International News in 2006
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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 2006
Pro Helvetia president takes stock
The outgoing president of the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, says she is leaving it "in very good shape". more >
New rights for living artists
A new EU directive that is expected to be enforced this month may lead to some countries changing their laws in regards to intellectual property rights of living artists. more >
National Cultural Trade Research Base launched
The National Cultural Trade Research Base of China has been launched in Beiijng, at the Communication University of China (CUC). more >
SAC requests doubled funding
Chairman of the Scottish Arts Council Richard Holloway has called on the Scottish Executive to double his organisation’s funding to £134 million a year. more >
Ministry seeks public opinions on cultural heritage
The Ministry of Culture has unveiled a list of 501 such heritages online, so as to solicit public views about China's most important living cultural heritage. more >
Center for Arts and Culture Closes
The Center for the Arts and Culture, a resource for news and information on policies affecting the arts, has shut down its operations. Although an official reason for the closure of the nonprofit, nonpartisan group has not been announced, a letter on the Center's website indicates the organization closed due to lack of funding. more >
Arts row rings English alarm bells
The chairman of the Arts Council in England (ACE) has warned that moves by the Welsh Assembly Government to fund the biggest artistic companies in Wales directly could set a dangerous precedent. more >
Birthplace of a cultural revolution
Gateshead and Newcastle have led the way in using the arts as a tool for urban regeneration - but it hasn't always been plain sailing. more >
State councilor outlines cultural development in coming 5 years
State Councilor Chen Zhili on Monday called on local governmental officials to improve culture-related work in the next five years. more >
Stressed workers enjoy art for heart's sake
Visiting an art gallery may be the perfect antidote to stress, according to research. Analysis of 28 City high flyers who spent their lunch break viewing art found their stress levels fell by 45% after 40 minutes at the Guildhall art gallery in London. more >
Cultural Heritage Day designated
The State Council, China's cabinet, has designated the second Saturday of June as the Cultural Heritage Day to strengthen heritage protection in China. more >
Cultural sector sees progress in 8 aspects
Chinese Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng said here Tuesday that China's cultural sector saw progress in eight aspects in the past five years, when China carried out its 10th five-year (2000-2005) plan. more >
Detained film-maker sues New York City
An award-winning Indian documentary-maker is suing New York City because police ordered him to stop filming in public in 2005 and held him for four hours. They apparently suspected he was plotting an attack. more >
What's booming in New York? Building for dance companies
In the supposedly impoverished world of New York dance, where honorable artists are driven out of town or to the outermost outer boroughs or into the arms of academia, where choreographers can't pay the rent and creative energies have reportedly shifted to Europe, the city finds itself in the midst of an almost pharaonic building boom. more >
Mexico asks for Montezuma's headdress back
The Mexican Parliament has issued a formal request to Austria to return a traditional headdress worn by Aztec emperor Montezuma. more >
Downloading takes away music passion
Downloading music has led to a generation of people who do not seriously appreciate songs or performances, a research study has suggested. more >
Wales opposition backs Pugh
The war of words over political interference in the arts intensified yesterday after opposition parties branded Culture Minister Alun Pugh a "philistine" over his handling of the Arts Council. more >
Undercover playwright
For years, a fearful Adil Kadhim hid the works dearest to him. But not any more. Now, with Saddam himself in prison, Kadhim, 64, no longer needs to smuggle his writing out of the country. more >
Cultural industry to drive consumption
Just as housing and cars drive today's consumption in China, the cultural industry including cultural and entertainment products and services will be an engine of economic growth, a top Beijing-based think-tank says. more >
Drive to Join Top Heritage List
Campaigns to have Mombasa Old Town and Fort Jesus listed as World Heritage Sites gathered momentum yesterday. But it emerged that there were no clear laws for the conservation of historic sites, despite the fact that if the campaigns succeed, tourism at the Coast would triple. more >
Culture-related spending hit 830 bln yuan in 2005: report
