Image: Simon Brault O.C, O.Q, . Credit: Canada Council for the Arts
Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, Simon Brault O.C, O.Q, has been elected as the new Chair of the Board of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA). Mr Brault was elected at an extraordinary meeting of the Board following the 7th General Assembly of IFACCA Members, held on Monday 11 March 2019 prior to the Opening Ceremony of the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mr Brault assumes the role of Chair with the unanimous support of his fellow Board Members, alongside whom he has served since the 6th General Assembly in October 2016.
Mr Brault’s election as Chair follows the recent announcement of his mandate as the Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts for four years. Mr Brault has been Director and CEO of the Canada Council since 26 June 2014; he has been active in the cultural sector for over 30 years and a driving force behind numerable major cultural projects, most notably as Administrative Director and Director General of the National Theatre School of Canada, and as a founding member and Chair of Culture Montréal from 2002 to 2014.
In his capacity as a member of the IFACCA Board, Mr Brault has played an invaluable international leadership role for the Federation, most recently as the Regional Focal Point for the Americas and host of the inaugural Americas Cultural Summit in May 2018, which brought together more than 160 cultural leaders and decision makers from 33 countries spanning five continents to exchange ideas and best practices to advance public support for the arts and culture and build vibrant, prosperous, and inclusive societies.
Speaking on behalf of the members of the Federation, the Executive Director of IFACCA Ms Magdalena Moreno Mujica said:
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Simon as Chair of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies; his expertise, vision and leadership will be vital to the Federation’s work to lead global thought and action on arts and culture in public life, and ultimately to realise our members’ shared vision of a world in which arts and culture thrive and are recognised by governments and peoples for their contribution to society. On behalf of our members – and personally – I extend to Simon the warmest congratulations on his appointment.
Speaking on his election, Mr Brault said:
It is a great privilege and an honour to assume the role of Chair of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), a strategic network for which the Canada Council played a foundational role in 2000—and which it has since continued to support.
In my role as Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, I have been deeply committed to the idea that the arts hold the power to renew cultural diplomacy and foster relationships that make it possible for peoples and nations to work together and build a shared future. We can unleash this power all the more strongly when we work together, above and beyond the borders of our respective countries. In my role as the IFACCA Chair, I look forward to deepening the impressive impact the arts can have on the global community.