East and West United Through Culture

The Abu Dhabi Festival is an annual multidisciplinary festival and the largest celebration of culture in the United Arab Emirates. The festival seeks to deepen global cross-cultural dialogue that inspires interest in the cultures of the Arab world.

Last year, the U.K. was a co-host of the festival under the supervision of U.K. ambassador to the U.A.E. Philip Parham.

The video below is an interview with Parham conducted by the Abu Dhabi Festival, where he discusses the importance that cultural diplomacy initiatives, like the Abu Dhabi Festival, have on U.K.-U.A.E. relations.

"The Abu Dhabi Festival i think is a prime example of bringing together many different cultures and presenting them in a forum and in a place where historically there hasn't been that level, that intensity of cultural exchange," shares Parham. "Abu Dhabi, and what is now the United Arab Emirates, has for centuries been a crossing point between East and West and many different cultures, but the kind of intensity and focus on cultural exchange that ADMAF (Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation) has brought is something new and i think the impact that it is having is truly extraordinary."

You can find the original video on The Abu Dhabi Festival's Youtube page here.