Cheers Helmi. That's what I've been using. It's probably the best translation, but somehow (maybe I'm wrong) 'kulturelles Leben' sounds all-encompassing, whereas scene sounds rather petty or somehow removed from society...
Do you get that impression?

Hi James , no, not at all. This is the term I'm hearing and reading all the time. However, it would sound strange if you would say "I'm leaving the political life and return to the private scene.

Lille is certainly an important incubator for the future and offers its residents a vibrant and flourishing cultural life.
http://master-management.edhec.com/72885225/1...

That people feel this passionately about theatres is a good sign for our cultural life. It is a sign of a lively flourishing cultural life.
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/003696.html

Though more than 15,000 New Orleanians worked on the city's flourishing cultural scene, more than 11,000 have been terminated
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuper...

What about this? Too obvious or any connotations I am missing?

I'm with Helmi. In most contexts we say cultural scene. Cultural life is too stiff and formal; it sounds like something you study in an anthropology class.