International News in 2003
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Arts and culture policy-related news from online news services. Subscribe to our newsletter, ACORNS. To alert us to international news please email us.
January 2003
Free museums a resounding success
Scrapping admission charges at national museums has been a resounding success, leading to many more visitors, the British Government has announced. more >
Measuring culture
The gathering of evidence about the impact of the arts has assumed centre-stage in cultural policy. The rise of statistics has paralleled an extension of government control over the arts, and the tendency to value culture for its 'impact' rather than its intrinsic value. more >
Entertainment is India's top export after IT
India's entertainment industry has become the country's largest business next to IT. more >
Algerian arts festival kicks off in France
A score of top Algerian musical stars were due to usher in the New Year at a mega-concert here Tuesday, kicking off a year-long Algerian cultural bonanza, the first of its kind in France and the latest fence-mending exercise between Algeria and its former colonial master. more >
In Baghdad, art thrives as war hovers
While Iraq is increasingly coming under siege, dozens of galleries have sprouted up in Baghdad. Iraqi painting and sculpture have become a thriving, if clandestine, export industry, filling museums and private collections throughout the Mideast and even Europe. more >
Report on international museum standards released
Resource, the UK's Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, has released its report on museum standards outside the United Kingdom, entitled 'From Australia to Zanzibar, Museum Standards Schemes Overseas'. more >
WIPO moves forward on traditional knowledge protections
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has reported that the fourth session of its Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), held in Geneva in December, made progress on clarifying policy issues and practical tools for protecting traditional knowledge and cultural expressions. more >
UNESCO book prize announced
Chilean Antonio Skarmeta and South African Jenny Robson were recently named by UNESCO Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura, as winners of the 2003 UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance. more >
Iraqi tots cling to beauty of ballet
Young ballerinas, oblivious of war threats on their country, take their dancing lessons at the Baghdad School for Music and Fine Arts. more >
New job for a Brazilian pop star
When Brazil's new government took office on January 1, its culture portfolio went to one of the country's biggest pop stars for 35 years, the singer-songwriter and guitarist Gilberto Gil. more >
Furthering our understanding of culture and development
The release of a new book, 'Towards Cultural Citizenship: Tools for Cultural Policy and Development', by Colin Mercer, represents a significant step in our understanding of culture and development, and in designing strategies and policies for integrating cultural policies with development policies. more >
Government assures support to search
The Ministry of Culture in Angola has announced that the creation of stimulus and the elaboration of a regulator legislative of cultural activity of the Angolan creators to project the Angolan culture worldwide are among the priorities of the Government for the forthcoming years. more >
New policy sees fresh crop of musicians
Floodgates were opened for many musicians last year after the Government announced a new policy designed to promote works of up and coming local artists. more >
Advent of new broadcasting law hailed
The advent of the new broadcasting law which gives 75 percent allocation of airtime to local content was hailed by many as a way of promoting local talent in Zimbabwe's music industry. more >
Grants boost art in schools
An increased focus on reading, writing and arithmetic at school has left little room for the artistic side of learning, some say. But the Nevada Arts Council is taking steps to change that, most recently with a new round of grants to teachers. more >
Mhonda to represent Zimbabwe at meeting in South Africa
Art critic and sculptor Tony Mhonda has been invited to represent Zimbabwe in South Africa to draft a new Visual Arts Constitution for Zimbabwe and other Southern African Art Critics. more >
Email offer of half-price tickets to woo arts patrons
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is launching a half-price ticket program for consumers in the region. The offer is part of the cultural alliance's efforts to boost the marketing of arts and culture in the region and woo new people to the arts. more >
Measuring culture
Until the collection and analysis of data about the impact of the arts is carried out more objectively, and evidence gathered used more constructively, it could be argued that collecting data has been a relatively spurious exercise. more >
Arts again lose out in states' funding
After 10 years of steady growth, fiscal 2003 legislative appropriations for state arts agencies fell for the second consecutive year, according to an annual survey released by the National Assembly of Arts Agencies in Washington, D.C. more >
Battle over copyrights brewing
Congress convenes this week, and one flash point will be the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law designed to prevent unauthorized copying of digital products. Producers of digital software, music, and movies want the law to stand as it is. more >
Menino outlines fund-raising plan for arts
In a move that is playing to mixed reviews in the local cultural community, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced yesterday that Boston has begun to raise funds from the private sector and will redistribute the money to artists and arts groups in the form of grants and public resources. more >
13.1 million tourists last year
Tourist arrivals to Malaysia last year was estimated at 13.1 million and this figure is expected to grow as the world flocks to the country to witness first-hand its diverse culture and arts. more >
Expression far from free in today's arts
In an age when artists use pop references and rely on private funding, legal and corporate threats have replaced attacks on the NEA as the biggest threat to creativity. more >
Arts confidence index dips
Cultural leaders surveyed in New York believe that the city's culture industry continued to decline in the last half of 2002 and they are pessimistic about the outlook for the industry through the first half of 2003. This continues a downward trend since 1999, when the optimism had reached a high, and indicates that expectations for the future are now firmly pessimistic. more >
Carnegie cuts stun art experts, Filmmakers
People who make, teach and exhibit film in Pittsburgh were stunned yesterday by the Carnegie Museum of Art's announcement that it was eliminating its venerated film and video department as a way to save money. more >
Theatre VS sports: Stat just didn't add up
A statistic on the loose is a dangerous thing, particularly in the cash-strapped performing arts world, where proving the popularity of one's art form can help in the never-ending scramble for funding. more >
Journeys to ancient Egypt
This week the Egyptian Museum launched a programme to teach Egyptians about their ancient history - the idea of the Minister for Culture Farouk Hosni, in emulation of a similar school at the Louvre in Paris. more >
States see $55 million cut in arts funds
US state arts agencies nationwide have seen their fiscal 2003 legislative appropriations fall by about US$55 million from the previous year. more >
Writing wrongs
England's national school inspector has published a searching report about the government's National Literacy Strategy. Standards in reading and writing have not improved for two years, and it is likely that the 2003 targets will be missed, too. more >
Egyptian artist's works go on show
An exhibition of paintings and mixed media works by Egyptian artist Dr Adel Al Masri was opened by Mohammed Al Nasr, deputy head of the National Council of Culture, Arts and Heritage at Qatar Fine Arts Society recently. more >
MacArthur foundation gives $14 million to NPR
A private foundation said Monday it was handing out US$42 million to Chicago area cultural organizations, National Public Radio and other groups to celebrate its 25th anniversary. more >
'I am not a fuddy duddy'
He has recently attacked 'macho idiot rappers', British art and violent films, but, British culture minister Kim Howells says he isn't really shooting his mouth off. more >
'Demoralisation, resentment, anxiety, stress'
A mounting chorus of voices is articulating a critical disconnect in art museums. Mostly the conflict is between the dramatically changing role of the art museum and the mounting pressures imposed by those changes on the people who have traditionally been the custodians, students, and interpreters of the art objects inside their institutions. more >
Funding film industry's major handicap
Lack of adequate funding remains a major obstacle to the development of the film industry in Zimbabwe. The industry is likely to collapse if the Government and other stakeholders fail to come up with solutions. more >
How to save Scotland's arts industry
A sell-out scramble for tickets to see Siobhan Redmond in the Royal Lyceum's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - but yet there are more headlines on 'cash crisis for the arts' in Scotland. more >
Artists, doctors warn vs VAT 'long-term effects'
More sloppy movies that would stunt the mind, and higher doctors' fees that would aggravate the body. These are just two of numerous 'long-term effects' that Filipinos might as well bet on once government starts collecting more taxes on 'professionals' such as entertainers, doctors, lawyers and accountants. more >
European 'eCulture' seminar to examine impacts of ICT sector
A conference examining the impacts of the ICT sector on European cultural policies will provide a useful background to the UN World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva this December, organisers have said. more >
Online voting for book award to promote internet access
Online voting is now open for the WHSmith People's Choice Book Awards, described as the only literary competition in which winners are directly voted for by the public. more >
Scottish Arts Council faces axe in shakeup
Two of the Scotland's main cultural bodies, Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council, could be dismantled and replaced in a radical move which would change the face of the arts in Scotland. more >
Tension piles over unique Bulgarian museum ownership
The argument over the ownership of the unique open-air museum Etar, some 220 km north-east of Sofia, has increased after the announcement that a lawsuit will be filed in the local court. more >
Making an exhibition of museums
The Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries, worth over £100,000, seeks to be for the museum world what the Turner Prize is for visual arts and the Booker Prize is for literature. more >
Cultural measure defeated
Lawmakers have killed a measure to give US$60,0000 a year to implement a four-year-old law that ensures American Indian culture is integrated into Montana schools. more >
Cultural groups brace for deeper funding cuts
The Massachusetts Cultural Council will soon announce the results of a survey assessing the impact of state arts budget cuts on artists, cultural groups, education programs and local cultural councils. more >
The music's difficult, so is the life
'Changing the Beat: A Study of the Worklife of Jazz Musicians' was prepared by Joan Jeffri and the Research Center for Arts and Culture under a cooperative agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts and the San Francisco Study Center. more >
'Madame Patronage'
The French government has presented a series of measures aimed at encouraging arts sponsorship and the creation of foundations for this aim, with the intention of helping France catch up with other countries in this field. more >
Arts are good for your health
It might be the purgative power of watching a great tragedy, the soothing effect of a fine painting or even the robust exercise of singing in a choir, but the arts are good for your health. This is the view of Richard Smith, the editor of the British Medical Journal. more >
Museums battle recession, pop culture
Japan's art museums, which include such world-famous names as the huge Tokyo National Museum that specializes in the country's cultural treasures, are facing a serious cash crunch. more >
Rural areas `need centres of entertainment for the young'
Rural areas in Wales need facilities and entertainment of the kind usually found in larger towns if young people are to stay in the area or be attracted back to live, according to a new report from the Institute of Welsh Affairs. more >
Growing a culture
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Public Understanding of Science and Technology program spends US$8 million to $10 million a year funding a slew of projects in film, theater, public television, books, radio, and new media. By recognizing that movies and plays shape public perception, the Sloan Foundation has been planting seeds with creative artists, hoping to change the way Americans think about science. more >
Dead hand of the bureaucrats threatens to strangle the arts
There's nothing wrong with having a public row about arts funding, just so long as the government doesn't conclude that it can do the job better itself. more >
Sydney arts boss heads for Wales
The woman credited with transforming the role of Sydney Opera House has been appointed to run the Wales Millennium Centre project. more >
A multicultural milestone
America passed another multicultural milestone last week, as the number of people who identify themselves as Hispanic became the nation's largest minority group. Estimates released by the Census Bureau show that 37-million people call themselves Hispanic, compared with 36.2-million people who identify as black or African-American. more >
The arts vs. the iron fiscal fist
Peter B Lewis recently exercised his philanthropic muscle by threatening Thomas Krens, the director of the Guggenheim Museum, with the loss of his job unless he sharply cut his budget. That bold move has been applauded not only by corporate hard-liners but also by the art establishment and the art press. more >
Cuts mean fewer nights at the opera
Scottish Opera is likely to face cuts in its production programme following the latest annual budget announcement by the Scottish Arts Council. more >
Boyle calls for public inquiry into arts funding
The chairman of the Scottish Arts Council has called for a public inquiry to stave off financial catastrophe in the arts and to nurture the sector for future generations. more >
Against backdrop of lower arts funding, Stanford increases commissions
While some corporations and foundations nurture artistic ambition by offering workspace, equipment and cash, their largesse depends a lot on the ebb and flow of the economy. Running against the current tide, the number of Stanford Lively Arts commissions actually has increased in the past four years. more >
Can artists inspire scientists?