Culture-related expenses such as education and entertainment took 830 billion yuan (103.75 billion US dollars) out of Chinese pockets last year, said a report issuedby the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Thursday. more >
Cultural sector urged to deepen reform
Cultural institutions across China are urged to deepen the structural reform, according to a circular recently issued by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). more >
Film-Makers Petition Government
Film-makers have called upon government to implement a film policy to attract foreign investment and help to develop the sector. more >
A failed coup d’état in Guantanamo Bay
Danish artists’ group Parallel Action attempted to culturally hijack Guantanamo Bay last month with the aid of a ghettoblaster and a recording of Beethoven’s Third Symphony, but their performance piece did not go quite according to plan. more >
Publishers claim book prices rose 4.5 percent last year
The price of books published in South Korea last year rose 4.5 percent from a year ago, statistics released by a local association of publishers showed Sunday. more >
Ministers fight to put arts at heart of nation
Jack McConnell, Scotland's political Prince Charming, was in his brutalist palace on the edge of Calton Hill, rushing to the defence of a culture of which Scottish Ballet is a leading - some say elitist - part. Talk is of 'frustrated' cabinet meetings, last-minute work and McConnell as a First Minister who has had to re-engage with this area of life. more >
Last-gasp increase for Scotland's arts falls short of £100m target
Government funding for the arts in Scotland will be increased, it will be announced this week, although the figure looks set to fall significantly short of the extra £100m recommended by the Cultural Commission. more >
Executive to be cultural caretaker as it takes on arts funding
Ministers are expected to take direct control over the funding of Scotland's major art companies this week in the biggest shake-up of Scotland's cultural establishment since devolution. more >
Cambodia and Laos culture profiles online
Visiting Arts in the UK has launched two new online guides for international culture. The Cambodia Cultural Profile and the Laos Cultural Profile were developed with the local culture ministries, and aim to map the cultural profiles of the two countries. more >
Dept of Culture and Youth to establish cultural village
The Department of Culture and Youth has secured P500 000 for the design of the national cultural village to be established near Toutswe Mogala Hill at Maope, about 48 km north of Palapye. more >
Cultural projects will lose £130 million a year by 2008
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is facing “extremely hard choices”, according to its chairwoman Liz Forgan. The challenge is “matching our resources to the growing demand for support for heritage projects”. more >
Music machine to predict tomorrow's hits
Computer scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a computer program which they claim can accurately forecast where a song will appear in the charts. more >
The Scandal Sweeping Russia’s Art Market
Forgers have been retouching hundreds of works by minor European artists, putting the signatures of major Russian artists on them and selling them for many times their worth. more >
Musicians need formal training
While musicians can obtain playing skills from sources other than formal music colleges or schools, the demands of the industry today compel them to have accomplished managers or seek training on how to run their careers. more >
Arts groups challenge leaders to put culture on the election agenda
Those searching for mention of arts and culture issues in this election have had to dig deep. References to the sector are either buried in parties’ election platforms, or, in the case of the Tories, were not released until the end of last week. In the recent leaders’ debates in Montreal, the candidates were silent on the subject. more >
Protect consumers' digital rights, British MPs urged
A U.K. consumer rights watchdog has urged new laws to protect consumers' digital rights. The National Consumer Council told a parliamentary inquiry into digital rights management that companies are already eroding consumer rights. more >
Culture Ministry Delegation Expected in Sudan
The deputy minister of Culture Virgilio Coelho is heading a delegation that will leave Luanda this Wednesday for Khartoum (Sudan) to attend an African Union Summit on 23-24 January, Angop has learnt. more >
Ghana Loses ¢20.2bn Through Music Piracy
Ghana and the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGHA) lost about ¢20.2 billion last year through music piracy, the President of MUSIGHA, Alhaji Sidiku Buari, has said. more >
Brazil's Culture Minister to Receive UWI Bob Marley Award
