Dubai Culture sets out six-year plan to help creative sector overcome pandemic

Empowering local talent is at the centre of Dubai Culture's post-pandemic plan, to ensure the UAE becomes a thriving hub for the arts.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed, chairwoman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), has announced the launch of its six-year strategy.

It aims to position Dubai as a "global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity and a thriving hub for talent", as well as help the creative sector recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan seeks to create "the fastest route to recovery" for Dubai’s cultural industry from the Covid-19 crisis, and sets out its goals from 2020 to 2026. It has been approved by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and has now been submitted to the Executive Council of Dubai.

The plan was developed after several interactive workshops held by Dubai Culture to review the strategy and lay the foundations for the cultural industry’s development.

The workshops brought together senior leaders from Dubai Culture's management team, as well as industry stakeholders and strategic partners representing government entities, the industry and the private sector.

The workshops discussed strategic performance indicators and targets; programmes and initiatives to achieve Dubai’s cultural goals; preparations for the future and the transformation of the cultural sector; and Dubai Culture’s role in promoting the sector’s growth.

“The road map creates a framework for effectively mitigating the impact of challenges created by the Covid-19 crisis on the cultural industry. I’m confident our team, along with our partners and cultural and creative professionals, will succeed in achieving all elements of our mandate as policymakers, regulators, enablers, operators, and champions of the cultural and creative sector in Dubai," Sheikha Latifa said in a statement.

"The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is tasked with the clear and critical responsibility of fostering the local ecosystem for industry professionals, talent, youth and cultural audiences. The creative sector is a crucial contributor to a country’s GDP as well as its global reputation and will play a role in our rapid recovery from this global pandemic.”

Dubai Culture will now take "strong measures" to help the sector navigate the current crisis and develop solutions to ease the challenges faced by creatives, professionals and industry players.

The strategy will help support Dubai Culture's commitment to empowering the arts and culture community and help achieve the emirate's vision to "become the happiest city in the world".

The strategy will be enacted across Dubai Culture this year, Sheikha Latifa said. The entity will also prepare the "internal and external infrastructure" to support the delivery of the strategy.

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