The National Research Council has awarded two fellowships to see if a different kind of creative process can stimulate scientific thinking. more >
Financial institutions pump in $17 million towards arts awards
Local financial institutions have donated more than $17 million to fund the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe's 2003 merit awards. more >
Three sponsors chip in for Museum's CD
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Brunei Museums Department and three main sponsors - Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd, HSBC and TotalFinaElf - to produce an Information Resource CD for Brunei Museums Department. more >
ACCD to attend world summit
Members of the newly-formed Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity (ACCD) will next week represent Australia at the second International Meeting of Professional Cultural Organisations, in Paris. more >
February 2003
Poet named chief of the NEA
Santa Rosa poet Dana Gioia has been named the ninth Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. more >
Arts back on track after a momentous 12 months
It's been a momentous 12 months for the Arts Council of Wales and the recent publication of the annual report for 2001/2 gives a welcome opportunity to reflect on the many changes and achievements. more >
INCD offers update on GATS negotiations
The Canada-based International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) has reported in its latest newsletter that, as expected by many, the US and a number of other nations have lodged significant requests for the inclusion of audiovisual services in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). more >
New literacy boost for Afghanistan
UNESCO and the Government of Afghanistan recently launched a major project to boost literacy throughout the troubled nation, which suffers one of the world’s lowest literacy rates. more >
Final version of INCD Convention released
The Canada-based International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) has made available the final version its Convention on Cultural Diversity. more >
One year in Afghanistan
A year after Taliban, Afghan culture is starting to recover from the ruins left by the regime that will always be remembered as one of the most barbarous in the history of the world. Art, poetry, music, theater and dance are gradually re-emerging after many years of repression and persecution. more >
The arts column: where's the beauty in Ken's cultural strategy?
Yesterday morning, at City Hall, Ken Livingstone announced his cultural strategy for London. The heart sinks. more >
New programs on offer at ACNP
The Hungary-based Arts and Culture Network Program (ACNP) has announced three new funding schemes for 2003 focussed on Central and Eastern Europe. more >
Canadian cultural sector study released
Canada's Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) has announced the release of a new report entitled 'Face of the Future, A Study of Human Resource Issues in Canada's Cultural Sector'. more >
Recomposing the orchestra
Rather than chopping at groups haphazardly, the whole system of orchestra funding in Canada needs fixing. more >
Filmmakers seek protection from US dominance
The World Trade Organisation has started negotiations on trade in services, and the United States, Japan and a handful of other countries are eager to reopen the cultural exception debate. more >
Governor's cutbacks anger arts advocates
Governor James E McGreevey offered sympathy as he doled out bad news, saying his budget would hurt programs he supported. But cuts in spending on the arts and health care left advocates for those programs feeling singled out and abandoned. more >
Boyle: Give us the funds for a national theatre
James Boyle, the chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, has urged Lord Watson, the culture minister, to turn on the 'full funding stream' in support of a national theatre. more >
Malta Council for Culture and the Arts launches strategy
A commitment to improve standards, create opportunities for artists and develop sustainable relationships with business concerns are among the objectives which the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts has set itself for the next three years. more >
Critics denounce Nama nominations
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe's Merit Arts Awards (Nama) nominations have been described by critics as uncoordinated, with the whole judging process apparently lacking technical expertise. more >
City's arts budget being cut in money pinch
New York City has seen its rich cultural offerings seriously diminished by a weak economy, a drop in tourism, city budget cuts and a decline in private contributions following the terrorist attacks. more >
Jury for 2003 National Culture and Arts Prize
The Angolan Ministry of Culture has endorsed the election of the jury for the US$35,000 2003 National Culture and Arts Prize. more >
National art should not become extinct
A senior research fellow in dance at the Institute of Africa Studies at the University of Ghana, has appealed to the government and financial institutions to support dance ensembles in Ghana, to make the profession worthwhile. more >
Cost-cutting Arts Council pays £150,000 to ring the changes
The Arts Council of England has spent almost £150,000 of taxpayers’ money to devise a new logo that arranges its name in a circle rather than in straight lines. more >
Streamlined Arts Council foresees happier days
After a year of debate, the loss of 100 staff and £70,000 spent on a new logo, the Arts Council of England relaunched itself yesterday as Arts Council England - and insisted that it was now one big happy family. more >
Danish museum suffers spending crunch
After widespread furor over spending cuts at the Royal Cast Museum, Culture Minister Brian Mikkelsen reluctantly granted the museum funding enough to open 10 hours per week. more >
Govts not doing enough for artists, says Walcott
Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott has slammed regional governments for not recognising the value of artists in Caribbean society. more >
Mayor trims money for arts but donates own US$10 million
There are times when disgruntled New Yorkers, frustrated by crippling budget cuts, are known to implore the billionaire mayor to open his checkbook and help plug the city's budget gap. Mayor Michael R Bloomberg has done just that, again. more >
Government to build country's first geological museum
The Jordanian government has approved a project to build the country's first national geological museum. more >
UN launches literacy decade
The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), with the theme 'Literacy as Freedom', was launched last week at the organisation's headquarters in New York. more >
Bush Budget recommends flat funding for NEA
In his FY04 [Financial Year '04] budget, US President George Bush has requested US$117 million for the National Eendowment for the Arts, a small increase for administrative expenses from his FY03 request of $116.489. more >
US State arts agencies threatened with budget cuts
Despite the contribution of the arts to society, education, and the economy; despite the large numbers of people employed in the arts sector and the often low income status of artists - US states including New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, and California, have drastically cut back the arts in their new budgets. more >
Arts groups brace for '04 budget proposal
The state arts agency and the hundreds of groups it supports hope for the best but fear the worst when Governor Mitt Romney unveils his fiscal 2004 budget proposal tomorrow in the face of a budget crisis. more >
States, arts at odds
Governors are trying to slash - and in some cases eliminate - arts grants to help cover budget shortfalls. more >
America's arts in crisis
Culture in the United States is in acute crisis as state governments across the country ponder eliminating funding for the arts entirely to help bridge some of the worst budget deficits in decades. more >
New city art panel drawn up
A month after New York City's Mayor Bloomberg donated US$10 million to cash-strapped city arts groups, he appointed a new Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission - full of financial heavy hitters like himself. more >
Tourist chief says Scots economy at risk from lack of cash for arts
The tourism chief who masterminded Glasgow's emergence as European City of Culture in 1990, has savaged the Scottish Executive’s cultural policy, warning that a failure to invest in the arts is jeopardising the health of the economy. more >
Edinburgh gallery buys Titian's 'sexy lady'
For almost 60 years Titian's Venus Rising from the Sea has hung on loan in Scotland's National Gallery. It now belongs there, after it was bought for the nation for more than £11m. more >
Edinburgh gallery buys Titian's 'sexy lady'
For almost 60 years Titian's Venus Rising from the Sea has hung on loan in Scotland's National Gallery. It now belongs there, after it was bought for the nation for more than £11m. more >
Beijing to invest 7 billion yuan on museums
China's capital is planning to invest seven billion yuan (854 million US dollars) in building and renovating museums, a vice-mayor of the Beijing Municipal Government said on Wednesday. more >
Resource will administer PRISM fund
The PRISM Fund, which acquires and conserves objects or collections of industrial or scientific importance, is to be administered by Resource. more >
Resource moves to save Titian artwork
Resource, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, has played a key role in saving a Titian masterpiece for Scotland, according to a recent statement from the organisation. more >
Canada boosts film tax credits
Hollywood craft and talent unions were taken aback Wednesday by news that the Canadian government is raising production tax credits from 11% to 16% for foreign producers shooting there. more >
Arts board expects to bear brunt
Minnesota artists and arts organisations of all sizes and statures are weighing the potential crush of Governor Tim Pawlenty's budget proposal, which would reduce state arts funding by 22%. more >
March 2003
Official's personal taste rules this arts grant pot
Just weeks before Governor James E McGreevey proposed the elimination of all state arts funding, his administration gave away almost $3 million in cultural grants. more >
Small public libraries get a boost
Struggling public libraries in the small mining town of Barberton and neighbouring Emjindini township have received a R264 000 boost in the past year. more >
Iowa hosts creative economy conference
NASAA CEO Jonathan Katz was one of the participants in the Creative Economy 'Unconference' held in Des Moines on March 5, 2003, and convened by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. Author Richard Florida was the keynote speaker and he addressed the main theme of the conference - developing an economy powered by creativity, and how communities can become magnets for the sought-after creative class workers. more >
Arts groups cheer policy shift
Calgary arts groups are hailing a proposed new city arts policy as a positive move toward long-term support for arts and culture in Calgary, Canada. more >
Experts fear for Iraq's archaeological treasure
As US troops prepare for a potential war in Iraq, an international coalition of archaeologists, lawyers, researchers and art collectors believe some of the world's most important archaeological sites are at risk. more >
Budget plan doesn't call for more arts funding cuts
Arts leaders across the state breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when Governor Mitt Romney opted not to slash arts funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council in his fiscal 2004 budget proposal. more >
Arts coalition sets cultural plan in motion
According to the California Arts Council, Americans for the Arts and other organisations, cultural plans have been the impetus for revitalising neighbourhoods, improving economies and reshaping community identities in cities all over the country. more >
Canada adds $41 million to CBC budget
Canada's heritage minister has ended confusion about state funding for special cultural programming at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp by confirming that an additional CAN$60 million will be poured into the pubcaster's budget for 2003-04. more >
The Dutch give the arts a dash of (cold) water
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science's staggering $21 billion budget is the largest of any Dutch government agency. The culture ministry spends $400 million a year directly on the arts - about $25 for every Dutch citizen. But the free ride may be ending. more >
Filmmaker appointed as South Korea's Minister of Culture
South Korean film director Lee Chang-dong has been named Minister of Culture and Tourism in a surprise appointment by new Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. more >
Crouch warns arts council
The outgoing chair of the Arts Council of Wales has warned the quango that it must remain at 'arm's length' from the National Assembly. more >
Artless budgeting
The arts community in New Jersey was under no illusions that the 2004 fiscal year would be a pleasant one. Currently laboring under a staggering US$5 billion budget deficit, New Jersey, like nearly every state in the union, faces drastic belt-tightening in the upcoming funding cycle. more >
Creative Capital?
The 'Austin Chronicle' explores the economics of one subset of the 'idea workers' who have fueled Austin's phenomenal growth - artists. For many artists, it is a tedious climb from the economic necessity of 'day jobs' to self-supporting creative work. So perhaps the formula for building a strong 'creative class' might include more of the right kind of 'day jobs', as well as subsidized housing or workspaces, contracts, and grants. more >
Lotto grants National Arts Festival R10,5m
This year's National Arts Festival will be a corker thanks to an extra R10,5m grant from the National Lottery to be spread over three years. more >
Congress accidentally approves arts funding
According to satirical magazine 'The Onion', a red-faced Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist admitted this week that, as part of last week's US$397 billion spending bill, Congress accidentally allocated $121 million to the National Endowment for the Arts. more >
Artists organising cultural shutdown
All of the Israel's cultural institutions are to shut down on June 1 if the government does not restore funding for artistic productions, artists' leader and actor Yoram Hatav said in the Knesset while lobbying MKs to block a cut to culture budgets this week. more >
Museums, archives and libraries to assist with adult basic skills learning
A pilot project is underway in the UK to engage museums, libraries and archives in a Government-led initiative to reduce the number of adults who have poor literacy and numeracy levels. more >
Auckland's collaborative approach to arts marketing
Arts Advocates Auckland and the Marketing the Arts in the Auckland Region (MAAR) working party have released a feasibility report into establishing a collaborative arts marketing body for the Auckland region. more >
Paintings at a premium
Spiralling insurance costs sparked by worries over terrorism are threatening the future of blockbuster exhibitions, long vital to drawing crowds and filling coffers at museums worldwide. more >
New Columbia president has ambitious arts plan
Lee C Bollinger, the new president of Columbia University, has long been known for his advocacy of the arts as integral to the university experience. He is also a hands-on reformer, as shown by his determination somehow to reshape the craft-oriented Columbia School of Journalism. more >
Council probe into film permits
The Cape Film Office was shut down this week after a raid by investigators looking into claims of financial irregularities. more >
Paltry grant adds to RSC's woes
The Arts Council has awarded the troubled Royal Shakespeare Company a grant that pales in comparison with the amounts lavished on the Royal National Theatre and the Donmar Warehouse. more >
War and its aftermath threaten Iraqi treasures
The British Museum is experiencing a surge of visitors to its Mesopotamian and Assyrian galleries as the public develops a yearning to know more about Iraq and its great archaeological heritage. more >
French radio premiers in Fiji
Radio France Internationale (RFI) has opened the first French-language radio station in Fiji this week. more >
Indian film festival held in Addis
The Indian Film Festival is being celebrated in Addis Ababa with the screening of Indian films at the Ethiopian National Theatre. more >
Politics left little for the economy to ruin
Forty-two of America's 50 states have cut their arts programs by an average of 13.4% in the current 2002-03 fiscal year. more >
Arts issues conference ends on a positive note
'Arts in the Balance', a conference held in Boston, has brought together arts organisations, cultural advocates, and state politicians in an effort to better educate the disparate artistic community in the more pragmatic aspects of financial survival in tough economic times. more >
Writer urges the setting up of copyright bills
The Angolan Writer Lopito Feijo recently defended the need to create an organisation and new Bills to protect the rights of Angolan writers. more >
Rethinking historic preservation
Richard Florida's book, 'The Rise of the Creative Class', has received considerable press in the last few months. Florida's 'creativity index' is based on his theory that the presence of creative people leads to urban economic development, and he has brought visibility to the idea that the presence of artists is linked to a larger economic vitality and job growth. more >
NASAA award nominations open
Nominations are open for five awards offered by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) for outstanding service and leadership in support of arts and culture. more >
Treading the boards
Whether an arts company 'sings' is dependent not only on its artists, but on those behind the scenes - its management and board. more >
Prosecutors warn Culture Minister
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office summoned Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi this week to hand him an official warning that he faces criminal charges if he goes ahead with a plan to return an art collection to Germany. more >
Archaeological institute calls for protection of Iraqi culture
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) has urged all governments involved in the war against Iraq to honour the terms of the 1954 Hague Convention on the protection of cultural property. more >
More women take helm at arts organisations
When Anne Hawley joined the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as director in 1989, fewer than a dozen women ran art museums across the United States. Today, there are more than 50. more >
Why can't the curriculum be creative?
