2026 Culturefix Morning Conversations
On the morning of June 4, Meridian International Center hosted the sixth annual Culturefix Conversations, serving as the intellectual cornerstone of this year’s program. The conversations convened a dynamic mix of artists, designers, architects, cultural leaders, athletes, and policymakers at the historic Meridian House to highlight culture as a powerful tool for diplomacy.
The program opened with a networking breakfast and welcome remarks from Meridian CEO T.H. David Bohigian. Sessions such as “Fashion’s Diplomatic Runway,” featuring fashion designer and 2026 Cultural Diplomacy Awardee Reem Acra, and “Design as Diplomacy” explored how creative industries shape global perception and soft power. Together, they underscored how design and fashion extend beyond aesthetics to influence cultural narratives and strengthen international relationships.
As the morning progressed, panels including “Beyond the Podium: Competition, Culture, and Connection,” with Olympians and 2026 Gold Medal Diplomacy Awardees Ilia Malinin, Breezy Johnson, and Chris Lillis, and “The Creative Vanguard & The Extraordinary Power of Presence,” featuring artist and 2026 Cultural Diplomacy Awardee Jeff Koons, expanded the conversation to the intersections of sport, identity, and expression. These discussions highlighted how shared experiences through competition, performance, and storytelling can transcend political and geographic divides.
The program concluded with “Guardians of Antiquity,” a panel on heritage preservation featuring Egyptologist and 2026 Cultural Diplomacy Awardee Dr. Zahi Hawass, followed by closing remarks from 2026 Co-Chair Manisha Kapani. Together, the 2026 Culturefix Conversations set the stage for the evening awards ceremony, reinforcing a central message: sports and culture are not only expressions of identity, but essential instruments of diplomacy capable of fostering a more connected world.
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Panels
Fashion’s Diplomatic Runway: A Conversation with Reem Acra
Speakers:
Design as Diplomacy: Shaping Culture and Soft Power
Visionaries Tham Kannalikham and Hervé Pierre explore design as a form of diplomacy and cultural influence. Drawing on their careers in interior decoration and fashion, they will discuss how design communicates identity, values, and place. Through their distinct perspectives and experiences, they will reflect on how creative choices shape the meaning and impact of their work. The conversation will examine how creative work shapes soft power and influences the way the United States presents itself to the world.
Speakers:
Tham Kannalikham | Founder and Principal, Kannalikham Designs, LLC
Hervé Pierre | Creative Director, The Atelier Caito for Hervé Pierre
Anita McBride | Director, Legacies of America's First Ladies Initiative, American University (Moderator)
Beyond the Podium: Competition, Culture, and Connection
Long before treaties are signed or policies enacted, nations often first encounter one another through competition, spectacle, and shared moments of triumph. This conversation examines the enduring power of sports diplomacy as a vehicle for international engagement, cultural exchange, and global connection. From the Olympic movement to athlete-led advocacy, explore how sports transcend borders and political divides, creating rare arenas where excellence, identity, and national narratives converge before a worldwide audience. As athletes increasingly shape conversations far beyond their fields of play, this discussion considers how sport continues to serve as one of the most influential platforms for soft power, mutual understanding, and international cooperation.
Introduction:
Emily Carwell | Vice President of Global Engagement and Government Affairs, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee
Speaker:
Ilia Malinin |Olympic Team USA Gold Medalist and 2026 Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Honoree
Chris Lillis | Olympic Team USA Gold Medalist and 2026 Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Honoree
Breezy Johnson | Olympic Team USA Gold Medalist and 2026 Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Honoree
Travis Smith Parker | Founder & CEO, CenterCircle Sport (Moderator)
The Creative Vanguard & The Extraordinary Power of Presence
True diplomacy often begins where language ends—in the visceral encounter between a viewer and a work of monumental vision. This conversation explores the ability of contemporary art to serve as a primary, unfiltered narrative that bypasses traditional statecraft. In an era of increasing abstraction, the material reality of a masterpiece acts as a grounding force, ensuring that stories of identity, memory, and resistance are not just told, but physically anchored in the global square. Examine how the creative vanguard and leading institutions are reshaping our shared landscape, utilizing the undeniable scale of contemporary work to project a message of pioneering truth and enduring cultural agency.
Introduction:
Elizabeth Duggal | 2026 Culturefix Co-Chair
Speakers:
Jeff Koons | Contemporary Artist and 2026 Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Honoree
Melissa Chiu | Director, Hirshhorn Museum (Moderator)
Guardian of Antiquity: A Conversation with Dr. Zahi Hawass
At a time when debates over who owns history are unfolding in courtrooms, parliaments, and public squares around the world, Egypt’s ancient past sits at the center of global attention. The story of pharaohs, pyramids, and hidden tombs is no longer confined to textbooks and museum labels; it is invoked in negotiations over repatriation, in campaigns for cultural justice, and in the race to protect fragile sites from conflict, looting, and climate change. In this moment of heightened scrutiny and fascination, Dr. Zahi Hawass brings to life the journey of Egypt’s most iconic treasures—from the sands of Giza to the vaults and galleries of major institutions—revealing how each artifact carries questions of power, identity, and belonging. Through vivid accounts of discovery, controversy, and cooperation, explore how the guardians of antiquity help nations shape their narratives on the world stage and why the stakes around cultural heritage have never been higher.
Speakers:
Dr. Zahi Hawass | Egyptologist and 2026 Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Honoree
H.E. Motaz Zahran | Ambassador of Egypt to the United States
Deborah Lehr | Vice Chair, Meridian Board of Trustees (Moderator)
This program was made possible with support from:
Project summary
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