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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
'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 >
'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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
'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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
February 2003
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
French radio premiers in Fiji
Radio France Internationale (RFI) has opened the first French-language radio station in Fiji this week. 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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 appr