Italy hosts G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting

July 31, 2021

On July 29 and 30, the first G20 Culture Ministers Meeting was held in Rome, Italy. This was a major two-day event that took place during the Italian G20 presidency. The Colosseum and Palazzo Barberini hosted the G20 Summit in Rome.

Highlights

The meeting began on Thursday on the stage of the Colosseum. The culture ministers of the 20 largest economies in the world and 40 high-level cultural delegations attended the meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini, and the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
OECD, UNESCO, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe, ICOM, ICCROM and ICOMOS, Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the World Customs Organization (WCO) took part in the meetings.
On Friday, July 30, conference was held at Palazzo Barberini, the museum houses the collection of ancient Italian art and the museum will be closed to the public on July 30.

Discussion on Key Topics

The key topics which were up for discussion in Rome were:

Protect and promote the cultural and creative sector as an engine for balanced growth which is also sustainable.
Protect cultural heritage from risks, including natural disasters, environmental degradation and climate change, sabotage and looting, and illegal traffic in cultural property.
Promote digital and technological transformation in the cultural and creative fields.
Develop the capacity through training to face the complexity of the contemporary world and the challenges of the cultural sector.
Joint Statement on Climate Change through Culture.