Mondiacult 2025: Fadli Zon Encourages Indonesia To Become A Main Player On The Global Cultural Stage

Minister Of Culture Fadli Zon In Denpasar Bali/PHOTO: Dafi-VOI

BARCELONA - Minister of Culture (Menbud) Fadli Zon reiterated Indonesia's position as the main player who determines the direction of global cultural policy. The presence of Menbud Fadli at the UNESCO World Conference on Sustainable Culture and Development Policy (UNESCO Mondiacult 2025) in Barcelona, Spain, carries a key message: culture is a pillar of peace and development, not just identity.

On the sidelines of the conference, Menbud Fadli Zon held a series of strategic bilateral meetings that resulted in several important agreements.

Cultural Partnerships With The United Arab Emirates

Menbud Fadli had a dialogue with the Minister of Culture of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi. This meeting resulted in an official invitation for Indonesia as an Honorary Guest at the Al-Burda Award 2026 event in Abu Dhabi, a leading international Islamic arts festival.

"We want to show Indonesia's cultural wealth in front of the people of the UAE, especially the work of young artists," said Sheikh Salem.

The Indonesian UAE' cultural partnership that has been closely established since 1976 has been further strengthened by the 2024 MoU. The cooperation is now expanding to various fields, including fine arts, performances, literature, museums, to digitizing cultural heritage. The two countries are even discussing collaboration in joint film production, artist recognition, and museum innovation.

Strategic Collaboration With Spain

Menbud Fadli also met with the Secretary of State for Spanish Culture, Jordi Mart Juli. The main agenda is the update of the 2004 Agreement on Cultural and Educational Cooperation.

Spain is considered a strategic partner given its world-class museum network, such as Prado and Reina Sofmen, as well as the audiovisual industry which recorded more than 13 million viewers in 2024.

Cultural collaboration is increasingly important after the agreement of Indonesia'EU CEPA last week. Culture can be a bridge to friendship as well as the foundation of the creative economy," said Menbud Fadli in his statement, Monday (29/9).

Facing Global Issues In Mondiacult

Mondiacult 2025 itself highlighted today's crucial issues, such as cultural rights, digital transformation, the creative economy, to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

For Indonesia, this forum is a platform to prove that with the 1,340 ethnicities and 718 languages it has, Indonesia is not only home to mega-diversity, but also the driving force of world cultural policy.