Liberatum is an international

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

organisation, multimedia and cultural content company founded by

Pablo Ganguli Pablo Ganguli is an entrepreneur, artist, producer, director and impresario who has created and directed several international festivals, movements and summits of arts, literature, media, film, fashion and culture, through his organisation Libe ...

in 2001. It creates and presents multidisciplinary artistic platforms and promotes contemporary arts, film, media,

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

worldwide through its own festivals, films, summits and other programming. Liberatum champions human rights, freedom of expression and women in creativity through its platforms across the world.

History

Liberatum was founded by Pablo Ganguli in 2001 while he was living in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Global programme

Liberatum festivals, shows, content, programmes and summits are hosted in worldwide. They have taken place in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, United States,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. The festivals encourage new and established artists to perform, discuss and promote their work in front of audiences so that they can debate and interact with their work. The artists are generally from different fields. Liberatum merged the worlds of art, fashion, music, both classical and contemporary encouraging them to collaborate. Notable figures who have attended and taken part in Liberatum events include Peter Donohoe, Stephen Frears, Sir

Norman Rosenthal Sir Norman Rosenthal (born 8 November 1944) is a British independent curator and art historian. From 1970 to 1974 he was Exhibitions Officer at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In 1974 he became a curator at the ...

Charles Saumarez Smith Sir Charles Robert Saumarez Smith (born 28 May 1954) is a British cultural historian specialising in the history of art, design and architecture. He was the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2007 until ...

, Shekhar Kapur, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Ades,

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

, Kirsten Dunst,

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...

, Michael Stipe, Philip Treacy, Sir

VS Naipaul VS, Vs or vs may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vs (film), ''Vs'' (film), or All Superheroes Must Die'', a 2011 horror film * Vs. (game show), ''Vs.'' (game show), 1999 * "VS.", List of Prison Break episodes, an ep ...

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

Daphne Guinness Daphne Diana Joan Susanna Guinness (born 9 November 1967) is an English designer, actress, producer, and musician. Early life Her father is Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne, the eldest son of Diana Mitford and Bryan Guinness. Diana Mitford wa ...

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

Clare Short Clare Short (born 15 February 1946) is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Development, Secretary of State for International Development under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2003. Short was the Member of Parliament ...

, Shabana Azmi, Marianne Faithfull, Shashi Tharoor, Courtney Love, Gore Vidal and Goldie Hawn.

Film

Liberatum and illy made a short film in 2014 called ''Inspiring Creativity'' featuring James Franco, Hans Zimmer, Tracey Emin, Joan Smalls about what drives their creativity. They have also made a film with W Hotels about transformation, including the performance artist

Dita Von Teese Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Queen ...

; it was directed by

and Tomas Auksas. Liberatum's other film 'Artistry/Technology' is a documentary on the relationship between creativity and technological advancement. David Hockney and Francis Ford Coppola agreed to be in the film. Liberatum made a feature-length documentary about the environment and climate change entitled In This Climate featuring Sir David Attenborough, Mark Ruffalo, Noam Chomsky and Cher.

Style

Liberatum has presented a wide range of cultural diplomacy programmes and festivals around the world including multidisciplinary ventures in Turkey such as "

Istancool Istancool, also known as the Istanbul International Arts & Culture Festival and IST. Festival, is an annual international cultural celebration in Istanbul, created by Liberatum and first held in 2010 to celebrate the city's 2010 European Capital of ...

" and has developed similar ventures in Hong Kong, Marrakech, Moscow and Berlin consisting of merging several artforms and striking performance art elements. The ''New York Times'' described Liberatum as a "cultural festival known for its hip quotient.""A (Free) Cultural Festival Known for Its Hip Quotient Opens in Hong Kong"
"The New York Times", 27 April 2012

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.liberatum.org/ Cultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Cultural festivals in the United Kingdom Cultural festivals in the United States 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom Film festivals established in 2011 Film festivals established in 2001 Film festivals in Hong Kong Film festivals in New York (state) Cultural events Music conferences Annual events in New York (state)