Culture corridor at G-20 leaders summit in Delhi

Various countries’ flags set up for the upcoming G-20 summit, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on August 29, 2023. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

A culture corridor showcasing the art, craft and heritage of all the G-20 nations as well as guest countries would be one of the highlights at the G-20 leaders’ summit to be held in the national capital next month.

To be set up at the ‘Bharat Mandapam’ the venue for the G-20 leaders’ summit, the corridor would have both physical and digital components.

The digital repository would include 3D replicas of national treasures nominated by each of the G-20 countries, the sources said.

India had reached out to all the G-20 member States earlier in the year to nominate one artefact each showcasing their culture for a digital exhibition which would be showcased at the culmination.

The exhibition would be made a legacy document in the digital format.

The sources said that the corridor would also include a physical exhibition of arts, crafts and other cultural property from each of the G-20 nations.

In the last Culture Working Group meeting held in Varanasi last week, a G-20 Orchestra- ‘Sur Vasudha’, was organised which celebrated the rich musical knowledge and heritage of the member nations and guest countries. Artists from each of the G-20 nations had been part of the orchestra.

A special edition stamp was also released to commemorate the hallmark campaign ‘Culture Unites All’, which was an initiative of the Culture Working Group under India’s G-20 Presidency.

The G-20 nations had arrived at a consensus on cultural issues such as the need to address the destruction of cultural heritage in situations of conflict, the curbing of illicit trafficking of artefacts, the restitution of cultural property and the need to protect living heritage, especially of indigenous people following which an outcome document named ‘The Kashi Culture Pathway’ was released.

The first two Culture Working Group meetings were held in Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha) while the third was held in Hampi (Karnataka).

Apart from this, the government was also working on creating an online dashboard of best practices from G-20 countries which had helped in sustainable tourism. This would also be launched during the leaders’ summit.