The American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) will for the first time present the prestigious 'UWI Bob Marley Award' to Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture of Brazil at the Foundation's ninth Annual Benefit Gala at Cipriani 42 Street, New York City, on Thursday, February 2, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. more >
Dance takes the next step on the DCMS agenda
Culture Minister, David Lammy, today announced the establishment of the first Government Dance Forum at the Critic's Circle National Dance Awards ceremony which took place at the Royal Opera House. more >
UNESCO cultural heritage safeguard ratified by 30 states
Thirty States have now ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, adopted in October 2003 by the UNESCO General Conference. more >
Assembly accused of bias against small arts companies
Culture Minister Alun Pugh was accused of discriminating against smaller arts companies last night after awarding inflation-protected grant rises to the six big organisations directly funded by the Assembly Government. more >
£20m revamp for Scots cultural life
The show was over for the controversial Scottish Arts Council yesterday as the quango was scrapped in an overhaul of cultural life which will see another £20 million a year ploughed into the arts. more >
Thailand, Chile clinch cultural pact
Thailand and Chile on Friday reached a bilateral cultural pact aimed at promoting cultural exchanges as well as mutual understanding between the two countries. more >
Arts journalists unite
Arts and entertainment journalists from Zimbabwe's print and electronic media have formed an association, the Arts Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (AJAZ). The association seeks, among other things, to bring together journalists involved in arts and entertainment. more >
National training centre opens
The transformation of Masvingo State University to a national training centre for arts and culture could help uplift the arts industry. National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director Titus Chipangura commended Government, saying it had finally responded to the need to introduce programmes that complemented the talents of artistes. more >
Censorship fears eased in Terrorism Bill rewrite
Peers have voted to remove those sections of the Government’s controversial Terrorism Bill that the theatre industry had feared would threaten freedom of artistic expression. more >
Huge increases to foreign artist costs under visa revision
New work permit rules could create “huge” problems and significant extra expense for companies booking foreign artists to perform in the UK, according to arts organisation and immigration law experts. more >
Parliaments to influence culture policy?
The Nordic Council Culture Committee has mandated a new working party to draw up proposals for a long-term Nordic cultural policy. more >
Arts and the Budget
This is the time to encourage and re-establish the Entertainment Industry. It will be right and only fair, to build Theatres and Performing Centres to enhance Entertainment. Give the Arts a full ministry and let it enrich this nation and strengthen our economy. more >
Clamour for arts endowment still pricks nation’s ear
Established under section 52 of 1991 National Endowment for the Art, was part of government effort to alleviate the living conditions of Nigerian artists. But years after establishing the decree, the clamour for the launching of the fund has dominated discourse in every art and culture forum for some time. more >
S Korea trades film quota for US free trade
South Korea said today it would reduce by half its screen quota for domestically produced films in a move aimed at facilitating free trade talks with the United States. more >
Facts differ from Arts Minister's claim
Culture Minister Alun Pugh appears to have misled AMs by greatly exaggerating the extent to which better-off people in Wales benefit more from arts events than the poor. And last night it seemed he did not understand the difference between those who attend arts events and those who participate in them. more >
Welsh minister to sign guarantee of cultural freedom for arts groups
Welsh culture minister Alun Pugh has promised to sign a “memorandum of understanding” guaranteeing the artistic freedom of the country’s six national arts companies which are due to be funded directly by the government from 2007. more >
Denmark's greatest hits
The minister of culture unveiled the nation's cultural canon yesterday, turning up the volume of the debate that has been raging ever since he announced plans to create the list. more >
New report critical of money spent on 'diversity' arts
There is no doubt that in the last decade or so, arts in the UK has seen a massive injection of money for new projects and exhibitions. more >
Cultural policy and factionalism
Since the birth of the Third Republic, Poland has had 14 Ministers of Culture over 16 years. Given this, it is impossible to say which Ministers and which policies have been more or less beneficial. more >
CEMAC arts organisations - this concerns you!
