in, globalisation, the internet, digital technology knows no boundaries. So that I think again is a huge challenge in terms of what we are talking about because those who are exposed to technology are the youths, the young people. We are not there when they interact with technology and then trying to see how they can be able to deal with some of these issues. So as I conclude my statement, we are going to take a lot more in terms of this conference back to our policy making, back to how we are going to reform our infrastructure for tourism and culture. But my final question remains that we need to see how we can improve education at all levels so that digital technology does not destroy the efforts that we are making in terms of promoting culture, wellbeing and investment. Let me thank you all. Thank you. Shortly we'll hear from Jamaica, but first from South Africa, the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, the Honourable Makutsu Magdalene Soto. Presiding Officer, ladies and gentlemen, I'm standing here to speak on behalf of our Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture in South Africa. She's not feeling well this afternoon. It was an eye-opener to hear colleagues from other countries reflecting on the importance of culture as a tie that binds humanity together. The acceptance that humanity has experienced human conflict at a scale unimaginable since humanity itself is a result of lack of recognition and appreciation that as a people we are different, but that differences should not be at the expense of one another. However, there is a wide recognition that is only true culture that bridges can connect nations that culture can facilitate dialogue whilst instilling pride amongst nations. As a colleague from Zambia said, telling a story is a key to preservation and promotion of culture and heritage. It was also heartwarming to hear about the Canada initiatives towards reconciliation with indigenous people and the promotion of indigenous languages and culture. You are not alone in this regard, South Africa had to deal with the recognition of indigenous people or what we refer as the first people. The promotion and protection of culture and heritage is paramount to us in South Africa. This is evident in many policies and legislation we have passed as a country for this very same purpose. As a signatory of the UNESCO 2005 Convention on Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression, we remain committed to this aspect of binding humanity together through culture. The debate in the Scottish Parliament took us on a journey of culture that knows no boundaries or in the ways of one of the speakers and anonymous citizen. Speaker after speaker spoke of the role of culture in enhancing international dialogue and understanding that which is anchored on shared conversations and not sterile confrontation. I cannot agree more with the ways of a poet, Edwin Morgan, that culture has the ability to open doors and let the light of the day shine in whilst that of the night shines out. Culture indeed has an ability to show the best of humanity with an enduring power to strengthen bonds between nations where we instantly become less foreign to one another. The story of Prince Doro, we just had this morning, reminds us of how important cultural tolerance is and what happens when that time which binds us loses its grip. We in South Africa also show the same sentiments that culture reflects the past, challenges the present and has the ability to change the future. We in South Africa are truly blessed that we have become known as the rainbow nation that exposes the values of the great struggle icon for my and first democratic elected president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. This summit also coincide with our centenary celebration of this icon who will have been 10 hundred years this year. A man will live and strive for human understanding, appreciation and acceptance of our diversity as a people. Since 1994, we as a nation have been working tirelessly to build a country that recognizes that there is unity in diversity. This unity is anchored in our most progressive and critical atlant constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is not a coincidence that a country we have managed to build a harmonious society of diverse people that comprises of 11 official language and even more dialects. This differences our biggest currency because there is strength in this collective. South Africa through the department of arts and culture have long realized that cultural industries is our golden economy. As a department we use this golden economy to reach out to the length and breadth of this country to find activities that talk to and contribute to the country's cultural sector. Annually the department distributes up to 22 million US dollars initiatives that promote our culture and diversity. We also support 22 national flagship projects to the tune of 2.8 million a year. We have established funding agencies and cultural research institutions that are closer to communities that we serve. That we serve through these agencies and research institutions are in constant research for cultural solutions aimed at bringing communities together while growing the cultural industries. Our invitation to this historical summit has also