For four years the National Campaign for the Arts has been trying to wake the nation up to the needs of our creative future. It is a challenge that the arts are well placed to help meet. more >
April 2003
New NEA Chair hopes to restore agency
The new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia, has big plans for the agency: a national tour of Shakespeare's plays, a national poetry recitation contest, programs for rural and military communities. more >
Arts and money
Maine's political, business and arts leaders are using this period of fiscal uncertainty to launch a sweeping new campaign that stresses the importance of the state's arts and cultural resources as key strategic components for widespread economic recovery. more >
Indian tribes work with elders to preserve languages
With financial help from the federal government, members of American Indian tribes are being paid to learn and teach the languages of their ancestors. The federal government has poured more than US$23.6 million into such language-preservation projects since 1994. more >
ICOM cautions museums about art objects from war-hit Iraq
International Council of Museums has warned museums around the world to be vigilant with respect to art objects originating from Iraq offered for sale or reported to be stolen as a consequence of the conflict in that country. more >
World's first digital archive of arts and culture data launched
The Princeton University Library and Princeton University’s Centre for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies have announced the launch of the Cultural Policy and the Arts National Data Archive (CPANDA). more >
Culture deserves analytical coverage
In Zambia this important issue of culture has not received the kind of media coverage that can provide future generations with a solid learning base.The reportage of culture in this country has been confined to entertainment - music shows and albums, theatre and beauty parades. The print media is more guilty of this lapse than the electronic. more >
Dr Ngubane urges artists to unite in action
Arts, culture, science and technology minister Ben Ngubane has advised artists to organise themselves to make it easy for government to work with them. more >
Americans for the Arts support funding increase for NEA
The organisation Americans for the Arts recently submitted a written testimony to the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, in which it expressed support for an increased funding level of US$170 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the 2004 financial year. more >
Leap toward ageism a backward step in dance
India has an enviable tradition of government support for the arts, a system which requires a large bureaucracy and intricate rules to administer. A recent Delhi High Court ruling, however, threatens to establish a maximum age for performing dancers, a move which, according to Lewis Segal, would be devastating to the counry's dance community. more >
Chigwedere accused of neglecting the arts
Zimbabwean artists have accused the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture Aeneas Chigwedere, of neglecting the arts and culture industries. more >
Excerpts from remarks by Bush and Blair
The following are the text of a statement on Iraq issued recently by President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain after their summit meeting in Northern Ireland: 'We are taking every step possible to safeguard Muslim holy sites and other protected places in Iraq that are important to the religious and cultural heritage of Islam and of Iraq.' more >
Degas exhibition adds US$15 million to Detroit Economy
Making the connection between art and economics couldn't come at a better time for a museum reeling from budget cuts, 55 layoffs of its 416-member workforce and possible further reductions in state funding. more >
Is it OK to have fun?
The effects of war on American culture: a slumping box office, ambivalence toward 'the luxury of leisure,' preference for escapism, and increased interest in Islamic art. more >
PARC shows drive of audiences
The Performing Arts Research Coalition (PARC), a three-year audience-research project being conducted by a group of five US service organisations, has released an interim report providing welcome news to cultural organisations facing unprecedented cuts in public arts funding. more >
Candidate Kerry visits Clinton
In an early presidential campaign speech, Senator John Kerry vowed to 'put arts, music, dance, theater and good, working libraries back into our schools and restore the full measure of what education must be.' more >
Politics prevail over art
In an era when decentralisation seems to be the buzzword, the state government has started centralising various art, literary and cultural institutions of Madhya Pradesh, India. The move has the potential to severely jeopardise art and cultural activities in the state. more >
Pentagon was told of risk to museums
In the months leading up to the Iraq war, U.S. scholars repeatedly urged the Defense Department to protect Iraq's priceless archaeological heritage from looters, and warned specifically that the National Museum of Antiquities was the single most important site in the country. more >
Culture minister: It's a long-distance run
Literary historian Rudolf Chmel never wanted to enter politics and never liked administrative work. Now he occupies the chair of the culture minister and administers what is considered to be one of the most neglected spheres in Slovakia - culture. more >
Creative Construction
Massachusetts has an economic tiger - the 'creative economy' - that needs to be fed. The New England Council has set up the Creative Economy Initiative to help this bustling economy grow. more >
Burn a country's past and you torch its future
The loss of a library or a museum can mean the loss of contact with a vital strain of humanity. more >
Arts organisations vie for support in a slow economy
A sluggish economy and cuts in government and foundation support for the arts are placing new pressures on USA arts organisations to obtain and maintain corporate support. more >
Iraqi artists get a clean canvas
Artistic freedom for Iraqis has arrived, now that the threat of censorship and persecution has disappeared. Iraqi artists, however, are not completely free from fear. more >
Europeans look elsewhere for culture
Lack of investment and support are the main causes for concern in European cultural industries according to a questionnaire carried out by the European Parliament. more >
Sniper alley is quiet, but history is restless
With all the news coming out of Iraq about looted or destroyed cultural heritage, other war-torn places may have been forgotten. In Bosnia, thousands of mosques and churches were destroyed, and in the National Museum in Sarajevo, which abutted the infamous sniper alley, the physical damage to the building has been repaired, but the psychic damage to the culture is unresolved. more >
Government to help non-profit bodies promote art
Pakistan's Secretary for Culture and Information Taimur Azmat Osman has said the government will encourage all non-profitable organisations interested in the promotion of art and culture. more >
The Birth of French Cultural Centre in Abuja
After two years of sojourn in the nation's capital, the French Embassy commissioned the temporary site of its Abuja branch of the French Cultural Centre last month. more >
City plans to double arts money
Even as budget cuts are forcing the elimination of entire city services, Cincinnati's city leaders are doubling government support of the arts. more >
Tackling a tall order: the Bamiyan Buddha
Security concerns in Afghanistan and around the region have delayed the restoration of the giant Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley. And, according to UNESCO, there is some uncertainty as to whether to piece together the ruins or build replicas of the originals. more >
NACZ disbursing scholarship funds
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has begun to disburse money from the Arts Development Fund Scholarship (ADF) to artists and arts organisations. more >
Beijing theatres go dark for SARS
Beijing authorities have ordered all the city's theatres, cinemas, internet cafes and other public entertainment venues to close as it struggles to get a grip on the SARS virus. more >
New Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy
One of the more intriguing endeavors in the arts to come out of Nashville recently is the new Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, announced recently at Vanderbilt University. more >
May 2003
Different strokes
Arts organisations are now seeking to fund and showcase diverse artists, and are employing 'specialist ethnic agencies' to promote arts events to specific communities. But does cultural diversity policy benefit the arts? more >
Campaigning for culture
The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) and the Museums Association did their fair share of campaigning in the lead-up to elections in Scotland and Wales on May 1. more >
Expanding the Agenda of Cultural Research
What are cultural studies? And what is the future for the discipline? This article argues that bold ventures are needed to stake a clear place for cultural analysis, blending the humanistic and social-science areas, and operating from general education on up. more >
McGreevey vows to find dedicated funding source for the arts
New York Governor James E McGreevey has vowed to work with the state legislature to find a dedicated funding source for the arts in New Jersey. more >
Arts Council told to 'get a grip'
England's Arts Council has been criticised after 13 of its 15 major projects went over-budget, costing £94 million. more >
At last, Kenya moves to stem flight of cultural heritage
Recent media reports about attempts to ship to the United Kingdom a rare art collection belonging to Kenya's second vice-president, the late Joseph Murumbi, have rekindled calls by conservationists and art lovers for the government to pursue the repatriation of cultural artefacts that have been shipped to Europe and the United States over the years. more >
Art can improve Pakistan's image abroad
Pakistan's Federal Privatisation Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said this week that art was a field that could help promote the country's image abroad. more >
US pledge in hunt for Iraq museum pieces
The US will do everything in its power to recover Iraq's stolen antiquities, attorney general John Ashcroft said yesterday at an international conference organised by Interpol. more >
Zimbabweans set to showcase cultural heritage
Culture Week, a celebration of cultural heritage and diversity, is set to begin on May 18 and run until May 24. more >
Regional Agencies receive funding from Resource
English Regional Agencies for museums, archives and libraries will receive £8.5 million for 2003/04 under a funding agreement with Resource. more >
Bad day for Lahore Arts Council
Threats of protest by Performing Art Academy students and complaints from a famous artist about poor lighting in the Lahore Arts Council gallery featuring a Pakistan National Council of Arts exhibition, made a poor day for the Alhamra administration. more >
Elections lead to review for SAC
The Scottish Arts Council is facing a review of its role in the country following the victory of Labour and the Liberal Democrats in the elections for the Scottish Parliament. more >
Canada Council out of touch, Music Director charges
The Canada Council for the Arts is out of touch with art organisations across the country, the artistic head of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra said. more >
Resource Chief Executive stands down
Resource Chief Executive Anna Southall has announced her resignation, citing family reasons and expressing regret at leaving the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries before the launch of a number of major projects. more >
Cultural globalisation is not Americanisation
It is a myth that globalisation involves the imposition of Americanised uniformity, rather than an explosion of cultural exchange. more >
Dr Ngubane On Cultural Mission to Switzerland, Germany
Minister of arts, culture, science and technology Ben Ngubane is currently on a 12-day working visit in Switzerland and Germany to explore possibilities for sustaining cultural cooperation between the three countries. more >
British Council's New Vision for Writers
Writers in Nigeria have always had one complaint about the UK charity organisation, British Council's activities in Nigeria- insensitivity to their plight. more >
Europe reins in chalk horse
The European Commission has started legal proceedings against the British government for permitting a 150 ft high white horse to be carved on a protected area of downland above the Channel Tunnel. more >
Government Inaugurates Book Council
Nigeria's Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of a National Book Council (NBC) following the approval of a National Book Policy. more >
Let public have say on media ownership, recording artists tell the FCC
Recording artists in the United States have urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell to grant Congress and the public an opportunity to review proposed changes of media laws before they are enacted. more >
French Culture Minister encourages film production
According to a report in 'Le Monde', French Culture Minister Jean Jacques Aillagon believes television should play a central role in the financing of French film productions and wants to create aid funds to help the country’s regional centres foster film production. more >
Bank will finance museum restoration in Angola
The US$250 million restoration of Angola's National Museum of Anthropology will be financed by the Portuguese Investment Bank, Museum Director Mateus Cavula announced recently. more >
