International News in January 2005
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Hong Kong-Shanghai rivalry goes creative
Over the past decade, China's premier business centers, Hong Kong and Shanghai, have engaged in a friendly rivalry. Now they are waking up to the theories of a growing number of experts that cities must nurture their "creative capital" in order to entice capital of a more conventional sort. more >
London's Tate Modern art gallery plans to expand
Tate Modern, the modern art gallery in London that receives more than four million visitors a year, announced plans to expand by more than half of its current size. more >
Musharraf for promoting art, culture
President Gen Pervez Musharraf has emphasised the need for promoting Pakistani art and culture as part of efforts to promote a soft image of the country. more >
Seoul to Become Hub for Culture
As Seoul becomes increasingly vibrant on the cultural front, the government has come up with a series of plans to strengthen its cultural infrastructure. A huge performing arts complex dedicated to classical music and costing over 40 billion won will open on Nodulsom, an island in the Han River, by late 2007. more >
Youth Arts Award Launched
A new arts qualification for young people was announced by the Government today. The Young People’s Arts Award will recognise achievements in music, dance and art. more >
Minister warns 'hoarding' museums
Too many works of art and historical artefacts are hidden from public view, the government has said. Arts minister Estelle Morris says major museums in England should allow smaller galleries to exhibit undisplayed items. more >
Arts/Business Survey yields surprising results
The Business Committee for The Arts, a not-for-profit organisation based in New York, has released the surprising results of the survey they commissioned into the state of American arts and business. more >
Call for more investment into £135m Edinburgh festivals
A new study says that the Edinburgh Festival generates £135 million for Scotland’s economy and generates 2,900 full-time jobs. more >
EU refurbishes Livingston Museum
The European Union has refurbished the Livingston Museum at a cost of about $476,000 in readiness for the Visit Zambia Campaign 2005, National Museums Board executive secretary Dr Francis Musonda said yesterday. more >
Film Unit Wants Bigger Cut
The National Film and Video Foundation, the statutory body for the film and video sector, is calling on government to increase its annual budget for film projects from the current R25-million to R10-billion in the next two decades. more >
French to aid Cultural Centre
French Ambassador Hubert Fournier yesterday announced a merger between the French Cultural Centre and the Alliance Francaise in Nairobi. The merger, he said, is aimed at providing better services to the public. Fournier was speaking at the French Cultural Centre, which has been spearheading cultural activities. more >
Involve Chiefs in Keeping Sites
The Council of Chiefs has called on the Department of National Museums and Monuments to work with traditional leaders in maintaining the country's historical sites, to preserve sacredness and cultural values. more >
National Cultural Department Regulation Announced
The Angolan Ministry of Culture has announced it will implement greater internal regulation to ensure it meets its broader national goals. more >
National project for translation supported at 10 million Egyptian pounds
During his inauguration of the 37th session of the Cairo International Fair for book, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave great support to the national project for translation at a cost of 10 million Egyptian pound. more >
New foundation established in Eastern Europe
BalkanKult, formerly a regional association based in Sarajevo, has now become an entire foundation, with a new set of ambitious goals and objectives. more >
New Zealand Disability Arts Festival a world first
As part of the Auckland Festival, New Zealand will be featuring its first disability arts festival, Giant Leap. Featuring international professional disabled artists, this is the first disability festival in the world to be incorporated into a mainstream arts festival. more >
Toronto to be named a cultural capital of Canada
The federal government plans to name Toronto a ''cultural capital of Canada'' and give the city $500,000 for that designation, effective this September through August, 2006. more >
UNESCO begins work on blueprint to safeguard Jerusalem’s cultural heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation today began work on a blueprint for safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem. more >
Board changes irk artists
The Australia Council's changes to funding for new media and community projects appear to be set in clay, if not in stone. But that hasn't stopped angry artists from raising their voices about the restructure. more >
Plans for £25.7m 'super' museum
Plans for an ambitious £25.7m 'super' museum which would be home to more than 500,000 artefacts are gathering pace. more >
At last, professional artists catch a tax break
Professional artists will be entitled to new tax breaks, after years of lobbying from arts organisations. more >
UK theatre support in spotlight
Public support for theatres in the UK is being examined by the theatre arm of the Culture Select Committee in the House of Commons. more >
Middle East's publishing industry bears huge potential
Some 300 delegates from publishing houses and media organisations across the world are attending the inaugural Middle East Publishing Conference, launched at Dubai's Knowledge Village. more >
Air of dissent as Cork fears a cultural damp squib
When Cork launched itself as this year's European capital of culture - the smallest city on the smallest budget to take on the role - expectations were high. more >
Can hi-tech save Peking Opera?
