Sunil Wijesiriwardena

Co-Chairperson, Arts and Cultural Policy Desk, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sunil Wijesiriwardena is a literary critic, university lecturer, playwright, translator and longstanding civic leader in Sri Lanka. He is committed to the causes of peace and democracy, researching and teaching in areas of cultural studies and transformative education (cultural fluency, conflict transformation, peace building , eco-spiritual politics and engaged religions). Sunil was the Founder–Director of the first Independent Cultural Institute, Vibhavi (1991– 2001), devoted to cultural rights in Sri Lanka. He was one of the artists who initiated the 2015 civic movement to draft a National Cultural Policy for Sri Lanka and is currently Joint-Chairperson of the Arts and Cultural Policy Desk – working towards creating a far-reaching and transformative National Cultural Policy for the country by 2017.

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Joining as a Trustee is Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies and Assistant Principal for Religion and Society at the University of Edinburgh. She is known internationally as a public intellectual and is a regular commentator in the media.

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Dan Mulhall will be joining the board as a Trustee. Dan is a retired Irish diplomat, academic and published author. He is the current Parnell Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge and is a consultant with the global law firm DLA Piper.

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Also joining as a Trustee is Professor Gayle McPherson, Professor of Events and Cultural Policy and Director of the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). She is also a member of the European Cultural Parliament.

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Joining us as a Trustee is Stephen Gethins, Professor of International Affairs at the University of St Andrews. Prior to that, Stephen was MP for North East Fife, the SNP International affairs spokesperson and was twice selected to sit on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

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Joining in the role of Chair is Shonaig Macpherson CBE, an experienced Chair and non-executive director used to working at the most senior levels of government, private, public and third sectors.

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If you're interested in attending Edinburgh International Culture Summit 2022 as media, interviews with contributors and ministers, or photo opportunities, please contact Susie Gray at susie@thecornershoppr.com or 07834 073795.

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