Minister launches SADC cultural festival
This year's Southern Africa Development Community multi-disciplinary cultural festival was officially launched by the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, in Harare recently. more >
Zambia urged to 'tap into rich cultural heritage'
United States tour operators attending the African Travel Association Congress in Lusaka have called on Zambian tour operators to tap into the country's rich cultural heritage to increase earnings into the sector. more >
Ethiopian dance group to participate in African fest in Japan
An Ethiopian dance group has left for Japan to participate in various cultural performances, including the African Fest 2003. The tour is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Japan under the auspices of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and African Embassies in Tokyo. more >
Italian Art Exhibition to Open in Addis Soon
Following film festivals, music and dance events, the Italian Cultural Institute is planning to open next Thursday an exhibition on Italian art and culture for the benefit of the local audience. more >
States cut historical preservation funds
The mission of state historical societies is to preserve the past for future generations. But in the face of deep budget cuts, many historical societies are fighting to preserve their own futures. more >
Greek museum plans 'thwarted'
Greece highest court has ruled against the government's plans on a new museum at the Acropolis in Athens, according to court officials. more >
Australia calls for cultural exception
The Australian Film Commission is calling for recognition of the special status of Australia's film and media industries in trade agreements between Australia and the US. more >
Deep budget cuts for California Arts Council
In his search for cuts to balance the state budget, Governor Gray Davis has taken a second look at the California Arts Council - and a second swing. more >
Brunei museums suffer from cash and money problems
Museums are normally equipped with skilled staff in carrying out studies and research. But certain challenges recently have affected the institution, such as the shortage of staff, compared to extensive research and the limited cost of research allocation and the purchase of expensive and up-to-date equipment in Brunei museums. more >
Museums to forge smart partnership with community
Launching and International Museum Day event recently, the Malaysian Chief Minister said that the day would be celebrated every year, as ICOM and UNESCO believed that museums played important roles in nation-building, especially in the globalisation and modern technology era. more >
New Singapore arts facility gets funding despite dilemma
Despite the blow inflicted by SARS to Singapore's efforts to become a cultural hub, funding is on track for its newest cultural icon - the harbour-front Esplanade arts centre. more >
Theft of Afghan artifacts persists
For decades, war and gnawing poverty made Afghanistan fertile ground for thieves and smugglers. Looters have cleared the shelves in Afghanistan's museums and left deep hollows in the earth of its ancient sites, where Buddhist, Greek, Zoroastrian and early Islamic civilizations once flourished. more >
Cuts in arts crimp the economy
As state and local governments adjust their spending to reflect the weakened national economy, arts organisations are, once again, among the first to feel the cuts and among the hardest hit. more >
American museums in financial crisis
The nominal value of assets on American museums' balance sheets is often misleading. Investment in the sector, for example, in new galleries, is effectively overstated on the books in the absence of any secondary market in second-hand museum extensions on which the nominal value could be realised if it came to the crunch. more >
Committee for museums
The Ministry of Heritage and Culture yesterday formed a national committee for museums to promote level of the ministry’s museums and improve the services offered by these institutions. more >
UNESCO affirms loss from Baghdad museum
About 1,000 archeological pieces were stolen from the National Museum of Baghdad during the US-led war to Iraq. more >
INCD celebrates World Day for Cultural Diversity
The International Network for Cultural Diversity joined with the United Nations in celebration of the first World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development on May 21. more >
House mulls tax break
A federal bill to extend artists - including composers, lyricists, and writers - a fair-market-value deduction for charitable contributions of their work appears to be near approval in Congress. more >
Belize and Mexico discuss co-operation and exchange
An historic meeting between Belize and Mexico was held recently, as part of an effort to seek more co-operation and exchange between the two countries. more >
Artists' deduction bill not included in CARE Act
The New York Foundation for the Arts has announced that the House of Representatives version of the artists' deduction bill was not included in the CARE Act of 2003, when introduced earlier this month. more >
Brazil ready to assist with cultural development
Brazilian Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, said recently that his country will intensify the bilateral cooperation in specific areas (music, theatre, ethnic manifestations and cinema) aiming at the development of Angola's cultural sector. more >
Repositioning African Art
With negative views of Africa and African people carefully constructed through years of supposedly objective Western media it is not surprising that the immensely invaluable contributions made to the world by African art, culture and science are virtually unknown. more >
ISESCO calls for action to preserve Iraq's civilization
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization called Islamic foreign ministers meeting in Teheran recently to identify appropriate measures to preserve the legacy of Islamic civilization and other civilisations in Iraq. more >
June 2003
Art museum survey results released
The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) today released a survey on the state of the nation's art museums that reveals a fundamental commitment to sustaining the highest levels of public programming and community service, despite the country's weak economy. more >
Lecture on African art at Arts Council
A lecture on the aesthetic value of African portraiture, and the genre of African portraiture in contrast with Western culture, was delivered at a recent Arts Exhibition Award and Lecture held by the Council of Arts and Culture in Nigeria recently. more >
Private fundraising and cultural policy
On April 30, NYFA Current ran a story on the National Endowment for the Arts' intention to hire a Development Director to focus on private fundraising. Now three responses to the story look at the issues from different perspectives. more >
Ghanaian dance group entertains in Norway
Thanks to funding from Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble recently thrilled a group of elderly Norwegians and Somali refugees with diverse dance pieces during a performance at the Cultural House in Koppang, a small riverside town in Eastern Norway. more >
European film days in Damascus
The Syrian national film organisation, of the Syrian ministry of culture, in co-operation with the Greek Presidency of the European Union opened on June 2nd 'the European Film Days in Damascus.' more >
Will UNESCO become an extension of US foreign policy?
US President George W.Bush surprised the world when he announced that the US would rejoin UNESCO, the cultural branch of the United Nations. Congress is expected to approve a US$71.4 million payment to UNESCO, the first US contribution in 18 years. more >
NEA's Shakespeare tour: Some say 'fair', some say 'foul'
Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, said the agency's Challenge America program would launch this September 'the largest theatrical tour of Shakespeare in American history.' Yet not everyone in the regional theatre scene appears pleased with Gioia's plans, and they're speaking out. more >
How to reinvigorate US public diplomacy
The US government is losing its voice before foreign audiences and needs to get it back. The US Information Agency and international broadcasting efforts, such as the Voice of America, have been neglected since the end of the Cold War. more >
The end of arts funding?
The National Endowment for the Arts stayed alive during the culture wars, but its survival strategy may have done more harm than good. more >
Can culture save us?
Does pouring money into cultural landmarks actually regenerate run-down areas? more >
Cultural degeneration
The Beatles, the slave trade, the Albert Dock and Tate Liverpool are just some of the cultural associations for which Liverpool is known. This heritage, combined with a recent strategy to regenerate the city, was instrumental in its successful bid this week for European Capital of Culture in 2008. more >
Washington's museums are in expansion mode
Thanks to an infusion of federal and private money, some US$2.4 billion in spending is in the works for new and revamped museums, theatres and other projects in and around America's capital. more >
Culture minister firm about screen quota
Lee Chang-dong, the outspoken South Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism, denied numerous reports that the administration is seriously considering easing the screen quota system, which requires theatres to fill 40% of their schedule with domestic films. more >
No Creative Capital funding this year
The New York Foundation for the Arts has announced that non-profit arts funder Creative Capital will not be funding new artists this year. more >
Experts study ways to fan creative spark
Discussing cultural policy might sound to some like an alternative to sleeping pills, but people from Europe and the Americas are huddled at the University of Texas this weekend avidly deploying terms such as 'efficiency of cultural production and consumption' and 'defining creative clusters.' more >
Iraq Museum to Reopen Displaying Lost Treasure
Baghdad's famed antiquities museum will reopen next month after many of the treasures feared lost forever were found stashed in secret vaults around the city. more >
US arts face 'devastating' cuts
Publicly-funded arts organisations across the US are facing potential cuts of US$100 million from coffers this year, as state governments slash budgets in order to save costs. more >
Who on earth would want to join an arts board?
'It's a nightmare when you're doing it. It ruined my life for six years, and what do you get at the end of it? Vilification.' What could Michael Berkeley possibly be referring to? A stint in the gulag, perhaps? Indeed no: the composer is describing his years on the board of the Royal Opera House. more >
Guidelines launched to protect arts and heritage
In response to the ongoing thefts of artworks, antiquities and books in the UK, a set of guidelines has been issued to assist museums, archives and libraries boost the efficiency of their security systems. more >
Mubarak reiterates importance of cultural building of individuals
Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak announced that the cultural building of individuals is one of Egypt's most important national projects. more >
Globalization threatens Russian culture
Speaking at the government council session in St Petersburg, Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi listed threats which exist for Russian culture. more >
Sixteen in traditional, folk arts get honours
Sixteen Americans will share this year's annual awards given by the National Endowment for the Arts to creators in popular and folk traditions. They will share 11 National Heritage Fellowships worth US$20,000 each. more >
Economic impact of arts construction
Proposed cuts in New York's capital spending for cultural projects will seriously harm smaller arts groups and take a big toll on the local construction industry, warned a nonprofit arts organisation as it released a new study this week. more >
2% of Malta's Arts Council budget goes to cultural support
The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts will be spending only up to Lm11,770 on cultural support this year, that is, 2% of its annual budget. more >
Culture Minister at Ministerial Conference in Senegal
The Angolan Minister of Culture, Boaventura Cardoso, headed to Dakar (Senegal) to attend the first African, Caribbean and Pacific conference of Ministers of Culture taking place June 18-20 in the Senegalese capital. more >
President calls for more money for the arts
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the government to increase funding for cultural activities and sites, while also encouraging more private investment. more >
Government support of arts is strong, NEA chief says
As a sign that the National Endowment for the Arts has recovered from the controversies of its past, its new Chairman, Dana Gioia, told more than 500 theatre professionals that the agency is close to getting a US$1 million grant from the United States. more >
Euclid International launches European partners initiative
Arts research and consultancy body, Euclid International, has relaunched a European partner search bulletin, following an increased number of requests from the arts and cultural sector to find partners for European-Union-funded projects. more >
Committee on culture directory to be inaugurated
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on NEPAD, Chief Chinyere Asika, will inaugurate the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigerian Arts and Culture Directory in Abuja on June 19. more >
New cultural diversity officer for Resource
Resource, the UK council for museums, archives, and libraries, has appointed a Cultural Diversity Development Officer. more >
A South Atlantic orchestra?
