The 44th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting took place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 22 to 25 January under the theme, The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business. This year over 2,500 people from nearly 100 countries attended the meeting. They included 300 public figures, 1,500 business leaders and representatives from civil society, academia, the media and arts.
At the opening session, Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, presented the 2014 Crystal Awards, which honor artists who use their “creativity to push the limits and show us new ways of living our professional and personal lives”.
This year, the Forum recognized three exceptional cultural leaders: the Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian Matt Damon, who co-founded the non-profit organization, Water.org, with Mr. Gary White; opera tenor and artist, Juan Diego Flórez, founder of a poor people’s symphony in Peru; and film-maker Shirin Neshat.
Flórez, who founded the Sinfonía por el Perú foundation, which created a network of orchestras and choirs to help vulnerable youth, said that music is a powerful vehicle for change.
Neshat, a film-maker has made a number of short films and documentaries on gender issues.