recandled all relationship with our friends of liberation struggle who assist us in training some of our leaders. We are reminded of the kind work of the British Council that provided education and learning opportunities through scholarships that saw some of our leaders receiving education in your country. Can I ask you to conclude your remarks, please? In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to express our gratitude on behalf of my government to the Ilienberg International Film Festival, the Scottish Parliament, to ensure the hosting of this successful summit, and also next week Tuesday we'll be hosting the Prime Minister, Theresa May in South Africa to visit Rowan Island where Nelson Mandela spent many years in prison there. Let us take the leave from Professor Richard Sinet's assertion that, I quote, we need to build communities if we are to grow creative industries. This is a profound statement which I agree with. I thank you. Before I call Jamaica, my apologies possibly to Romania and Canada. I'm not sure if we've got time to call either. Maybe we'll get a few words if you wish to, but in the meantime, can I call from Jamaica the Honourable Olivier Grange, CDMP Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Presiding Officer. I'm speaking from the land of the fastest man on planet Earth, Usain Bolt. We thank the Scottish Parliament and the organisers of this summit for the invitation. We applaud the emphasis on youth as without youth, involvement in shaping our programmes and policies. We run the risk of alienating more than half of the world's population. So I really applaud you on this. Culture is an integral contributor to social and economic development in well-being. It is the lens through which we see the world and how we innovate and influence others. An example coming from Jamaica is the Blue and John Crow Mountains, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Mix site in June 2015. And this provided us with an opportunity to develop economic initiatives around the designation. And I should highlight that this is one of the few mixed heritage sites in Latin America and the Caribbean and therefore significant for all peoples across the world. Jamaica, as are other countries present here, signatory to the 2003 UNESCO Convention on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage. And this has been the driver for Jamaica's bid to have the reggae music of Jamaica. And I'm sure all of you know of our reggae music, inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the World. We recognize that our music, the reggae music, has been an anthem for resistance and rebellion across the world and also the impetus for change and the promotion of peace and love through our musical icon Bob Marley. We want to, at this point, refer to some of our best practices in Jamaica. The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Festival of the Arts has been a driver for us for heritage preservation through the annual festival program that spans inclusion and access through primary, high school, aged children as well as children with disabilities. The festival is accessible and engenders widespread participation among young and old and persons with disabilities in our country. And this has helped to shape the identity of the nation through knowledge sharing of traditional folk forms and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage, especially our traditional dance forms. And I would like to use the opportunity now to highlight the excellent performance yesterday by Onkeng Son which shows the importance of fostering diversity in cultural life. Jamaica's recent election to the position on the UNESCO Executive Board will see me as minister advocating for small island developing states and is also my commitment to the global cause of cultural preservation and protection. Cultural relations such as this summit creates opportunities for mutual knowledge sharing, development of the enabling environments and infrastructures that underpin cultural investment and strengthen our cultural and creative enterprise. We further understand that our diversity is also underpinned with a shared history with countries like Scotland and anticipate continued bilateral dialogue but also contributions from our colleagues all across the commonwealth that are present at this forum. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to highlight a concern that I have. It's a fact that here, although I'm happy to be here, I'm looking forward to more participation from the Caribbean and Latin America at future summits, particularly due to our shared history. I end by saying and repeating the words of the Song of the Century. I'm sorry you all can't sing it. One love, one heart, let's get together, and let's sing it. One love, one heart, let's get together and feel all right. Thank you. Thank you very much minister. What a lovely note to finish on. Thank you very much delegates. Apologies, thanks to those who kept the remarks and apologies to those who I had to curtail. We're now going to move into our formal proceedings for closing. I'm going to ask Jackie Colleen, if I can, on behalf of the chair of the British Council and our director here in Scotland to say a vote of thanks. Jackie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Excellencies, honoured guests and friends, my primary and most important task is to acknowledge and thank the people who have contributed to this year's summit and brought it so vividly to life. Before I turn to that, I will take just a few moments to reflect on some of the deep themes and sentiments that have come to the surface over the past few days across the structure and the scaffolding of the formal programme. I seem to have taken 26 pages of notes, but please don't worry, I won't inflict those on you. We have been really privileged to experience the summit in this chamber, which was intentionally designed to encourage dialogue and discourse among different perspectives and in the rooms of the Parliament which have given space for closer and more intimate exploration and exchange. We've experienced poetry and song, movement and musicianship. Our presenters here in the plenaries and in the round table sessions have bravely and generously anchored their contributions in often deeply personal stories from their own lives so that even when we have been looking at complex and challenging issues, all of which come with their own attendant theoretical frameworks, we have in fact had very little abstraction and instead we have had authentic and compelling evidence-based insight. Perhaps every generation feels this, but the sense of our species, the human race, being either at a crossroads, on the cusp or in the very early stages of profound change came strongly through many of our sessions. We heard that the world and our lives are confusing, confused, uncertain. We are permanently connected through electronic devices but can feel perpetually alone. We see so much, we receive so much information, but we don't know if we can believe what we see or trust what we read. Trends such as urbanisation, ageing populations, growing inequality, technological advance can often feel like they're putting a huge and unbearable pressure on our individual agency, on community, on landscape, on our physical infrastructure and on our traditional culture. Happily and hopefully, we heard how we still have voice and choice and that the choices we make are really important. There were eloquent examples of the resilience of culture over generations and how culture can and does and will connect us to our own ancestral networks on King Sen's talking about his connection to his mother's culture and traditions through film and theatre, saying that his mother, though passed away, is present in him like a tailbone vestigial but always present will stay with me. In our session on culture and investment, we heard passionate advocacy for the role, power and further potential of culture in both tackling our biggest challenges and also making life worth living and fighting for. It was heartening to hear all our speakers, whether artists or ministers or other representatives from delegations, unquestioningly accept the case for culture. But as some of the round table discussions and online discussion shows, there is still a call for that to be action, not lip service, as well as a debate to be had about what investing in culture really looks like. We had some very hopeful examples from the high line in New York to the approaches being adapted in various countries that ministers have talked about in their responses today. Brazil, Lithuania, Sierra Leone and Gambia being cases in point. Today, for those of us who were here in 2016, it was a joy to return to the intersection of art and science and to extend the exploration that was begun two years ago and also to rejoice in the further advances in knowledge and practice that have taken place in the intervening period. I think that we will all remember David and Toto's orchestration and choreography, Faisal's gift of laughter and a red nose and Julian's beautiful and heartlifting musical performance. I take away from all of those that this cross-disciplinary, intergenerational collaboration needs to become the norm and the mainstream, not just exciting exceptions that we become inspired by. We can be so much more if we work in this way constantly. We can choose to act on Dr Habibi's evidence-based request that we invest in creative education because the greatest resource that we have for our future is the creative and intellectual capacity of our children. We can choose to hear and accept Sanjoy Roy's offer that artists are here to help. They will put their shoulders to the wheel against the hardest challenges and work with wider society. We can embrace the prescription of Professor Blum and Dr Calderwood, who we heard from earlier, and build a future of care comprised of artists and medics working together, but we must also care for our artists too. This was beautifully encapsulated by our youth delegates from Kenya and Singapore in their earlier responses and one of the particular highlights of the summit for me this year has been the increase in intergenerational and shared ownership of this huge, important agenda. I loved to see yesterday the exchange and learning both between the young delegates and also from the young delegates in our afternoon session. Now to the thanks. A summit like this is a co-production, a huge amount of art, engineering, energy, effort and co-operation has been invested in bringing this summit to life and nearly to conclusion. So please