An initiative to compile a list of arts and culture organisations active in the CEMAC region (Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Rep. of Congo, Gabon and Central Africa) has been launched by the Collective Resources for the Arts and Talents Enrichment (CREATE). more >
Nearly half of Equity members earn less than £6,000 a year performing
Almost half of all performers in the UK earned less than £6,000 from the profession in the last 12 months and most spent the majority of their time doing other jobs, according to major new research by Skillset and Equity. more >
Who will helm Heritage?
The last time it looked as if a Stephen Harper government would take office, in June, 2004, Canada's cultural industries were in panic mode. more >
'African Unesco' Gets Go-Ahead
The African Union (AU) has backed plans to create a scientific and cultural branch modelled on the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). more >
Dance body recognises Bollywood as an artform
Bollywood is to be recognised as a professional dance form, with its own syllabus and accredited examinations. Honey Kalaria, director of Honey’s Dance Academy, has launched the world’s first Bollywood dance syllabus through industry training organisation the International Association of Modern Indian Arts. more >
Academi scathing over direct funding reforms
One of the "Big Six" arts organisations in line to be funded directly by the Assembly Government has directly challenged the Culture Minister to explain why they are being picked on. more >
Minister victim of 'political mischief-making'
Wales’s Culture Minister tried today to dismiss the controversy that has engulfed him over arts funding as “political mischief-making“. more >
February 2006
The optimist versus the PM in the chase for a renaissance
Our cultural growth needs clear direction, David Throsby tells Sunanda Creagh. more >
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to Enter into Force on 20 April
Thirty States have now ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, adopted in October 2003 by the UNESCO General Conference, allowing it to enter into force on 20 April 2006, that is three months after the 30th instrument of ratification has been deposited. more >
Dancers are different, say scientists
Hebrew University researchers in Jerusalem say they've determined dancers are genetically different from the general population. Psychology Professor Richard Ebstein and colleagues say DNA examinations have determined dancers show consistent differences in two key genes from the general population. more >
Finnish Embassy Gives Big Bucks to Arts
The Finnish embassy will donate $N1,6 million into Namibian arts and culture development this year. more >
China is the world’s second largest exporter of art
A UNESCO report on global trade in cultural goods and services includes two surprises. The first is that China has now become the second largest exporter of “visual arts”, accounting for 19% of world exports in this category (particularly statuary). more >
The ideas interview: Sara Selwood
Why are the highest ranks of arts administration still dominated by men? John Sutherland meets the woman who plans to shake things up at the top. more >
Welsh Assembly forced into direct funding u-turn
Wales culture minister Alun Pugh’s plan to split the country’s six largest performing arts organisations from Arts Council Wales and fund them directly from central government has been overturned by a coalition of opposition parties in the Welsh Assembly. more >
Ontario's Bev Oda named new heritage minister
Beverley Oda, the first Japanese Canadian elected to the House of Commons, has been named the new Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women. more >
Tiptoeing around China's ire
What is it about ballet dancers and politics? During the cold war, the defection of Russian ballet dancers to the West - most famously Rudolf Nureyev in 1961 - was a regular feature of the political landscape. Such defections were viewed by Western politicians as useful propaganda events to signal the west's superiority over the Soviet system. more >
Call for cultural policy review
The Federal Government has been told it needs to show leadership in developing a new cultural policy for Australia. more >
Minister Considers Cultural Research Low
The minister of Culture Boaventura Cardoso on Tuesday here recognised that scientific research in the cultural field is still low, despite the effort being made by the institution`s Scientific Board. more >
'Churlish' Pugh accused of rubbishing strategy
Plaid Cymru claimed last night that Culture Minister Alun Pugh had "rubbished" virtually the entire communications strategy of the Arts Council of Wales. Owen John Thomas, who shadows Mr Pugh for Plaid, made the allegation after obtaining a copy of the draft strategy which had been annotated by the Minister. more >
Small Gains for Cultural Programs in Bush Budget Plan
The small increases for cultural institutions and federal agencies presented yesterday in President Bush's 2007 budget request to Congress will curtail any expansion in new programs. more >
Iranian paper holds Holocaust cartoon contest
Iran's bestselling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. The Iranian daily Hamshahri said the contest was designed to test the boundaries of free speech - the reason given by many Western newspapers for publishing the cartoons of Mohammed. more >
“You aren’t a dealer until you’ve been robbed”
As art prices continue to rise, and the sums paid are publicised, theft has become an increasingly serious problem at arts and antiques fairs. Not surprisingly, fair organisers are worried that publicity will discourage exhibitors, and despite the fact that the scale of theft is difficult to establish. The FBI estimates that about $6 billion worth of art per year is involved. more >
Italian opera out of notes
Italian opera, one of the country's most treasured cultural assets, is in financial crisis, with three top houses admitting that they are on the verge of bankruptcy. La Fenice in Venice, the Carlo Felice opera house in Genoa and the San Carlo in Naples all blame government spending cuts. more >
For art's sake?