The idea of a joint orchestra of British, Argentine and Falklanders musicians as a contribution to finding a solution to the sovereignty claim dispute over the Falklands was proposed by Argentine-Israeli Director Daniel Barenboim. more >
Cuts in US state arts funding likely to bite
At a time when media consolidation is decreasing the platforms for independent voices and diverse ideas, State Art Councils are an important central and solid support system for the voices of artists and the organisations that present their work. But throughout the country, in these times of economic stress, they are being asked to take substantial budget cuts. more >
Singapore hosts prestigious arts meet
About 120 impresarios and cultural affairs officials from 26 countries are in Singapore for a prestigious international performing arts congress, the first to be held in Asia. more >
Writer Sontag receives German Peace Prize
Susan Sontag was awarded the German book trade's prestigious Peace Prize recently for her role as an 'intellectual ambassador' between the United States and Europe and for her human rights activism. more >
Majority of Singaporeans still lack appreciation for arts
The National Arts Council says the majority of Singaporeans still lack an appreciation for arts, despite the opening of the Esplanade and arts festivals. more >
A poet's journey from garret to DC office
Poet and cultural critic Dana Gioia had given up a high-powered business career to write full time when the Bush administration came knocking. more >
US Senate approves funding for black museum
More than 70 years after it was first proposed, a museum dedicated to black history and culture is close to congressional approval as part of the Smithsonian Institution. more >
Paris hosts symposium about Syria
A symposium entitled 'Syria in the year 2003 - a cultural passport', was held in Paris last month. more >
Women's summit focused on many themes
The summit agenda of the international women summit, in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, will cover a variety of themes, including the development of womens' social, economic and political role in the world today, and their rights and their contribution to making the world a better place to live in. more >
Artists and journalists join together for cultural development
In South Africa, the relationship between arts journalists and theatre practitioners is to be redefined by the South African Theatre Initiate (SATI) in a groundbreaking workshop at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. more >
July 2003
New Resource Chairman
Mark Wood was recently appointed the new Chairman of Resource, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. more >
Performers threaten to halt 650 French festivals in support of unemployed
All France's 650 summer cultural festivals face cancellation because of a protest by performers, musicians, dancers, stage managers and technicians that is likely to halt next week's Avignon festival. more >
Lagos First Lady canvasses culture-oriented education
Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu has called for the teaching of African rich culture amongst Nigerian school children for their development and moral implications. more >
Crossing cultural borders
As part of an ambitious project, Australian and German poets have come together in a unique cultural exchange. more >
NEA chief sees crisis in arts funding
American state governments have cut their spending on the arts an average 21% over the past two years, and some are considering removing them from their budgets, says the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. more >
Minister calls for assistance with Angolan Carnival
Angolan Culture Minister, Boaventura Cardoso, called on civil society organisations to assist his department in organising Angola's 'Carnival'. more >
Criticism of National Arts Council unfair
The National Arts Council of South Africa has been at the heart of controversy after its new board, which met on May 30, decided not to approve funding for some productions that had previously been promised funds. more >
Report charts pluses of NY cultural building boom
Amble through New York City and you'll see culture-related physical change everywhere. What, one wonders, is the impact of all this on New York City? more >
Returned cultural heritage
Barth Opoku Acheampong, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, has called on the Ghana government to resource the Board to enable it to send staff to the borders to check the illicit trafficking of artifacts by some handicraft exporters. more >
A display in making museums profitable
A couple of highly successful businessmen are trying to turn around two loss-making Tokyo metropolitan museums - not at easy task as they struggle with inflexible staff members and overbearing government regulation. more >
National Museum reopens
Lovers of Chinese art are to have pleasant weekends again, as the National Museum of China has reopened some of its exhibitions, which were closed during the past two months. more >
Oppressive cultural practices targeted
All cultural practices that oppress women will be reviewed, an Assistant Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, Alicen Chelaite, in Nairobi, Kenya, has said. more >
The good tourist
German corporate honchos and cultural officials are planning a national rebranding campaign to improve their country's image abroad. more >
'Bollywood' film to break down barriers
India's Bollywood film industry has announced plans to make a film starring Indian and Pakistani stars which will be shot in both countries. more >
Four participants assess and digress
Any assessment of a conference about renewing cultural (including religious) discourse must take on board two entirely separate topics. more >
Digitisation of cultural resources in EU documented
An interim report has been released on the progress made by European member states to coordinate cultural digitisation policies and programmes. The document includes a report on activity that is underway in the UK. more >
Europe Minister to appear at cultural events in Cambridge
Europe Minister Dr Denis MacShane will highlight the impact of the European Union Member States on British culture at literature and film events in Cambridge this week. more >
Africa's rich cultural heritage to be better managed
Africa's unique and exceptional immovable cultural heritage is not properly known, insufficiently recognised and in most cases, in peril. more >
Seoul seeks Hollywood's consent for trade pact
Culture policymakers are in talks with Hollywood filmmakers to separate the screen quota system from the issue of sealing a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between Seoul and Washington. more >
As arts funding flounders, states seek tax alternatives
Now that most American state governments have reached accord on their budgets, the day-after discussions among arts advocates are underway. more >
Cultural fund expected soon
The Angolan Minister of Culture, Boaventura Cardoso, has announced that the sector has been studying the implementation of a fund for cultural development designed to grant credits with low interest rates. more >
Tracking threatened cultures
Half of humanity's cultural legacy could soon disappear, so two men are doing something about it. more >
Creative California may be first state to end arts funding
California, long hailed as a hotbed of artistic creativity, is on the verge of becoming the first state in America to eliminate funding of the arts. more >
House votes to boost arts, humanities funding
The US House of Representatives has voted to boost arts and humanities funding by US$15 million next year in the latest chapter in a long struggle over federal sponsorship of cultural programs. more >
Gibraltar at the heart of Europe's new story
Could Gibraltar, Spain's unique confluence of cultures and influences, make the perfect site for creating a new European narrative that the People Flow pamphlet recommends? more >
Preaching to the converted
Flipping through the program on the first day of this three-day event that characterises the mandate of the Supreme Council for Culture, it was impossible not to be struck by how many references there were to religious discourse. more >
UNESCO General Conference to consider cultural instruments
The 32nd session of UNESCO's General Conference, to be held in Paris from September 29 to October 18, will consider two international cultural 'instruments'. more >
Lower Manhattan seeks submissions from cultural organisations
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is inviting cultural organisations to submit information about creating an interpretative museum about attacks on the World Trade Center. more >
Placido Domingo wins European culture prize
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo has been awarded the European Culture Foundation's culture prize for his life's work and his contributions to the arts. more >
Museums Australia revises indigenous culture policy
Museums Australia has redrafted its 1993 policy document regarding indigenous cultural heritage to reflect changes in areas like technology and reconciliation over the past ten years. more >
Bunyoro King advises on culture
The Ugandan Omukama of Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, Solomon Gafabusa Iguru, has urged the government to involve cultural institutions in minimising traditional practices that hinder development. more >
Capital of Culture team faces cash control rap
The organisation which spearheaded Belfast's ill-fated Capital of Culture bid is facing a rap over inadequate spending controls. more >
Cleric defends African culture
The Catholic Bishop of Oshogbo, Nigeria, Rev Joseph Faniran, has opposed the misconception of scholars who believe that African culture is not collective. more >
Local authority cultural projects vie for Private Finance Initiative support
Plans by Liverpool City Council to redevelop the Central Library and Archive into a 'World Discovery Centre' have been chosen to apply for a share in £39 million under the Private Finance Initiative, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced recently. more >
Crisis forces Berlin to bring down the curtain on arts subsidies
Debts of €50bn force German capital to cut funding of cultural institutions. more >
Culture cash flows in for Highland festival
The campaign to have Inverness and its Highland hinterland declared European capital of culture may have failed but public financial support is growing for the Highlands' own year of culture in 2007. more >
OZeCulture Conference opens in Brisbane
The 2003 OZeCulture Conference kicked off at Brisbane Powerhouse today, with 200 delegates coming together to discuss and debate a wide range of digital media issues in the cultural industries. more >
Trading places
Cultural property disputes are reshaping the art world—but how? more >
Aborigines to fight museum for return of remains
ATSIC will be asked to fund a legal challenge to a British museum's refusal to return the remains of 450 Australian Aborigines being used for scientific research. more >
Kennedy Center's Kaiser named cultural envoy
The Washington State Department has selected Kennedy Center President Michael M Kaiser to be part of a new international initiative that aims to strengthen cultural institutions. more >
August 2003
New budget paints ugly picture for state's art programs
The California Arts Council gets a token US$1 million for the coming year. As recently as 2000-01, that figure was US$32 million. The new budget translates to less than US3 cents per person statewide, and the national average is now US$1.10 per person. more >
Nova Scotia group releases arts report card
A Nova Scotia arts group released a cultural report card this week ranking the three major Canadian parties vying to lead the next provincial government. more >
War memorials: artists asked to help
South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Council has appealed to the province's artistic community to come forward with ideas for two memorials of the Anglo-Zulu War. more >
Chinese art festival to take on African theme
China will stage the fourth 'Meet in Beijing' Arts Festival in 2004 with an African theme and atmosphere, as Africa will be the guest continent, Vice-Minister of Culture Meng Xiaosi announced. more >
New freedoms awaken Kenyan culture
A small storm is brewing over Kenya's dress code - just one example of a flowering of indigenous cultural expression that's been given fresh impetus by the new government. more >
Japan hosts third UNESCO meeting on Iraqi heritage
The third UNESCO meeting of international experts on the safeguarding of Iraqi cultural heritage was held in Tokyo, Japan on August 1. more >
New cultural policy to regulate art events
Sardar Azam Rasheed of Punjab's Task Force on Culture, said the Task Force had prepared a culture policy that would soon be considered by the cabinet. more >
'Culture' is a sound investment
In the dispute over which kinds of cities have the best chance at economic success, a study from the University of Minnesota has made a valuable contribution, revealing that the arts are the real economy, or a part of it. more >
Culture bid nets £4m publicity
Birmingham's campaign to become European Capital of Culture generated positive publicity worth £4 million for the city. more >
America's cultural offensive
Washington hopes to ease foreign-policy woes in the Middle East by wooing hearts and minds with a new Arabic-language radio network, satellite TV channel and glossy monthly magazine. It's the funky side of the war on terror. more >
Art for art's sake? No, the economy's
How many dancers, musicians, and authors in your town? According to a new study, a critical mass of creativity spurs a vibrant business sector. more >
Jampro looks to Canada, UK for film industry investment
Jamaica Promotions Corporation is in discussion with Canadian and British film councils, with a view to develop co-production treaties to allow for increased investment in local film production. more >
Playwrights slammed for poor, outdated works
None of the playwrights who submitted their works for Malta's 2003 Premju Francis Ebejer contest, held by the Arts Council, were considered worthy of the first prize. The jury slammed all the 12 plays submitted but one, describing them as outdated, retrograde, poor, clichéd, pretentious and mediocre. more >
A festival of Kenyan culture through music
Once again, Nairobi is hosting the Kenya Music Festival. The ten-day event is the largest of its kind in East and Central Africa and is intended as a showcase of Kenya's rich cultural heritage. more >
Singing Iraq: poets in conversation
Two long-exiled Iraqi poets, after reading their poetry at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts in the wake of war and a complex liberation in their homeland, discuss with the audience the legacy of a long dictatorship on their own and their compatriots’ spiritual condition. more >
French Cultural Counsellor shares thoughts on culture and trade
Culture and cinema must never bow under the pressures of trade, the French Embassy's Cultural Counsellor, Jean Poncet, told a gathering in Melbourne, Australia this month. more >
INCD action against the inclusion of culture in trade negotiations
Internationally renowned artists have been invited to endorse an International Network for Cultural Diversity letter arguing against the inclusion of culture in trade negotiations. more >
Deputy Minister seeks to relaunch culture
Angolan Deputy Minister of Culture, Andre Mingas, has embarked on a tour to Northern Cabinda to relaunch cultural activity in the region. more >
Two NYFA programs a go; one fund may stop
Three separate announcements in recent weeks from the New York Foundation for the Arts have spelled good news for not-for-profit arts groups. more >
Queen lauds success of Thai art
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit extolled the success of Thai art as a world heritage and the virtue of natural conservation, and called for continued efforts to eradicate drugs and stop deforestation in a speech to mark her 71st birthday today. more >
Arinze heads Commonwealth Association of Museums again
The Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Council for Arts and Culture, Dr Emma Arinze, has been re-elected President of the Commonwealth Association of Museums. more >
Integrating culture into national consciousness
In the Ministries that most directly affect the Nigerian culture sector, the top men are new. However, not much is known about the background of these new culture lieutenants, especially in regards to their relationship with the sector. more >
Cannes Festival to update European audiences in Russian arts
The Russian Arts Festival will be held at Cannes for a sixth time this year. more >
Culture Minister to begin nationwide tour
Tourism stakeholders who have been calling for the development of tourist sites nationwide, are about to receive a breather as the Minister for Culture and Tourism, Franklin Ogbuewu, has promised to undertake a nationwide tour of all of Nigeria's tourist sites. more >
Rasta community to hold first national convention
The Angolan Rastafarian community will hold its first national convention of the Rasta Movement Order Association of Angola to encourage members towards participating in the organisation's various activities in the field of theocracy, culture, education, environment, trade and human rights. more >
Film producers thank government for funds
The Pakistan Film Producers Association (PFPA) has thanked Prime Minister Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali and Minister Rais Munir for promising funds for a proposed Film City institute. more >
First national gallery to be established by November
Kenya's Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services Secretary, Nancy Kirui, has announced plans are underway to set up Kenya's first national gallery before November. more >
