It is now only four months until we welcome the international arts and culture community to Kuala Lumpur for the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture, which we are co-hosting with the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN). Which means this month we are all about the Summit!

In recent weeks, we have seen new priorities and plans emerging for those who support arts and culture around the world, with governments and public agencies releasing – or preparing to release – strategies that respond to their sectors. Beyond institutional priorities, these strategies offer insight into the issues being addressed by the sector globally and the increasingly inclusive ways in which decisionmakers can respond.

The role of the cultural economy and the cultural and creative industries is at the fore this month. In late August, we had the privilege of partnering with our National Member theNational Arts Council of Namibia (NACN) to host the first ever Arts Summit of Southern Africa and a meeting of our Africa Chapter in Windhoek, Namibia.

Individual headlines cannot always do full justice to the depth and breadth of important international conversations about the issues being addressed by the arts and culture sector. So, rather than a thematic round up of reading, this month we to take you to the conversations directly, with a selection of the spaces that we have been watching closely.

We have witnessed active international cultural exchanges being made this month across regions and between different partners.

Since our last update the headlines have highlighted a series of appointments around the world that are significant for arts and culture, revealing new approaches and milestones, as well as new names.