As artists and policy makers become wrapped in an ever tighter embrace, Munira Mirza challenges the modern consensus that the arts can transform society, and asks if the emphasis on producing art for the public good is causing long-term damage. more >
Minister warns Arts Council to shape up
The future looks uncertain for Arts Council England after the culture minister David Lammy strongly criticised it and called for reforms. more >
£250,000 for art's sake, but nothing to show for it
From a book of sonnets on the G8 to a circle of 32 ancient stones, they are lauded as Scotland's most prestigious cultural works. But six years since the inception of the Creative Scotland Awards, an investigation by Scotland On Sunday can reveal that more than £250,000 has been paid out to projects that have still not been finished. more >
Renewed cultural policy to go to Cabinet soon
In Barbados, a new piece of legislation will be added to the cultural policy. The policy has been created over the past few years, the policy is expected to go to Cabinet next month. more >
Cultural Policy of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is developing its first cultural policy. The National Cultural Committee submitted its draft text to the government for approval in July 2005. The new cultural policy, intended to give the fragmented world of culture in Bangladesh more cohesion, was compiled based on the Unesco culture conventions. more >
Museum chief exhibits fine timing
The J. Paul Getty Museum has confirmed its status as the richest and most indulgent -- and also the most riven -- art gallery in the world with the resignation of Barry Munitz, its president and chief executive for the past eight years. more >
Culture Ministry to push exchanges with emerging markets
The Culture and Tourism Ministry said yesterday it will increase cultural exchanges with key emerging countries known as BRICs in a bid to strengthen the country's edge in the entertainment sector. more >
Americans for the Arts sponsors continuation of the Cultural Policy Listserv
We are very pleased and gratified to be able to announce that Americans for the Arts has graciously agreed to continue our listserv, which has grown to over 5,000 subscribers in the space of just a few years, and provide for future access to the Center’s many policy and research publications. more >
Arts education can boost confidence, test scores
Every now and again, standardized testing in public schools alerts us to some problem in our educational system. Presented with declining test scores, educators and administrators must struggle with how to remedy these problems in the face of personnel, budgetary and time constraints. more >
Indigenous Knowledge
The Department of Canadian Heritage entered into the exploration of Indigenous Knowledge and policy development with 2005’s National Gatherings on Indigenous Knowledge. more >
Minister offers compensation
The Minister of Culture and Communication and minister in charge of the Montreal region, Mrs. Line Beauchamp, announced today that a sum of $2.5M will be reserved for assistance to the artistic and cultural organisations which underwent losses because of the boycott of cultural activities last autumn. more >
The arts column: sinister shadow falls over arts funding
After a quiet start as Culture Minister, David Lammy has fired his first shot across the bows. At the Association of British Orchestras' conference last month, his speech made rumbling noises about that old bugbear, the Arts Council, an agency funded by his own Department of Culture, Media and Sport. more >
Upheaval at Getty Trust unearths flaws
The resignation last week of Barry Munitz, the embattled president and chief executive of the Getty Trust, the country's biggest art philanthropy, is the latest proof that there's a problem built into the whole enterprise. It's been there since the trust was founded nearly a quarter of a century ago to administer the estate that J. Paul Getty left behind. more >
An Italian offer U.S. museums shouldn't refuse?