Chinese cultural researchers will adapt modern computer and video technologies to set up a national audio and video database for Chinese traditional opera. more >
Scots museum to return tattooed Maori heads
The tide continues to turn against the international practice of housing Maori human remains, with a Scottish museum agreeing to return two 'toi moko' (tattooed heads) this year. more >
Healing arts for Tsunami survivors
The International Child Art Foundation is facilitating a healing arts program to assist the 1.5 million child survivors of the tsunami tragedy. more >
Art appreciation 2005: Log on and print out affordable art that's good
Few who frequent art museums, galleries and seek out art on the streets can afford to buy the kind of ambitious work they've learned to appreciate. more >
Millionaire musicians to lose Irish tax free status
The tax free status accorded to writers, artists and musicians in the Irish Republic is to be reviewed, with a minimum tax rate or sliding scale of reliefs likely to be introduced for top earners. more >
UNESCO to help restore libraries in tsunami affected regions
UNESCO will provide US $100,000 for the restoration of all destroyed libraries in the tsunami affected countries in the South Asian region. more >
China urged, again, to protect copyrights and patents
Donald L. Evans ended his fourth and final visit to Beijing as the United States secretary of commerce on Thursday with the same demand he brought on three previous visits in the last three years: that China strengthen its protection of copyrights and patents. more >
Democratise arts and culture to promote democratic values
Professor George Panyin Hagan, Chairman of the Ghana National Commission on Culture, has called for arts and culture to lead the way in promoting democratic values. more >
UNESCO conference a great success
As reported in the International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) newsletter, the January conference, Globalisation, Cultural Diversity, and UNESCO: Imperatives for U.S Arts and Cultural Practitioners and Organisations, was a great success. more >
7 new members appointed to Media Development Authority Board
Seven new members have been appointed to the board of the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). The seven newcomers comprise individuals from both the public as well as private sectors, and together with the 10 other re-appointed members, will help guide and set directions for the MDA to help Singapore become a global media city. more >
Babylon wrecked by war
Troops from the US-led force in Iraq have caused widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon, according to a damning report released today by the British Museum. more >
Cultural promoters told to seek new sponsors
Angolan minister of Culture Boaventura Cardoso today in Luanda announced the end of State assistance to his sector, recommending cultural promoters seek new partnerships and sponsorships for the implementation of their projects. more >
Koizumi Launches New Council to Advise on Cultural Diplomacy
In early December 2004 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced the establishment of the Council on the Promotion of Cultural Diplomacy. more >
New Countries sign on to Intellectual Property treaties.
In 2004, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), monitored 61 instances of new countries adhering to intellectual property treaties, a record for the organisation. more >
Nigerian Government investigates cultural festivals.
In line with the Federal Government's policy of improving the tourism sector for economic growth, Kogi State Government has directed the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to take inventory of cultural festivals in the state for full integration into the mainstream of its culture and tourism policy more >
Problems for huge Hong Kong arts hub
A huge multi-billion dollar arts hub planned for Hong Kong's famed harbourside is in doubt as public opinion gathers against it and influential businessmen and politicians declare the proposal flawed. more >
Runrig singer and ex-bishop chase top Arts Council post
Former Runrig singer and would-be MP Donnie Munro is in the running against a retired bishop to chair the Scottish Arts Council. more >
Lee calls for `cultural revolution'
Former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui yesterday said that the nation must rid itself of Chinese culture by creating a new 'common culture' based on the diversity of Taiwan's ethnic groups. more >
Tax victory for Australian artists
After years of lobbying pressure from the creative industries, the Australian Taxation Office has today signed off on a landmark taxation ruling for professional artists. more >
Tibetan language website launched
A Tibetan language website on Tibetan culture and progress in areas inhabited by Tibetan people opened recently in Qinghai Province, a multi-ethnic area in northwest China. more >
Funding the arts in a world of rapid change
The Australia Council has adopted a new system of art support, writes Jennifer Bott. more >
Going digital on the cheap
A controversial proposal to digitalise Germany's cultural heritage with the help of the country's new one-euro job scheme is ruffling feathers at the German Cultural Council. more >
Preserving traditional music in global process of cultural exchanges
A seminar on Vietnam’s traditional music preservation and training in exchange with global music was held recently in Hanoi, with the participation of many researchers, professors and renowned artists from foreign countries, including Britain, France, the US, Thailand and the Philippines. more >
Collectors pool resources for cultural 'buy-back'
Private collectors of Chinese national treasures, who have returned many valuable artifacts from overseas in recent years, are planning to pool resources to repatriate more of the country's heritage. more >
French museums take steps away from home
For the French, culture is culture and commerce is commerce and the twain should ne'er meet. That at least is the theory. more >
Parliamentary inquiry into public support for theatre
Arts Council England and key theatre bodies across the UK will come under scrutiny as a Parliamentary committee launches a comprehensive inquiry, which could change the face of publicly subsidised theatre. more >
A culture clash in the capital
NIS 4 million. That is the sum the Jerusalem municipality invested in culture this year. But there is no clear criteria for supporting culture, which is leading to some peculiar discrepanies. more >
Guadalajara is American Capital of Culture 2005
The city of Santiago has ended its term as American Capital of Culture 2004. From Saturday 1 January, Guadalajara, Mexico, will take its place as Capital of Culture for 2005. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >