International News in December 2004
Show all of 2004
Arts Council warns of Northern Ireland shortfall
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has welcomed an additional £15.5 million from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure towards supporting arts facilities in the capital but warned of inadequate resources to meet operational costs across the province. more >
Ancient central China capital to be restored
The local government will invest nearly 120 million yuan (14.46 million US dollars) to restore a 3,500-year-old ancient ruins in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province. more >
Asia's first China cultural centre opens in Seoul
The world's fourth China cultural centre opened in South Korea Tuesday to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. more >
Arts Council gets increase in State funding
The Irish Arts Council is getting a 16 percent increase in funding, with some €61 million in funding allocated to the body for 2005. more >
Arts Council to fund almost 300 bodies next year
The Arts Council yesterday announced increased funding for arts organisations across Ireland for next year, with plans to fund 297 entities, 39 more than 2004. more >
Australia Council's makeover 'step backwards'
Key elements of the Australia Council's structural makeover have been greeted with anger and bemusement. more >
Cultural relics threatened as never before
Cultural relics in China are under critical threat from smugglers, tomb raiders and thieves, warned Shan Jixiang, Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. more >
Funding body's big-bang strategy
The Australia Council plans to be more aggressive in picking winners, by strategically funding arts projects it feels are important. more >
Heritage Minister: Museums crumbling, overcrowded
Canada's national treasures have languished for too long in vaults and run-down museums, says Heritage Minister Liza Frulla. more >
Holloway tipped for arts council job
Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, will be interviewed to head the Scottish Arts Council. His pitch will include a strong defence of the SAC, which many insiders believe will be scrapped or restructured as a result of the ongoing review of cultural policy. more >
National Commission on Culture launches website
The National Commission on Culture on Tuesday launched a website aimed at providing knowledge on Ghana's culture and cultural heritage. more >
We all get singed when a quango burns
'The decision of politicians in Wales to become overlords of the nation’s arts is a warning to us all.' more >
"Black day for Swiss culture"
The director of Geneva’s art and history museums has condemned parliament’s decision to cut the Arts Council’s budget because of a controversial exhibition. more >
Arts Council pays price for exhibition
Parliament has cut SFr1 million ($880,000) from the annual budget of the Arts Council of Switzerland to punish it for funding a controversial exhibition in Paris. more >
Axed art boss accused of lying to the High Court
Arts Ministry authorities have accused the fired acting head of the National Arts Council of lying to the Cape High Court - as well as obtaining certain "prohibited" benefits. more >
Culture can be profitable, argues Caribbean academic
Make arts and culture a profitable industry. That was the call of cultural researcher at UWI, Lester Efebo Wilkinson, made in his feature address at the opening ceremony of the Secondary Schools Drama Association 40th Anniversary Festival and Sixth Caribbean Secondary School Festival in Trinidad. more >
Namibian Arts Minister reflects on year.
John Mutorwa, the Namibian Minister for Basic Education, Sport and Culture has said that the implementation of the Education and the National Art Gallery acts, and the promulgation of the National Heritage Act, were some of the major achievements of the Ministry for 2004. more >
UK Museum 'Renaissance' To Be Extended
Regional and local museums received a boost with the announcement of £17 million new funding for the Renaissance scheme, led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. more >
Where's the art in that?
A survey of lottery-funded arts centres finds that half a billion has been blown on 'buzz'. more >
A series of new dams is submerging archaeological sites throughout Iran
Iran’s cultural heritage is facing almost unquantifiable damage from an ambitious programme of dam building. more >
Japanese museums revitalised
Japanese museum goers are being treated to two major openings, as Osaka’s National Museum of Art relocates and Nagasaki plans to open a new art museum in April 2005. more >
U.K. contrast shows pitiful state of arts funding
So the UK is holdings its arts budget steady for a couple of years. And the US is increasing its arts spending. Except when you see how far behind in spending on the arts the US, the situation is pretty bleak. more >
UNESCO funds human rights films
UNESCO has selected eight proposals for film productions for its new project promoting human rights and tolerance. more >
Visiting Arts Director steps down
After ten years as the Director of UK organisation, Visiting Arts, Terry Sandell will be stepping down from the board in 2005, while former Rockefeller Foundation President, Gordon Conway, will become Chair. more >
Clouds clear as cash comes
The sense of dread engulfing Canada's arts community is about to be lifted - for now. more >
Heritage minister announces $200M extension to arts fund
The federal government gave Canadian arts groups 'a bit of a Christmas gift' Wednesday: Heritage Minister Liza Frulla announced a one-year, $192-million extension of the federal government's Tomorrow Starts Today arts funding program. more >
Theatres are left reeling by funding ‘breach of faith’
'We knew it would be bad but not that bad' was the response from the performing arts to the news that government funding of Arts Council England is to be frozen at £412 million for the next three years - a cut of £30 million in real terms when inflation is taken into consideration. more >
Minister dissolves National Arts Council
South African Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan, has dissolved the board of the National Arts Council, effective December 14. more >
Theatres suffer in arts budget
National museums and galleries celebrated but theatres were despondent yesterday as the Government announced a tough spending round for the arts. more >
Artists upset over proposed changes to Canada Council grants
Canadian visual artists are worried about a proposed change to the Canada Council's grant program. Their concern focuses on the fact that not all artists create works for display in galleries. more >
Arts Council Wales to be run by Assembly
Arts Council Wales will exist in little more than name alone following a decision by the Welsh Assembly to hand over most of its important work to the legislature’s civil servants. more >
Heritage Fund could lose £15m a year in Lottery bill shake-up
UK Heritage Lottery Fund executives are warning that changes to the funding system included in a forthcoming Lottery bill, could see the body’s income reduced by as much as £15 million a year - affecting the amount of money available in capital grants for theatres. more >
Swiss culture lashes out at Senate punishment
Cultural authorities are appalled that the Senate wants to cut the budget of the Arts Council of Switzerland over a controversial Swiss exhibition in Paris. more >
Culture integral to Olympic bid
Chris Smith MP, the new chair of London's Cultural Consortium, is determined that art and culture will not get lost in the sporting fever surrounding London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic games. more >
Arts body hands out £1m culture cash
The Scottish Arts Council yesterday awarded close to £1 million to arts projects it said were boosting the 'cultural fabric' of Scotland. more >
Industry unites to counter nation’s ‘mediocre’ theatre
Leading figures in the UK theatre industry have joined together in an initiative, spearheaded by Equity and Directors’ Guild of Great Britain and backed by Arts Council England, that aims to create at least one ensemble company in every major town or city nationwide. more >
Visual arts has government's support
The Barbados Government has pledged its continued support for the development of the visual arts across the region. more >
Arts council gives City of Literature cash boost
The Scottish Arts Council has approved an additional £50,000 in funding for Edinburgh’s City of Literature project. more >
Arts funding improves in Florida
After years of political and economic depredation, things are looking up for the arts - especially in South Florida. more >
Ejaz for promoting art, literature
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Muhammad Ejaz-ul-Haq has underscored the need for promoting art and literature alongside science and technology in Pakistan. more >
Film Body 'Needs R192m' to Do Its Job
The National Film and Video Foundation says it needs R192m to put SA's film industry on a par with international standards and improve the quality of local feature films and documentaries. more >
Finer Points of the Millennium Arts Centre
The newly-opened Wales Millennium Centre claims to be “the most vibrant arts development in Europe today“. more >
Funds boost Australian audience figures
Five years after receiving a $70 million injection of government funds, the nation's major performing arts companies are attracting bigger audiences, staging more new work, touring more regularly and, by and large, staying out of the red. more >
Harare Biennale to Have a Strong Curatorial Presence
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe will host the Harare Biennale 2004, a thematic exhibition with a strong curatorial presence in keeping with the importance of curators in Biennales the world over. more >
PACA opens fifth biennial
The Pan African circle of artists PACA, last week kicked off a month-long series of exhibitions, which they called Africa Heritage 2004. more >
Plan to Return Artworks to SA
The National Heritage Council is to demand the return of priceless South African artworks and archival documents which are being stored in several overseas museums. more >
President hails art critics group
President Chen Shui-bian hailed the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) as one of Taiwan's best friends on Thursday because the UNESCO affiliate has braved Beijing's opposition to hold its world congress in Taiwan. more >
Promised Arts Effort Trimmed
A new program proposed by the President has been cut from an $18 million request to $2 million in Congress. more >
Saatchi claims Tate rejected £200m collection
An unmade bed and a pickled shark may appear too good to refuse, but Charles Saatchi has said that his rival at the Tate, Sir Nicholas Serota, turned down the gift of his entire £200m art collection last year. more >
Scottish Opera's music director resigns amid acrimony
Sir Richard Armstrong resigned as music director yesterday from the turmoil-racked Scottish Opera. more >
Seattle Arts make $1 billion
A recent study found that the Seattle region's arts and heritage organisations generated more than $1 billion for the state's economy, from ticket purchases to hotel stays to shopping and dining out. more >
Sixty-two key questions on running the arts
The Scottish Cultural Commission released a list of 62 questions yesterday for people seeking a say in how the arts are run. more >
Stretching the canvas: Osian's to build arts school
It’s a novel effort in the realm of the arts. Osian’s, India’s first art auction house, is working towards building an arts and cinema university in the country. more >
To Stretch City's Budget for the Arts, Chicago Turns to EBay
With the city facing a $220 million budget deficit and civic arts financing slowly drying up, Lois Weisberg, commissioner of cultural affairs in Chicago, is trying out another new idea: an online auction on eBay. more >
Transformation in arts failed, says Mosala
Transformation in arts and culture has failed, says South Africa's department of arts and culture director-general, Itumeleng Mosala. more >
Union Forges Ahead With Arts Programmes
ORUUANO Artists Union is to act as facilitator for a soon-to-be-established UNESCO-spearheaded multi-purpose arts and culture cooperative in Namibia. more >
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