Buttiglione called the Met's agreement to swap the contested antiquities for long-term loans "a model" for resolving the disputes with other museums, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, which houses more than 40 objects that Italian authorities claim were looted. more >
Americans for the Arts sponsors continuation of the Cultural Policy Listserv
We are very pleased and gratified to be able to announce that Americans for the Arts has graciously agreed to continue our listserv, which has grown to over 5,000 subscribers in the space of just a few years, and provide for future access to the Center’s many policy and research publications. more >
New web resource for library staff working with disabled people
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has launched a new web resource to provide information and learning for public library staff relating to access and equal opportunities for disabled people. more >
Starving artist becoming a term of the past?
A revolutionary idea is sweeping through arts communities and threatening to make the term “starving artist” obsolete. This new idea was hatched in a taxi cab in New York City three years ago and the Artist Pension Trust has already spread from Los Angeles to London with plans for expansion from Mumbai to Moscow in the very near future. more >
Gauteng artists lead the NAC's grants list
Is the National Arts Council (NAC) propping up provinces that can't get their act together and fund artists who live there? Or, by contrast, is it funding rich, urbanised provinces to the detriment of artists elsewhere? more >
London cartoon museum opens
London's first cartoon museum, with 3,000 books and 1,200 images, covers three centuries, from Georgian Rowlandson watercolours of ancient bawds selling off country maids to wrinkled rakes, to scurrilous suggestions so recent that the ink is barely dry, teasing out the tangled affairs of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and George Bush. more >
Parthenon fragment returned to Greece
A fairly nondescript piece of stone could have an impact on the future of the Parthenon Marbles dispute. Last month Heidelberg University decided to return its small fragment of the frieze to Greece. more >
Joint initiatives 'could bring the US and Muslim world closer'
Joint partnerships in the media, technological and cultural fields could help bridge the gap between the US and the Islamic world, leaders who convened here for the Third US-Muslim World Forum said yesterday. more >
Keep Arts Council chief, Minister urged
Culture Minister Alun Pugh has been urged to reappoint Geraint Talfan Davies as chairman of the Arts Council of Wales by one of the nation's most important music societies. more >
Poll claims Scots lack interest in the arts
Scots are a nation of stay-at-homes compared to the rest of the UK when it comes to art galleries, theatres and arts events, new research suggests. more >
Rocked to our foundations
Genocide, crimes against humanity, religious persecution: Slobodan Milosovic isn’t short of charges to face at his trial in The Hague. But one charge in particular is intriguing: “The intentional and wanton destruction of religious and cultural buildings of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat communities.” more >
Writer fears ban for opera on bomber
A Welsh playwright fears he could be prosecuted under planned new laws banning the glorification of terrorism after he penned an opera about a Palestinian suicide bomber. more >
'Beware of Big Brother control of the arts'
Professor Phil Cooke, director of the Centre for Advanced Studies at Cardiff University, claims in a hard-hitting report for the Institute of Welsh Affairs that the Assembly Government and its Culture Ministry 'are principally interested in exerting control upon rather than inducing innovation in the arts in Wales'. more >
Picasso, Dali paintings stolen from Brazil museum
Gunmen have robbed a Rio de Janeiro art museum of their most valuable paintings including a Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Dali, the Chacara do Ceu museum director said. more >
Bahamian Culture Under Threat
A working draft of the National Cultural Policy for The Bahamas confirms what many observers have been saying for years: key aspects of Bahamian culture are under threat and in some cases face extinction. more >
First Nordic Culture Forum
Artists, administrators from the culture sector, politicians and civil servants from throughout the Nordic Region gathered for Culture Forum in Copenhagen on Monday 27 February. Key figures in Nordic culture came together for the first time to discuss an interdisciplinary platform for the development of Nordic art and culture. more >
Seoul to spend W7.6tr on cultural drive
Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to spend around 7.6 trillion won ($7 billion) on expanding cultural facilities over the next 10 years. more >
March 2006
Bahamian minister reveals national policy draft