allow me and join me in giving some thanks. First, I would like to thank all ministers, all delegates and representatives who have chosen to prioritise culture just by coming here. In particular, I'd like to thank our young delegates and those who have joined us for the first time. I'd like to very sincerely thank each and every one of our speakers, performers, chairs, facilitators and rapporteurs. You've made a huge contribution to the last few days. Our indefatigable team of volunteers and aides are generous funders, sponsors and supporters whether they be public or private. The venues and institutions hosting visits here in Edinburgh and in Dundee, Her Majesty the Queen and the Palace of Holyrood House for their hospitality. From me personally, all my colleagues in the British Council across the world and across the organisation and a note that some of us still have work to do, as colleagues sitting at the back will be producing a summit report for you to read in due course. And now especially thanks to our partners. I would like to thank the Edinburgh International Culture Summit Foundation, most especially Serangus Grossart and Sir Jonathan Mills and the summit team. I would like to thank the First Minister who joined us yesterday, our Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop who has been here throughout and the whole team at the Scottish Government. I would like to thank the Prime Minister, the right honourable Jeremy right, QCMP Secretary of State for Digital Culture, Media and Sport and Mr Michael Ellis MP who is our Minister for Culture who has been here today as well. As well as the whole DCMS team and wider UK departments, including UK government departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and their embassies and consulates who have all played their part. I'd like to thank Fergus Linehan and the team at the Edinburgh International Festival. They're actually quite busy this time of year. They have other things going on, but they have nevertheless managed to contribute enormously to this. I'd like to thank our knowledge partners. And I would like to thank the presiding officer, the right honourable Ken Macintosh MSP and in fact the whole team at the Scottish Parliament who have worked, I would say, ferociously behind the scenes to give us this experience. I'd like to thank them for welcoming this summit and for hosting us so graciously. My final thought is that I hope you will all leave here with a sense of shared purpose, with renewed resolve and belief in the power of what you're doing and the importance of culture, with new ideas and with deepened and expanded networks. Our honourable friend from Ghana in his ministerial response yesterday said, and I hope I am not misquoting him too badly, he said, we are all wearing the same garment and together we sink or float. And in that spirit, I would like to thank you all for your participation and wish you well. Thank you very much Jackie. And now could we call the only partner for whom we have not heard. Fergus Lennon, director of the Edinburgh International Festival. Presiding Officer, Excellencies ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of all of the Edinburgh festivals and the many thousands of artists, producers, technicians and administrative staff who've delivered this year's festivals, I'd like to thank you for your attendance in our city over the past few days. I'd also of course like to echo Jackie's thanks to all of the partners and the summit staff. It feels fitting that much of the conversation over the past few days has centred around ideas of connectedness, as this city in August is both a celebration of our interconnectedness, but also an investigation of our individual cultural values. It occurs to me that there are moments in time when it feels like there is an urgency around connectedness and interconnectedness. Such a moment was 1947, the year our festival was founded. A time when the hostilities of the Second World War had just come to a close. And the decade that had preceded it was defined by ideologies that sought to emphasise differences. And in the founding principles of the festival, we can sense an almost primal need to reconnect and reunite and reconcile. That spirit continued in the decades that followed and found a powerful voice in Paris in the 1970s when a British director, Peter Brooke, with a group of artists and thinkers from all over the world, came together to form the International Centre of Theatre Research, a loose organisation which sought out shared narratives across our cultures so that we could celebrate a sense of shared humanity. That work culminated a decade later in Brooke's masterwork, The Mahabharata, which played in the tramway theatre in Glasgow in 1988 with a young boy called Akram Khan. Peter is now 92 and is working up the road in the Lyceum Theatre. We're about to go up and do a public interview with him. And Akram, of course, has just contributed to the summit, given us his work, Xenos, and of course, choreographed Caramati, which many of us saw on Wednesday outside the Palace of Hollywood. Caramati and Xenos are both reflections on the end of conflict, and the prisoner considers questions of guilt and forgiveness. So interconnectedness, I think, is still key to reconciliation on both a personal and a societal level. As the poet Laureate Seamus Heaney, the noble Laureate Seamus Heaney, wrote of the conflict in Northern Ireland, if we can find a language, perhaps we can find a solution. One of the most urgent questions that I think has emerged from much of the work in Edinburgh in August and the discussion here is the question of who has access to this interconnected world, the anxiety that a globally connected world favours large urban centres and tech savvy populations while excluding and alienating others. At the same time, I think there are further questions about authorship, about appropriation, about representation and a note of caution perhaps that people's stories, music, paintings and culture are very powerful and need to be approached with great respect and rigor. The question around cultural interconnectedness are being negotiated and debated in the stages and concert halls of the city and indeed in the Parliament over the past few days, and there's no doubt that those debates are fluid and on-going. Another key discussion point over the past few days has been around infrastructure. Before I took on this post and came to live in Edinburgh, I would always come here every year for almost two decades and, like everyone asked the question, how can we replicate what happened in Edinburgh? What did happen in Edinburgh? Why is Edinburgh this festival city? And there's a number of reasons for that, not least the extraordinary people who founded it in 1947. But at the core of it, I believe is a venue, the Usher Hall. In 1914, when Edinburgh's population was half what it is now, a philanthropist called Andrew Usher bestowed upon the city a music venue, which was, in reality, far larger and of a far higher quality than was required at the time. Around the same time the King's Theatre was being constructed and the Empire Theatre, now the Festival Theatre, was rebuilt. So this modest city was building a cultural infrastructure that went far beyond the requirements of the citizenry and unbeknowns to itself was building the foundation of the Edinburgh festivals. But I don't think that that was accidental. I think it reflected a view not of what the city was, but of what the city might become. And as we approach major cultural projects, be they capital or otherwise, we, of course, write business plans and assess economic impact. But at the heart of any of those plans lies a fundamental philosophical position, that the future of our city or of our country or of the world will be brighter, that future generations will have bigger and better dreams than us and that our core job is to ensure that they'll have the tools to realise them, that our best years, essentially, have yet to come. So when people say to me, how could we replicate what happened here in Edinburgh, I would always give them three pieces of advice. Build optimistically, build implausibly and build for generations yet to come. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Fergus. And I think it's only fitting that we close our cultural summit with an artistic performance. And to that end, I would like to invite Bia Webster, who is a Glasgow-based actress and theatre maker who graduated with a BA performance in British Sign Language and English at the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland to perform Long Lost Lover. Thank you. A narrow dawn breaks on the airport of my childhood. Thick air of spices, warmed and tentanous enters my nose and breathes out a wave of no-sowsher. And here I am, the home of my soul, dawn-long and breaks being like a long lost lover. Over the temple of the dawn, the sun rises where I see a sabre on monks, lines up to receive arms upon the old fennest of the east as Asian which takes me to my family, banker in breaks being like a long lost lover. Over the sour pear wrapper, the sun shines on this muddy water with this bitter head buried in the tree from one time long gone when it's one soured in golden leaves. Out here in breaks being like a long lost lover. Over the gulf of Tyran, the sea clutters, hermit cramps make home in plastic. Beasting on water melons from Beast Cumars, left at the Gay Street, tolerated for no-rights, patterned like in breaks being like a long lost lover. Over the helly rice plains, the rice kitchen life, my mechanical hear's picks up, clattering, dumping, tapping inside a 20-barth, cheap, cheap, cheap, mercant lace ware of Asian times, shine like in breaks being like a long lost lover. From the Adam and Eve to the golden plains, the land of this mile always creates me warmly. Even though it sees my broken ear, it says that I must have done wrong my past life. Tyran embraced being like a long lost lover. I'll put my microphone on for the rest of you. Thank you very much, Bea. That was excellent for the lovely way to conclude our summit today. That is it. Thank you for me. Before I close, as always, I'll hand over to Joanne Gendelor, who will escort you or tell you where to go to get buses to the V&A for those who are going there. I'd just like to say thank you very much indeed. I hope that we've enjoyed the last few days. I hope that we've found it stimulating. I hope that we've enjoyed Edinburgh in particular and to give you the Scottish Fairwell, Haste G, back. Thank you very much. I close this meeting of the 2018 Edinburgh culture summit.