Arts and Culture Programme Annual Meeting 2026

The World Economic Forum's Arts and Culture Programme for the 2026 Annual Meeting, themed 'A Spirit of Dialogue,' integrates artistic expression into global cooperation. The programme features an Opening Concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Jon Batiste, AI-driven installations by Ronen Tanchum, and a mobile sanctuary by Marina Abramović. It emphasizes the role of art in addressing environmental crises—specifically through Thijs Biersteker's forest data installation—and celebrates human resilience through the stories of Cultural Leaders like Hiro Iwamoto and Katie Piper.

• The Arts and Culture Programme at the 2026 Annual Meeting is centered on the theme 'A Spirit of Dialogue,' aiming to position creativity as a central force in solving collective global challenges and building a 'more connected and resilient world.'
• The Opening Concert on 19 January features a two-part programme: a classical segment with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and violinist Renaud Capuçon performing works by Bach, Haydn, and Vivaldi, followed by a performance by Jon Batiste blending jazz, soul, and R&B.
• The installation 'Forestate' by Thijs Biersteker, created with UNESCO, uses Global Forest Watch data to visualize deforestation in real time, where each disappearing leaf represents 100 square metres of forest lost.
• Artist Marina Abramović is debuting 'THE BUS,' a mobile sanctuary reimagined from a school bus, designed to encourage participants to disconnect from the digital grid and experience stillness and presence.
• Ronen Tanchum's 'Human Atmospheres' is a generative installation commissioned by the World Economic Forum that transforms real-time weather data from Davos into a digital landscape that responds to the movements of viewers.
• The programme highlights individual resilience through Cultural Leaders: Hiro Iwamoto, who completed a non-stop Pacific crossing despite being blind; Katie Piper, an advocate for burn victims; and JR, whose 'Wrinkles of the City' project documents elderly residents across six major cities.
• The document argues that technology has evolved from a passive instrument into a 'co-creator' and 'eternal consultant,' where AI amplifies human creativity through a dialogue between human intuition and machine pattern recognition.

APA

World Economic Forum (2026). Arts and Culture Programme Annual Meeting 2026. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM26_Arts_and_Culture_Brochure.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Arts and Culture Programme Annual Meeting 2026. 2026. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM26_Arts_and_Culture_Brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Arts and Culture Programme Annual Meeting 2026 |date=2026 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM26_Arts_and_Culture_Brochure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2026arts, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Arts and Culture Programme Annual Meeting 2026}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2026}, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AM26_Arts_and_Culture_Brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }