The Art and Diplomacy Foundation’s mission is to develop and implement international centers for global footprint analysis and soft diplomacy. These Art and Diplomacy Centers will be established to understand and identify the critical levers for peace, to assess regional needs for sustainability, diplomacy, conflict gaps—and to develop plans of action to resolve these issues. All while building a new form of international global elite—one equipped and capable of dealing with the issues of post-modernity.
Our Mission is to select, educate, empower, and place the global leaders of tomorrow, while promoting the Arts as a key driver for diplomacy and peace. The Art and Diplomacy Foundation serves as a nonprofit organization for the next generation, because fluency in soft diplomacy is a necessity for our coming, sustainable future. It is this entrepreneurial spirit that can create innovative opportunities for breakthrough in the areas of Cultural Exchange, Diplomacy, Business-Trade, Industry, Education, and Peace.
Building Capabilities in Cross-Cultural Understanding via the Use of Art and Diplomacy:
Undeniably, our youth are the leaders of tomorrow. The world is becoming more global, complex, technology-based, and riddled with business and political complexities that permeate every avenue of human endeavor. In order to meet the future global leadership demands, we must provide: the tools, training, connections, platforms, and experiences—so that our future leaders are equipped to foster a climate of cross-cultural mutual understanding, sustainability, and peace. Our youth must develop the skills to learn, grow, share, collaborate, and work effectively with our international neighbors through some of the most difficult challenges of human existence. We believe that our youth and their families can together define a new road for peace through diplomacy—where the Arts are the common denominator underlying all of humanity; for cathartic expression is inevitable.
How The Arts Can Play a Role in Diplomacy:
Art itself extends far beyond the Visual Arts—paintings, photography, sculpture, film, street art—reaching its broad hand to express itself in the form of: Performance Art, Dance, Culinary Arts, Music, and even Martial Arts. Art is a crucial factor in shaping the nature and the tone of intercultural relations. On one hand, it provides a medium through which identity and cultural heritage can be experienced and understood; and on the other hand, it creates a unique platform for artists, audiences, and other stakeholders in cross-cultural dialogue to collaborate fruitfully.
Art’s ability to transcend language, class, and social distinction makes Art invaluable in the diplomatic process. Art’s inherent quality to instill in someone a directly subjective experience makes it a powerful tool in bridging rifts between people, and building a common experience through which true human understanding can take place.
To this day, the subject of the Arts is a commonality among the globally affluent and influential; one which the world does not appear to be leveraging. Art and its appreciation remains an invaluable interest in Europe and the West, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and the historical legacy of every culture and nation is inevitably tied to its human artistic expression. It is far beyond custom that international leaders are expected to hold proficiency—nay an expertise—in demonstrating an understanding and appreciation for the Arts. Arts is a diplomatic de rigueur throughout the world.