Tate Modern
29 May –12 June 2013
A challenger to South Africa’s ruling party, the chief executive of Unilever and a Booker Prize-winning novelist are among the figures from the worlds of politics, business, the arts and academia who will be debating issues including mass migration, the flow of capital, environmental challenges and global governance at Global Citizenship, the inaugural Zamyn Cultural Forum in London this May and June (www.zamynforum.org).
The series of eight free public events at Tate Modern will feature the South African former activist and founder of the party political platform Agang, Mamphela Ramphele, business leader Paul Polman and renowned writer Ben Okri, as well as such leading thinkers as the UN under-secretary-general Baroness Amos, former foreign secretary David Miliband, South African cabinet minister Trevor Manuel, UN special envoy and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, minister for universities and science David Willetts, and sociologist Richard Sennett.
Zamyn is a not-for-profit company which aims to forge a dialogue with Western decision-making elites about the reality of globalisation. Global Citizenship is the organisation’s inaugural Cultural Forum and will bring together a wide range of speakers on platforms where difference will become the grounds for creative debate. Zamyn and Tate have developed the forum’s programme in partnership with Accenture, Africa Progress Panel, Barclays, Penguin Books and SOAS,University of London.
Scheduled ahead of the G8 Summit in London, the Forum aims to generate powerful new thinking on questions arising from the exponential growth in movement across international borders – of people, capital, resources and artefacts – and the challenges and opportunities for financial, cultural, academic and other national and international institutions.
Where discussion addresses broader geopolitical issues, including the effectiveness and legitimacy of the G8, it will be grounded in the example of Africa, with a focus on South Africa. An analysis of the rapidly transforming country amid global shifts in power and alliances will provide a provocative and timely starting point for debate.
One of the Forum’s themes will be Africa’s natural resources. Mr Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, which is co-hosting the ‘Resources’ debate, stated, ‘If we use these resources wisely, they will improve the lives of millions of Africans. If we don’t, they can fuel corruption, conflict, and social instability.’
A limited number of free tickets will be available for each of the eight events on a first-come, first-served basis from www.zamynforum.org. The two-hour events will also be streamed live to a global audience on the Global Citizenship website for free. Follow @zamynlondon and @tate for updates #zamynforum