Executive to give funds for national theatre
It was envisaged as a key symbol of the new Scotland, a national theatre which harnessed the greatest talents of the devolved country. It has been a long time coming, but finally, after years of delay and increasingly bitter debate, the project is about to become reality. more >
Culture minister hints at public cash injection to help Fringe grow
More public money could be pumped into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to recognise the event’s worldwide appeal and help it to grow further, Scotland’s new Culture Minister has indicated. more >
Artists from different countries preparing culturally blended shows
Twelve artists from a number of countries, including Indonesia, are currently training and working together in Ubud subdistrict, Bali, to blend elements of their national arts and cultures into a reportoire to be presented to the public in a number cities in the US. more >
Arts funding struggles coast to coast
In this time of exploding budget deficits, economic paralysis, and persistent revenue contractions, 2003 to date has offered very little news on the subject of state and local arts funding to give cause for good cheer. more >
Strike hits Bangladesh film industry
In Bangladesh, film producers and artistes have gone on an indefinite strike. more >
Scottish arts community stares into the abyss
After 300 years under the English yoke, devolution was supposed to bring a new dawn for Scottish culture. But for the arts, home rule has so far been a bitter disappointment and for some a disaster. more >
Artists are the heart and soul of a community
'California's funding for the arts — along with many other important items — was decimated in the last budget. This was easily the most difficult budget vote I have ever cast, and I know most of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree with me on that,' says California State Senator Jack Scott. more >
2004 budget allocations for Russian film industry to swell
Federal allocations to the Russian cinematography will increase by 300 million roubles according to the 2004 draft budget. more >
Theatres are drawing crowds - and running in the red
Attendance is up at theatres across the US - 17% over the past five years. Revenues are up as well, not only at the box office but in contributed income, which has grown at an astonishing 52% above inflation. more >
Dana Gioia's NEA: Art for the masses
Since Dana Gioia was named Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the organisation has awarded nearly US$1 million to poets and translators of poetry and over US$2 million to literary arts organisations. But the highest profile project of Gioia’s term so far begins this month. more >
Du Maurier Arts Council's end near
The final curtain is expected to fall on the du Maurier Arts Council next week, bringing an end to Imperial Tobacco's final CAN$2 million a year in arts funding because of Ottawa's severe restrictions on tobacco advertising. more >
Arts' civic role critical
In tough times, arts groups need to be creative. Tripped by the stumbling American economy, the arts need to find new footing. more >
Musicians vie for million-dollar instruments from Canada Council
A group of Canada's best young musicians is gearing up for the Canada Council Arts Musical Instrument Bank competition next week, and some will leave with instruments worth millions. more >
Egypt's reading for all to be generalised in the Arab states
With the success of Reading for All, which has made many precious books available at low prices for the past 13 years, the Egyptian experience is to lease life into the Arab cultural scene with a similar larger plan, a cultural official said recently more >
New antiquities museum opens in Egypt
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has inaugurated a new antiquities museum, displaying mummies as well as pharaonic and Roman artifacts, in the Mediterranean port city. more >
September 2003
African films fail to impress
African movies have failed to make an impact in terms of viewership in their own countries despite being viewed in respected festivals held in Europe, the United States and in other parts of the world. more >
First Peruvian International Exhibition of Contemporary Art held
Artists from India, Italy, Bulgaria, Switzerland, England and the USA are taking part in the first Peruvian International Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Arequipa, Peru. more >
Wales hosts arts, culture and media conference
An international conference taking place in Cardiff, Wales from November 24-27 will focus on how the arts, culture and media can help reshape societies and identities. more >
Spanish Culture Minister defends funding for Franco Foundation
The Spanish Minister for Education, Culture and Sport, Pilar del Castillo Vera, has responded to comments that excessive funding is being granted to the Francisco Franco Foundation, by stating that the foundation has important historical value. more >
Cultural complex project relaunched in Senegal
A project for a cultural complex dedicated to the millions of Africans who were victims of slavery has been relaunched in Senegal. more >
Promoting Africa's artistic diversity
The sixth Market of the Arts and Performances will take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast until September 6 to promote Africa's artistic diversity. more >
Japan holds second Echigo-Tsumari Triennial
Japan’s second Echigo-Tsumari Triennial has invited 157 artists from 23 countries to create works at more 50 locations throughout the region, for better cooperation between participants and the local community during the event. more >
Advocates push to pass federal arts bills
Americans for the Arts is encouraging its members nationwide to support three proposed tax provisions, each of which would increase charitable giving to not-for-profits. more >
Tendentiousness in the arts
The Korean government spared no effort in getting its man placed at the National Center for Traditional Korean Performing Arts, and went as far as to change the membership of the judging committee. more >
Cash deal for Franco-US arts museum
Setting aside recent tensions, a Franco-US agreement to extend and renovate a museum dedicated to more than 200 years of mutual friendship has been signed between the French culture ministry and the American Friends of Blerancourt. more >
Northwest Governors urged to support Radio, Television, and Arts Union
Governors of the Northwestern states in Nigeria have been urged to offer necessary support and encouragement to the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria. more >
Gioia might be just the right person to complete NEA's 'healing'
Dana Gioia might not be the most popular man in Washington, but he's probably more qualified for his job than most members of the American government. more >
NEA grant for ground-breaking digital preservation
The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive has received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for a project aimed at setting international standards for the collection and preservation of digital and internet art. more >
Arts council HQ could leave the capital
The Scottish Arts Council could be the next public body to be moved out of Edinburgh under the Scottish Executive’s relocation programme, it emerged yesterday. more >
Performing arts have record year in 2001
Canada's not-for-profit theatre, music, dance and opera companies boasted record revenues in 2001, Statistics Canada says. more >
Canada Council asks for increased funding
The Canada Council for the Arts has asked Ottawa to increase arts funding to 'reaffirm the importance of arts and culture in Canadian society and, more broadly, in the world.' more >
Planning a museum to tell Iraq's story
Kanan Makiya dreamed of building a museum that would catalogue Saddam Hussein's atrocities for all Iraqis to see. Now, Makiya, an architect and author who fled Iraq in 1968, has received permission from the American authorities to build his museum. more >
Suzanne Mubarak receives Mediterranean culture award in Italy
Receiving the Mediterranean of Culture prize from the Accademia Del Mediterraneo in Naples, Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak said the Mediterranean must become the cradle 'of a global culture of peace in a world torn by war and hatred.' more >
Robert Redford calls for more art funding
'Government support for the arts is not the frivolous giveaway that some would have you believe,' said Robert Redford, delivering Americans for the Arts' 16th annual free arts and public policy lecture. 'It's a good investment and it is sound economic development.' more >
Art foundation reform sparks dispute
There has been much discussion in recent years about how to revamp the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation, making it more independent and professionally structured. The government's plan to change the organiaation into the tentatively named 'Culture and Arts Commission' is one such attempt. more >
Is the Canada Council's largesse good art?
The Canada Council's government funding has increased almost 70% in the past seven years, reversing the effects of several years of deep cuts. More money, more grants; more grants, more art: art lovers should rejoice at the news, shouldn't they? more >
Antiquities returned to Iraq museum
More than 3,000 artefacts from Iraq's national museum have been recovered after being looted, a US team has said. more >
Kennedy Center - hotbed of globalism?
At a time when the Bush Administration is very often accused of isolationist leanings, the Washington DC-based John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts seems to be viewing not just the cultural world of the United States as part of its mission, but that of the rest of the globe as well. more >
National theatre stage set with £7m
A blueprint for the National Theatre of Scotland was set out yesterday as ministers announced details of its funding and structure. more >
NEA study sees dance debt
A new study from the National Endowment for the Arts predicts that not-for-profit dance companies may see as much as a 30% loss of earned income in the next few years, and even a heavier fall in contributions. more >
US Congress moves to ban import of Iraqi antiquities
The US Congress is considering legislation that would ban the import of archaeological objects and works of art from Iraq unless these are accompanied by documentation proving that they were legally exported under Iraqi law before the imposition of US and UN sanctions in August 1990. more >
Arts companies report healthy surpluses
Symphony orchestras struck sour notes on the balance sheet as the new millennium dawned, Statistics Canada figures show. more >
Museums concede dark role in looting of Indian relics
Some of America’s most celebrated institutions — including Harvard’s Peabody, the Field Museum in Chicago and the American Museum of Natural History in New York — are indicating for the first time in reports to the US government that they were more involved in the looting of Native American burial grounds than they have previously admitted. more >
Cantata by Canadian composer embraced as September 11 tribute
As people around the world mark the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, music by a Toronto-born composer has been embraced in Canada and the US as a tribute to the victims and their families. more >
Debating 'Illegal Archeology'
Europeans charge that the collecting policies of some US museums encourage the plundering of ancient sites. more >
Museum Island undergoes makeover
Germany now is in the process of transforming the five neoclassical museums that are clustered on an island in the Spree River into a cultural centre to rival Paris' Louvre and London's British Museum. more >
Following a trend, Downtown looks to the arts
When the World Trade Center was conceived in the 1960's, its developers didn't worry much about the absence of museums, opera houses, symphony orchestras or jazz clubs in Lower Manhattan. Yet almost all involved in the planning to rebuild at ground zero have agreed on at least one thing: whatever comes next should include cultural institutions. more >
First meeting of the Interamerican Culture Commission
Earlier this month, 22 cultural delegates from the member countries of the Organization of American States participated in the First Meeting of the Interamerican Culture Commission in Mexico. more >
Refining cultural heritage
Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellows at the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington DC will help expand and refine a theoretical framework for 'cultural heritage discourse' over the next three years. more >
Artists emboldened by cultural freedom
On the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis frequently complain about the decline in their quality of life since the US-led invasion. But dozens of young actors and directors at the National Theater are scrambling to ready plays for a festival next month and have seized with enthusiasm an artistic freedom unknown for 25 years in Iraq. more >
Canada Council board tours Alberta
For the first time in 12 years, the entire board of the Canada Council has made a trip through the province of Alberta. more >
Banks donate to the arts
It was raining money in Toronto this week as two of the country's largest banks announced they were giving a total of almost CAN$8 million to five major cultural institutions based in the Ontario capital. more >
Director of Canada Council tells artists to be more like businesses
The director of the Canada Council for the Arts wrapped up his tour of Alberta this week with a warning for the heads of arts organisations. more >
Australia's first international arts and disability festival launched
Australia’s first international arts and disability festival will be held from November 16-23 in Brisbane, showcasing the talents of over 300 artists from 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific. more >
Firm donates $400 000 for arts development
As the corporate world begins to realise the importance of the development of arts in Zimbabwe, Printset Private Limited has donated close to half a million dollars towards the Arts Development Fund administered by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. more >
German culture institute reopens in Kabul after 12-year closure
The Goethe Institute, which showcases the German language and culture to the outside world, said that it will reopen its office in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time since 1990. more >
Moroccan writer and Bosnian professor win UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab culture
Moroccan writer Bin Salem Himmich and Bosnian professor, Esad Durakovic, won this year's UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. more >
Copps pushes international law on culture
Sheila Copps, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Line Beauchamp, Quebec's Minister of Culture and Communications, met with a number of Canadian arts and culture organisations in Montreal to solidify support for a proposal that would see culture protected by international law. more >
Little ado on arts in Ontario election
'Arts and Culture Matter' is the title of a brochure from the Liberal Party of Ontario that delivers what it calls a 'plan for strong cultural industries.' But if there's one subliminal message you can get from the way this election is being conducted, it would have to be: 'Arts and culture don't matter. Let's not waste time talking about them.' more >
Baghdad's artists torn
Baghdad's artists are torn between joy over new freedoms and dismay over occupation. more >
New Chair appointed to National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
Chris Powell will be the new Chair of England's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced. more >
Resource grants £90,000 for promotion of cultural diversity
Museums, archives and libraries in the nine English regions will celebrate their work as part of the Cultural Diversity Festival this year, thanks to a £90,000 grant from Resource. more >
CBC to face CAN$10 million shortfall
The CBC will have to get through the next six months without the CAN$10 million that Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps earlier said would be available to it. more >
Casinos slow to help arts centre
It has taken a while, but gaming-led civic leaders have figured out that Las Vegas needs more culture if it wants to diversify its economy and attract more businesses. more >
Cultural diversity in classical music sector to be explored
The Association of British Orchestras will hold a conference next month to discuss issues of cultural diversity in the classical music sector. more >
Culture workers parley on the way forward
The Chief Executives of Culture of the 36 States of the Federation held a three-day meeting in Abuja last month chaired by the CEO of the Nigerian Council for Arts and Culture, Emma N. Arinze. The meeting deliberated, among other issues, on the need to actualise the Minister's vision of making the Culture and Tourism industry second only to petroleum in terms of revenue generation. more >
Culture Executives meet... Owerri hosts NAFEST
Owerri, Nigeria, has been approved the host town of the 2003 National Festival of Arts and Culture by the Nigerian National Council for Arts and Culture. more >
Arts, culture and national interest
Nigeria is a study in heterogeneous cultural identities and treasures whose similarities and variety have contributed immensely to the elements that unite the country. more >
Pushing forward language culture
Culture Minister Alun Pugh will address a pioneering conference to discuss the way forward for Welsh-language culture in rural Wales. more >
October 2003
After CORA's arts festival...
