History

The movement started with Love Thing Artist Management in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1995 by Mr. A. Fikri and Mr. Stolwijk, to connect cultures by organising cultural events. In Ibiza, the name changed to the Ibiza Beach Movement and events were organised with Tribe in Ibiza and Amsterdam. The events continued in Paris with DJ David Guetta — more than 5,000 people from all over the world came to Paris to attend the cultural event.

In London, the movement took a different direction after speaking with Magazine Moving Pictures (Twentieth Century Fox). Ibiza Beach Movement changed its name to Movie Movement Ltd. Together with Moving Pictures, they organised the closing event at the Château de la Napoule at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. Mr. Fikri met Mr. Klemeniuk, one of the owners of Manray Restaurant in Paris, who asked to continue the movement with other owners including Mr. Johnny Depp, Mr. Mick Hucknall, Mr. Sean Penn, and Mr. John Malkovich.

Due to European unification, Mr. Fikri developed the movement into I.AM.E.C. (I Am European Culture) with the aim of helping the European Union create a European identity and promote integration between 27 countries and all cultures living in Europe. Mr. Fikri moved to Paris and met William Perkins of the Honoris Causa Communication company, a top producer who wanted to continue the project.

In Dubai, Mr. Fikri changed the name to Culturolympics. He met Mr. Ziminejadi of Alliance Corporations, who wanted to build a city under the Culturolympics name. The Director of Strategy & Policy of Dubai, Mr. Tabani, recognised the vision and offered investment. Honoris Causa Communication and Barocco transformed the project into Culturolympics Europa. The French State and UNESCO's Mr. Pierre Boyer became involved to set up organisational infrastructure per country.

Barocco Production Company contacted UNESCO Secretary of the French National Commission, Mr. Pierre Boyer, who wanted to set up the entire organisational infrastructure per country for Culturolympics Europe. A meeting with President Sarkozy was arranged as the project aligned with the Union for the Mediterranean vision. However, after the Olympic Games President Mr. Rogge objected to the name, the French partners ceased cooperation.

Mr. Fikri contacted Ernst & Young, who agreed to become a financial partner and created governance and a legal structure embedding the interests of external shareholders. Mr. Fikri changed the name from Culturolympics to United Cultures and partnered with The Entertainment Group (TEG) to manage and become the central control group for all UC projects.

Mr. Fikri was invited by cultural councillors to travel to the European Parliament to speak about integration. He then asked the cultural councillors to join the United Cultures Foundation to become a Cultural Inter Governing body. UC Foundation started organising promo tradeshow events connecting couturiers from The Netherlands, Morocco, France and Turkey to develop "Hope Couture" creations.

United Cultures Foundation invited external stakeholders and representatives — ministers of cultures, embassies, universities, cultural institutions, organisations, companies, artists — to support the vision. External shareholders began sending letters of support and commitment to join the United Cultures Foundation as an Inter Governing body. Since 2015, United Cultures has evolved into a collective of foundations, associations, cooperatives, and companies united by a common objective: building a culturally inclusive society.