The Entertainment Industry, Creativity and Culture in a Pandemic Era

A session entitled “The Entertainment Industry, Creativity and Culture in a Pandemic Era ” was held as part of the main events of the third day of the World Youth Forum. A group of speakers participated in the session, namely, Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem, Egyptian Minister of Culture, Tarin Southern, Head of Creativity at Blackrock Neurotech Technology Solutions, Nashwa Gad, Chairman and Managing Director of Watch iT, and Hesson Yun, Director of the KOICA Scholarship Program at Korea National University of Education. Speaker Jorg Zuber, Artistic Director and Digital Activist, participated through the virtual platform of the World Youth Forum.
The discussion session revolved around the negative effects on the art and culture industry and its workers at all levels due to the coronavirus pandemic. There were multiple changes in the different cultural and creative methods and mechanisms of work due to the total and partial closure measures applied around the world, following the coronavirus pandemic, which imposed a new reality on the cultural and creative scene in the world.
By March 2020, most cultural institutions around the world had been closed or partially reduced in parallel with the cancellation or postponement of exhibitions, events and performances. However, there are intensive efforts to find alternative solutions to showcase art production and various cultural industries, which has enhanced the emergence of digital platforms and smart applications, which has benefitted a large segment of users of these applications in displaying their work significantly as well as investing in the content industry and providing special initiatives across these different platforms.
Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem, Egyptian Minister of Culture, said that the coronavirus pandemic has unusually affected the Egyptian cultural scene, creating a state of challenge for the Egyptian state in the culture sector, creating great opportunities to create various cultural initiatives such as the “Start Your Dream” initiative, “Culture in Your Hands”, and the establishment of open theatres and mobile thea
A recorded video was shown in which Audrey Azoulay, President of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO), spoke and expressed her happiness with her participation in the forum, which is an important global platform for young people to reflect on the challenges of today and tomorrow. She also explained that UNESCO has presented many important educational and educational initiatives for young people.
Taryn Southern, Head of Creativity at Blackrock Neurotech Technology Solutions, spoke about the benefits of the pandemic, which has stimulated many new ideas and reliance on artificial intelligence, explaining the increasing demand for digital platforms and modern media, as tools that reduce production costs and increase prevalence. There are many opportunities through the use of modern technology and technologies and that traditional media will be replaced by digital platforms and live broadcast channels.
The Chairman and Managing Director of Watch iT explained the factors that contributed to the promotion of digital platforms, including: many young people resorted to digital platforms after the closure of cinemas and theatres during the pandemic. These platforms have become new theatres for young people and provided new opportunities for creators and producers, and even became a source of new economic income for countries and a platform for spreading She mentioned that there is a great challenge to preserve intellectual property in digital platforms, so major companies should be used to insure against hacks and establish laws between creators and producers to preserve the content.
Through the virtual platform of the World Youth Forum, Jörg Zuber, artistic director and digital activist, joined the talk through the virtual platform of the World Youth Forum. He talked about his experience in the virtual world and the use of artificial intelligence through the creation of the doll Noonoouri, a fictional personality with cultural characteristics, who is also active in the field of
Hysun Yun, director of the KOICA scholarship program at the National University of Korea, also pointed out that because of the pandemic, digital platforms have been created on many applications such as Zoom for grants and various initiatives between countries. She praised the World Youth Forum is one of the important platforms for spreading culture in all countries and a means of learning about the cultures of society, especially among young
For her part, Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem pointed to the Egyptian presence in international and Arab cultural forums, where Cairo was chosen as the capital of Islamic culture from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for the current year. The Egyptian Minister of Culture also highlighted the country’s achievements in the field of culture, such as the City of Culture and Arts in the Administrative Capital, His Majesty’s Theatre, and the City of Culture in the Worlds, and the Little Creator Award presented for less than 18 years by the Ministry of Culture, which is comparable to the State Appreciation Award under the patronage of Mrs. Intisar Al-Sisi, the wife of the President of the Republic.
The guest of the session, Dr. Ashraf Sobhi, Minister of Youth and Sports, concluded by expressing his happiness at his participation in the World Youth Forum and praised the cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Youth and the establishment of many cultural and sports initiatives.
The session came up with an important recommendation on imposing fair and strict laws and rights to preserve the content provided on digital platforms, and joining and solidarity in efforts to combat hacks on the platforms.