The Committee for Relevant Arts has organised a book and culture fair in the art city of Lagos, Nigeria. more >
Mandela congratulates JM Coetzee
Former South African president Nelson Mandela congratulated South Africa's latest Nobel prize winner, author J. M Coetzee. more >
RP dot-com supports arts in online ticketing
Internet portal and online community Yehey! and the Cultural Center of the Philippines have forged an agreement to offer an online channel for the distribution and marketing of tickets in CCP presentations via the web. more >
Mrs Mubarak opens German Cultural Festival
Egypt's First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, opened the German Cultural Festival 2003, which is hosted by Cairo and Alexandria from October 2-23 with the aim of boosting bridges of cultural dialogue between Egypt and Germany. more >
Culture seeping into premiers' offices
Taxes, jobs, health care and education... you don't expect the provincial politicians who pay your doctors and build your schools to start discussing art appreciation or heritage conservation in the midst of an election. more >
Government to preserve arts in 3D images
China's Education, Science and Technology Ministry plans to produce and preserve 3D digital images of historical structures, traditional performing arts and other government-designated cultural assets, according to ministry sources. more >
Kuala Lumpur to host inaugural Asean culture and arts ministers meeting
Kuala Lumpur will host the inaugural meeting of culture and arts ministers of Asean and Asean+3 on October 13 and 14. more >
MOEA awards medal to artist
Chinese Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday conferred a 'Friend of Foreign Service' medal on renowned artist Li Chi-mao for his long-term devotions to the promotion of international cultural exchanges. more >
Art forms enhance cultural identity
Senator Datuk Mohammad Omar Bledram said all forms of drawings, sculpture, dances and traditional games should be valued by all, and those skilled in these art forms should improve. more >
Asean arts and culture forum to debut
A meeting to discuss the promotion of culture and arts in the Asean region and among the group's 'plus three' partners will be held in Kuala Lumpar on October 13 and 14. more >
Culture on the agenda at environment summit
The 15th National Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Conference will have a cultural twist this year, with the formal launch of the Regional Cultural Alliance. more >
Morocco among countries to benefit from French 'co-development' policy
Morocco is among four African countries to benefit from the 'co-development' policy initiated by the French government to help foreign communities settled in France invest in their native countries. more >
Survey launched to preserve traditional paper art
The first ever China-wide survey of the traditional folk art of paper-cutting has been launched as part of a 'Chinese folk culture salvation project'. more >
Postponed national art festival rescheduled
The seventh China Art Festival, the top art festival in the country, will be held on September 10, 2004 in this capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, the organising committee has announced. more >
Minister seeks more arts access
Arts Minister Estelle Morris has denied plans to cut funding for national museums and galleries because they were too 'elitist' and 'middle class'. more >
A-Ha! A Hakka culture and arts festival
The 2003 Hakka Culture and Arts Festival, A-Ha! Hakka, will features 76 cultural groups giving 182 performances in 16 cities across Chinese Taiwan. more >
US artists reaching out to rebuild Iraq culture
Getting the music playing may not seem to be as high a priority as turning the lights back on, but in the eyes of some, US officials and arts groups restoring Iraq's cultural institutions are just as important to the country's rebuilding process. more >
Dance and opera open Shanghai International Arts Festival
Dances and dramas, including the global success of Ireland's 'River dance' and China's folk dance drama 'Farewell My Concubine', kicked off the fifth China Shanghai International Arts Festival on Saturday. more >
Treaty targets Hollywood's homogenisation of culture
Talks are starting on a United Nations treaty designed to help countries protect their native cultures in the face of what many characterise as the homogenising effect of Hollywood. more >
Bridging the arts and the masses
For years, Philippine art has had the negative reputation of being elitist. It has since been included in the list of things the masses cannot afford to appreciate and enjoy. more >
Can the arts cash in on cities' creativity buzz?
Sniffing the political breeze, the Canadian arts community has caught a whiff of the urban-renewal agenda and is hot on the scent. If anybody is negotiating a new deal for cities, the arts want to be at the table. more >
Al-Assad and King Carlos visit National Museum
President Bashar al-Assad, his wife Asmaa al-Assad, King of Spain, Juan Carlos and wife Queen Sofia visited the National Museum in Damascus where an exhibition for the Spanish artist Alberto Carathone was opened. more >
Arts Minister unveils first projects for Culture Online
Scottish Arts Minister Estelle Morris has set out details of the first seven projects to be commissioned under the new government arts and education initiative, Culture Online. more >
Cubans mark cultural day in Abuja
Cubans in Nigeria marked their country's national cultural day in Abuja with an exhibition of the paintings of some of the country's outstanding painters and writers. more >
National Culture and Arts Award to be reformulated
Angolan Minister of Culture Boaventura Cardoso said today in Luanda that the National Award of Culture and Arts will undergo some changes to adjust it to the new working environment of his sector. more >
Confronting the culture wars
The 'thrust' of a controversial review of the National Museum of Australia has been endorsed by its council and staff, the museum's chairman, Tony Staley, said yesterday. more >
Meeting to discuss city image update
A meeting attended by representatives from eight different countries will be held in New York on October 29-30, addressing the issue that the image of cities as hotbeds of pollution, stress, poverty and crime needs an update. more >
Making culture dynamic is the sure route to development
A commentary on African cultures, Ghanaian cultural activities, and the cultural policy of the Ghana National Commission on Culture. more >
The arts deserve city funding too
For some, grants to arts organisations are bad just because they are grants. For others, it is the arts themselves that are unworthy of having taxpayers' money lavished upon them. more >
Govt should not veto arts festival, Minister says
The Victorian Government is dismissing suggestions that it should take control of the program for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. more >
International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted
Oral traditions and expressions will now benefit from an international legal instrument to safeguard intangible heritage, following a meeting of the Member States attending the UNESCO General Conference at Headquarters in Paris recently. more >
Participants from 23 countries discuss Information Literacy
Inequities among nations and individuals in today’s Information Society were targeted at a historic, 'first-of-its-kind' meeting recently held in Prague, Czech Republic. Forty participants from 23 different countries, representing all seven major geographic regions of the world, met to discuss Information Literacy. more >
First cultural event for Endorois
The Endorois of Baringo District in Kenya held their first cultural day on Friday. The occasion was witnessed by Assistant Minister Alicen Chelaite. more >
Controversy over cultural exchange between Cuba and Puerto Rico
The Cuban Chamber for Books has condemned ‘new aggression’ by the US government against the culture of Cuba. more >
Universal Forum of Cultures to take place in Barcelona
The first Universal Forum of Cultures will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from May 9 to September 26 in 2004, and expects to attract more than five million visitors to its events. more >
Performing Arts Festival concludes
The World Performing Arts Festival, a major annual cultural activity in the city of Lahore, ended on the weekend. The carnival began on October 17 and enthralled audiences for ten days. The festival featured local and foreign performances. more >
November 2003
17th National Festival of Arts and Culture
All is now set for the 17th National Festival of Arts and Culture which will be hosted in Owerri, the Capital of Imo State. more >
Cultural policy finally launched in Zambia
The launch of the cultural policy in Zambia comes against a backdrop of the cultural sector suffering what artistes perceive as major marginalisation in successive national administrations. more >
Dismal expenditure by Sports, Arts and Culture
South Africa's standing committee on Sports, Arts and Culture has expressed disapointment, displeasure and concern at the department's continuing underexpenditure during the first six months of the 2003/04 financial year. more >
Belize National Dance Company performs in US
Snapshots of Belizian culture are set to be presented through a combination of dance and drama when the Belize National Dance Company stage performances and conduct workshops in La Crosse, USA, this month. more >
US rejoins Unesco after two decades
Just as the US was pushing for a new United Nations resolution to internationalise the rebuilding process in Iraq, the First Lady, Laura Bush, was in Paris at the headquarters of Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural branch, to mark US re-entry into the organisation after a two-decade boycott. more >
German firm hired to save Easter Island sculptures
UNESCO has awarded a German firm contract to preserve the world-famous but decaying Moai head sculptures on Easter Island, which are suffering the effects of the weather, tourism and past restoration attempts. more >
New bilingual guide to funding in Wales
The first bi-lingual guide to Welsh funding opportunities has been published. more >
India to ask Pakistan to lift ban on Indian films, artistes
The SAARC Information Ministers' conference has an extensive agenda on various media issues, but its highlight is expected to be the likely Indian request to Pakistan to lift its ban on Indian films and performing artistes. more >
US$1 million humanities prize goes to Polish philosopher
The US Library of Congress will award the new US$1 million Kluge Prize for lifetime contribution to the humanities to a Polish philosopher who provided intellectual backing for the Solidarity union's efforts to jettison communism. more >
Turkey allows Kurdish conference
Turkey has allowed Kurdish writers to hold a conference in their own language for the first time in years. more >
Laura Bush salutes arts programs for underprivileged youth
Hailing the positive impact of the arts and humanities on the lives of young people, first lady Laura Bush presented awards to community organisations in the United States and Mexico for their pioneering work with underprivileged youth. more >
Aborigines back UK bones panel
Australian Aborigines have welcomed a plan to set up a panel to oversee the repatriation of human remains held by British museums and universities. more >
Culture, tourism calendar for Nigeria soon
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ambassador Franklin Nchita, has said in Owerri that the Federal Government through the Culture and Tourism Ministry is to draw up a comprehensive festivals calendar for Nigeria. more >
UN study shows governments are installing the Internet, but public usage is down
According to a United Nations study released earlier this week, about 91 percent of Member States are installing and using Internet services. However, the issue of online government services has raised questions of cost-effectiveness in developed and developing countries. more >
Meeting Focuses on Access to Digital Content by the Visually Impaired
A meeting held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva on November 3, 2003 focused on how the visually impaired can access copyrighted materials in the on-line world in a legally-acceptable way. more >
Women seek bigger role on Swiss cultural stage
The uphill struggle for sex equality by Swiss women involved in the arts is closely examined in a new book published by Pro Helvetia – the Arts Council of Switzerland. more >
Music festival is secured, but council cuts funding
The future of an annual music and arts festival in Scotland looks secure after councillors yesterday decided against withdrawing funding. more >
UNESCO singles out cultural masterpieces to save 'humanity's heritage'
With the proliferation of television and the Internet, some fear the world's increasing globalisation may threaten indigenous cultural treasures. more >
CNIB launches digital library for the blind
Thanks to the Internet and some original programming by Microsoft Canada, 105,000 blind or visually impaired Canadians will be able to read thousands of books, daily newspapers and magazines. more >
Charity Gifts to Arts Fall
Over three years of less-than-stellar economic growth has been taking an increasing toll on nearly every element of the arts scene in America. more >
French artists steal TV spotlight to draw public's attention to cuts in benefits
With cameras rolling, France's struggling artists have begun invading live broadcasts to publicise their grievances to television audiences. more >
Culture chief quits £65,000-a-year job
Culture boss Sally Medlyn has left her £65,000-a-year post at Liverpool City Council. more >
Archives, spending and vital programmes cut short
The Department of Sports Arts and Culture is unable to perform its mandated duties efficiently because of a critical lack of office space for vital programmes. more >
Hollywood movies make way into Indian markets
Hollywood movies are beginning to grab a bigger chunk of India's huge movie market, traditionally dominated by its own film industry, which is known as Bollywood. more >
Exciting Foretaste of CHOGM's Cultural Package
Last week, the Theatrical Production Team of the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting hosted the media to a rehearsal preview of the cultural package being put together by the Professor Shamsudeen Amali led Theatrical Committee. more >
Urbis to host second Manchester Arts Show
The towering all-glass Urbis building in Manchester will host the second Manchester Art Show from November 27 to 30. more >
Introducing the Nigerian Academy of Dramatic Arts and Music
The long awaited Nigerian professional institution designed to guide the country's performing arts into the competitive standard in the world market has now taken off. more >
World Bank to help preserve Ethiopian cultural heritage
Ethiopia has launched an innovative scheme to try and preserve the country's fast disappearing cultural heritage. more >
African forum to establish centres for excellence in children's art, education
The recently-launched African Child Policy Forum is embarking on one of its early projects: preparations towards the establishment of Centres of Excellence in Children's Art and Education. more >
UNESCO celebrates World Television Day in lead up to summit
In the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society, UNESCO recently celebrated World Television Day - proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996. more >
UNESCO celebrates World Television Day
UNESCO recently celebrated World Television Day - proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 to encourage global exchanges of television programmes focusing on peace, security, economic and social development and the enhancement of cultural exchange. more >
Film, TV industry concerned over free trade talks
Prime Minister John Howard has indicated the Federal Government may be willing to negotiate over Australia's film and television content laws to secure a free trade agreement with the United States. more >
Cultural invasion by Guggenheim Museum feared
While some academics support the planned establishment of a NT$6.4 billion branch of the Guggenheim Museum in the Taiwanese province of Taichung, others expressed strong objections at a symposium held at Tunghai University last week. more >
National arts database leading the way
Artists in the United States who need professional information of almost any sort can visit a database designed exclusively for them. more >
December 2003
International book fair has Quebec flair
A delegation of artists from Quebec were given red carpet treatment when they arrived for ¡Voilà Québec en México! – a specially organised cultural event framed around the Guadalajara International Book Fair. more >
Plan for African cultural network taking shape
Boosted by its success in South Africa, the International Network for Cultural Diversity is ramping up its efforts to create an arts and cultural network for the African continent. more >
Chinese artist awarded top medal of honor by Belarus President
Chinese artist Yuan Xikun has been awarded a top medal of honor by Belarus Minister of Culture Leonid Povlovich Gulyako in the name of the Belarus President Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko. more >
Colombian youth to benefit from Japanese funded libraries
The construction of 13 new children’s libraries will commence this week in different municipalities across Colombia, thanks to financial assistance from the Japanese Government. more >
African diaspora museum set for Yerba Buena area
Scheduled to open in the summer of 2005, San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora aims to explore and celebrate the history, culture and contributions of African-descended people around the world. more >
Sites for art complexes identified
There is a proposal by the Indian Government to construct art complexes in various parts of Bangalore to promote theatre, dance, music, and paintings, said the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, BK Chandrashekhar. more >
Resource Launches Disability Database for Museums, Archives and Libraries
Providing online access to a database of 200 trainers, auditors and consultants specialising in disability issues is the latest step towards reducing access barriers in museums, archives and libraries by Resource. more >
The South Project
The South Project is aiming to strengthen relations and cultural interactions in the southern hemisphere, a region emerging from long periods of civil conflict and colonialism and too often engaging with the north than along the southern latitudes. more >
Non-profit performing arts community to gather at first time convention
In June 2004, the non-profit performing arts community of the United States will gather together at the first ever national performing arts convention in Pittsburgh. more >
Assistance for artistes
India's Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu has proposed to provide financial assistance to deserving artistes for conducting individual or group art exhibitions. more >
Belizean Handicraft Association formed
A group of Belizean woodcarvers and other handicraft producers met recently at the University of Belize to establish the Belize Woodcarvers and Handicraft Producers Association. more >
Bringing the background to the fore
There was a time, not so long ago, when art-historical orthodoxy held the Renaissance to be all but exclusively an Italian creature and possession. But as critical scholarship has refined itself, old simplicities have fallen away to reveal a historical context that was infinitely more open than had previously been allowed. more >
New Chair for Arts Council
Art historian Sir Christopher Frayling is to take over from Gerry Robinson as the new Chair of Arts Council England. more >
Ancient rock art found in Tasmania
Aboriginal rock paintings believed to be thousands of years old have been discovered in Tasmania's south-west. more >
Groundbreaking held for national slavery museum
Ground was broken on Wednesday for the US National Slavery Museum, with the project's architect saying he hopes the museum can heal racial rifts left by centuries of human bondage. more >
Art creates more humane spaces
Last month a workshop was held to see what could be done to make South Africa's low-cost housing settlements more aesthetically pleasing. more >
View from the top - museum directors speak out
A roundtable of blue chip museum directors talks about the challenges faced by museums. The more art museums look like multinational corporations and the more their directors sound like corporate CEOs, the more they risk being cast by the public in the same light. more >
Poor try to weave a future through arts and crafts
The arts and crafts industry is developing talent, creating jobs and tackling poverty alleviation in South Africa. more >
Touch of Mandela
South Africa's Robben Island is a long way from the waters surrounding Sydney's harbour foreshore at The Rocks. Yet that's the most recent home to artworks by Nelson Mandela. more >
Ireland invests in its artists
Despite tough budget times, Ireland will continue to provide its film industry with hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks. more >
Cultural policy in devolved Scotland
Full text of the First Minister, Jack McConnell's St Andrew's Day Lecture on the arts in Scotland. more >
Nigerian film industry: the journey so far
The journey of a thousand miles, they say, begins with but one step. The Nigerian motion picture industry took that one step a century ago. more >
A Louvre revolution
The post of President-Director of the Louvre is among the art world's most prestigious, but prestige has not been commensurate with power. Henri Loyrette knew that when he took over in April 2001. more >
Examining the US-Europe cultural gap
Is there a growing gap between the cultures of Europe and America? more >
High Beam on disability
A two-day international conference on the social impact of disability culture and arts will be the centrepiece of next year's High Beam festival in Australia. more >
State measures threaten Mexico’s cultural infrastructure
Significant cultural entities are facing serious challenges under Mexico’s proposed 2004 budget, the International Network for Cultural Diversity newsletter has reported. more >
Ethnic art facing life or death
China is working hard to salvage and preserve some of its diversified ethnic cultures threatened with extinction as a result of modernization. more >
Loving Island living
Every four years, people of the Pacific Island nations gather for a massive celebration of their cultures, languages, arts, and traditions as they struggle to maintain their identity in the raucous global village. In 2004, the 9th Pacific Arts Festival will culminate in the small Micronesian nation of Palau. more >
McConnell's 'cultural rights' agenda leads to delay of arts policy review
The launch of a long-promised review of Scotland’s arts policy has been delayed to reflect better the First Minister’s new agenda for "cultural rights". A consultation document, originally due to be published earlier this month, is being rewritten to "fully reflect" the themes of Jack McConnell’s St Andrew’s Day speech, officials say. more >
Nigerian film industry undergoes constant change
In Nigeria, a thriving national film industry is producing several thousand feature films on video every year, making it one of the most prolific in the world. The industry is undergoing constant change as it strives to produce not just quantity, but also better quality movies. more >
British Council starts New Year by 'contacting the world'
The British Council has hatched another unique project to promote cultural ties between Britain and the rest of the world. "Contacting the World" is an international theatre project involving youth theatre groups across the globe. more >
Songs project scores £1.35m
A project to catalogue and document thousands of hours of Gaelic and Scots songs, stories and interviews has been granted £1.35 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. more >
Cultural renewal in Slovenia
It saw thousands off to concentration camps during the war. Now, the railway station at Zilina in northern Slovenia is being transformed into a cultural centre. more >
Balkan Performing Arts Network
The Balkan Express Network has been born. The forum to exchange ideas, information and projects has sprung from an identified need for better dialogue and communication for performing arts professionals in the Balkans and beyond. more >
Struggle for Romanian dance
At last there has been a breakthrough in the long struggle for recognition of dance as an art form in Romania. The Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs has recently announced the appointment of an official dance counsellor and has promised financial support for a major choreographic project in 2004. more >
Singapore's dream vs the right to write
Imagine caustic writer and Nobel laureate V. S Naipaul visiting Singapore to sign copies of his latest book, one that has just been published there. more >
US Congress signs off on African American museum
The US Congress has signed an act committing to the creation of a National Museum of African American History and Culture. more >
Celebrating Nigerian art for the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held in Abuja from 5-8 December focused on politics and issues of development. But Nigerian art also featured in the events that brought together the member countries. more >
Edinburgh hit by arts brain drain
It may have the world’s premier arts festivals, and it’s campaigning to be recognised by the United Nations as the first City of Literature – but new figures reveal that Edinburgh has been overtaken by Glasgow as Scotland’s cultural capital. more >
Corporate giving tied to business growth
A new study commissioned by the Boston Foundation reports that the public is more likely to patronize corporate businesses which make a point of donating to the arts and other nonprofits than those which do not. more >
Landmark Peruvian art exhibition a Florence first
Italy is playing host to a landmark Peruvian pre-Columbian art exhibition, reconstructing for the first time ritual moments of the Moche people. more >
Literature on a new path
With an average two books every month, the country's literary sector continues to keep the trend to develop itself, as observed in the last three years, both in quality and quantity. more >
Festival relives Bedouin heritage
The recent 36th International Sahara Festival, held 600 kilometers south of Tunis, drew locals and tourists alike for a cultural event that celebrates the region's heritage and desert peoples. more >
Cash-strapped states cut arts funding, federal endowments grow
Cash-strapped state governments have slashed funding for theaters, museums and performance groups by nearly one quarter, while federal spending on the arts has edged up slightly. more >
NRI buys Hussain's paintings for $1 million
The Indian arts movement received a major boost with an NRI purchasing 22 paintings of eminent artist M F Hussain for a whopping one million US dollars. more >
Vancouver loses out on India's film awards
Vancouver has lost out on its bid to host the 2004 version of India's Oscars because the British Columbia government would not provide all the help the organizers required, a spokeswoman says. more >
Arts' 2003 Funding Struggles Shift
In the 1990s, leaders in the not-for-profit arts community fought the good fight, saving the National Endowment for the Arts from extinction, even though Congress drastically cut funds. more >
Publishers on guard as France lifts curb on TV book adverts
French publishers have been forced to accept TV commercials for books, despite warnings the move could wreck smaller publishing houses. more >
New body to help Indigenous artists in NT
The Northern Territory Government has established an Indigenous arts reference group to advise it on how Indigenous artists can make the most of their talents. more >
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Seeks Artifacts From Shoah
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is seeking original materials to continue to bolster its collection relating to the experiences of the Shoah in Europe, Palestine, the Far East and the Americas. more >
World Cultural Forum launches online portal
The World Cultural Forum, to be held in Brazil next year, has launched a new internet portal, designed as a virtual cultural centre. more >
Artists aplenty recognised in New Year's honours
Artists aplenty have been recognised in New Zealand's New Year's honours list. In all, 23 people who have made their names in the fields of arts and entertainment received awards. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >