1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
Lunch & Prayer Break
Culture Studio 02
Creative Hustle – How Smes Lead Through Innovation
Small doesn’t mean small-minded. This session spotlights the creative entrepreneurs, designers, and studios innovating with limited resources — and making a big impact. From pop-up fashion labs to independent media and local crafts platforms, we explore how SMEs in the cultural sector turn constraint into opportunity, and what kind of targeted support can help them grow, sustain, and scale their vision.
3:20 PM - 3:30 PM
Prayer Break (Asr)
Culture Studio 01
Investing In Immersive Cultural Experiences
Immersive cultural experiences are transforming how audiences engage with heritage, art, and storytelling. From interactive theaters and digital installations to VR-driven exhibitions, the experience economy is redefining cultural value. This session explores the creative and financial models behind immersive formats, and how they’re shaping tourism, placemaking, and cultural investment across the globe. Panelists will discuss what it takes to fund, scale, and sustain immersive experiences that blend technology with meaning. In addition, present investable models and case studies demonstrating cultural experiences with scalable economic returns.
3:35 PM - 3:45 PM
Prayer Break (Asr)
Plenary 02
Culture Meets Capital – What Investors Want
What do investors really want from cultural ventures? This reverse pitch flips the script — instead of creatives pitching ideas, investors will share the kinds of cultural projects they’re looking to back. From immersive digital experiences to heritage preservation and next-gen performance spaces, this session reveals real investment criteria, deal-breakers, and funding trends. Designed to close the conference on a practical and opportunity-driven note, it’s a must-attend for cultural entrepreneurs, institutions, and anyone seeking to turn creative vision into funded reality.
Plenary 01
Closing of Day 1
3:30 PM - 3:40 PM
Prayer Break (Asr)
Plenary 01
Documenting Cultural Infrastructure
Chapter 4: EVOLVING SPACES – BUILDING CULTURE'S CAPITAL VALUE Museums, biennales, and cultural districts are evolving into strategic assets. This chapter explores how cultural infrastructure can deliver public value and economic return through spaces that are sustainable, inclusive, and globally competitive. Round 1 – Architecture and Institutional Development: What does it take to turn cultural infrastructure into engines of regeneration and growth? This round brings perspectives from leaders shaping the physical and institutional frameworks of culture, exploring how planning, design, and new models can secure investment, attract audiences, and embed culture into city life. Round 2 – Curatorial Vision and Cultural Ecosystems: Spaces come alive through vision and content. This round explores how curators and cultural leaders transform infrastructure into ecosystems that shape identity, engage communities, and connect local audiences to global networks; ensuring cultural spaces deliver both meaning and value.
Culture Studio 02
Culture In Common - Who Pays, Who Benefits?
As global attention turns toward culture-led development, a pressing question arises: who should finance the cultural infrastructure that drives regional identity, tourism, education, and creative economies? From collaborative funding of heritage sites to revitalizing cultural districts, culture is increasingly seen not only as a moral cause but as an economic strategy. This session explores how regional alliances, international donors, and public-private partnerships can work together to fund cultural initiatives. Can culture be a shared investment in the future, rather than a solitary national burden? With insights from legal experts, philanthropists, and cultural investors, this debate examines how cooperation can transform cultural heritage into a long-term regional asset.
Culture Studio 01
Country Case Studies Showcase - Global Pathways to Cultural Growth
From heritage preservation and grassroots tourism to large-scale cultural branding, countries worldwide are leveraging culture as a catalyst for economic transformation. This rapid-fire showcase highlights diverse models that link creativity, identity, and inclusive growth. Featured Case Studies: United Kingdom – Libraries as Cultural Infrastructure for Innovation and Regeneration Libraries are evolving into dynamic civic and cultural institutions that drive innovation, support local enterprise, and revitalize communities — demonstrating how investment in knowledge infrastructure fuels inclusive growth. India – Restoration Toolbox for Heritage Skills In a country where Western models often fall short, this award-winning Indian initiative empowers young professionals to restore heritage through locally driven methods—merging traditional knowledge, digital access, and community resilience. Rwanda – Resilience Through Culture Through national branding, diaspora engagement, and IP-backed financing, Rwanda is building a future-ready creative economy rooted in identity, innovation, and inclusive growth. Italy – Save Venice: Art Conservation through International Collaboration Since 1971, the American nonprofit Save Venice has funded the restoration of over 2,000 works of art, ranging from ancient Greek sculptures to medieval mosaics to Renaissance wellheads and sculptures to 17th-century stucco interiors and musical scores, entire buildings, and more paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese than any other private group. Learn what has made the organization successful for so many years and thus a funding model for others.
Plenary 02
Digital Renaissance - A New Age of Creative Collaboration
The next chapter of global culture isn’t being written just in galleries or studios — it’s being coded, streamed, and co-created across continents. From AI-curated exhibitions and virtual filmmaking to immersive experiences designed by artists oceans apart, technology is not just a tool — it’s the new canvas that can take into account, worldwide heritages . This session explores how digital platforms, real-time collaboration, and immersive storytelling are breaking down creative borders and forging partnerships, bringing together cultural heritages at unprecedented speed and scale. As investors and institutions look to the future, we’ll discuss how innovation is shaping a truly borderless cultural economies.