The Bahamas Minister for Culture, Prime Minister Perry Christie, made his first address in the new role. At the National Cultural Conclave, the Minister offered up a working draft of a national cultural policy. more >
It's official: music is good for children
Youth Music, the music charity responsible for the distribution of £10m a year of Lottery funding, has announced the results of a study into the role of music in childrens’ development. more >
Arts funding to break 'log jam'
The Scottish Arts Council unveiled plans to break what it called a "log jam" in arts funding yesterday. Fifty organisations picked for new "foundation" funding status will get a share of an extra £4 million, it said. more >
UNESCO looks at bettering arts education
Teachers, artists and politicians from around the world are gathering in Lisbon to discuss how teaching the arts can keep young people in school. more >
Online CD swapping by-passes copyright laws
A new online music service called La la Media aims to offer full-length CDs for $US1 by letting members trade used physical discs, in a new twist on the popular but legally challenged practice of online song swapping. La la founders argue that, unlike underground online file-sharing services, which have been sued for copyright infringement, La la is protected under an exception to the US Copyright Act. more >
Time to break the stranglehold of state funding
The air is heavy with rumours of an arts shakedown. Nothing to do with the fate of the Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell whose stay in office has barely scratched the creative surface. No, it is the Arts Council of England that is on the brink, awaiting one last internal reorganisation at the end of the month, and this time it’s really the last. more >
Department of Arts withholds funding to foundation
The Department of Arts and Culture of South Africa is sticking to a decision to discontinue funding the National Film and Video Foundation. They will withhold R12 million, until the foundation fulfils conditions of its funding arrangement. more >
Conference charts development of arts
A two-day conference that wrapped up in Hanoi yesterday discussed ways in which the arts could develop and expand from now until 2010. more >
Sixty Years of Standard-Setting in Education, Science and Culture
The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura, today opened a symposium on “UNESCO: Sixty Years of Standard-Setting in Education, Science and Culture”. He noted that “perhaps surprisingly, this symposium is the first of its kind in which UNESCO’s standard-setting practices and experience are the subject of a general overview". more >
Museum Collections Shrink As Tribes Reclaim Artifacts
The halls of the United States' museums, like those inside the public history museum here, are filled with thousands -- if not millions -- of American Indian artifacts. But slowly, many of the country's tribes are working to reclaim them. more >
Namibia launches National Heritage Council
The National Heritage Council for Namibia was recently opened by John Mutorwa, the Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture. more >
Tax ruling says dancers are independent contractors
A federal tax ruling handed down last week could have implications for arts groups across Canada and their performers. more >
S. Korea to start cultural exchange project with Asian artists
South Korea will invite 150 cultural experts and artists from other Asian countries this year, the start of a 10-year program aimed at boosting cultural interaction in the region, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said Wednesday. more >
Review to go ahead for Welsh arts
Arts in Wales will be reviewed, with the plan for an independent panel to do so being accepted by the Assemby's culture committee. more >
Heritage minister demands answers on FilmFest failure
Both the Quebec and federal governments are probing what led to the failure of the New Montreal FilmFest last fall. The first and only FilmFest launched last October with the help of $2 million in federal, provincial and municipal funds but fizzled out, leaving a $1-million deficit. The festival’s organizer, L'Équipe Spectra, declared FilmFest dead in February. more >
Movies in a world slump
Final box-office figures show movie revenues took a plunge worldwide and in the U.S. in 2005. more >
WIPO establishes Creative Industries Division
WIPO has recently established the Creative Industries Division. This has been done in response to the growing interest and needs of the Member States of WIPO to address the economic developmental impact that intellectual property policies and practices have on the creative industries. The objective of the Division is to provide a focal point for related policy and industry discourse. more >
Foreign media ownership laws to be relaxed
The Federal Government has unveilled its plan for a major relaxation of media ownership and digital broadcasting laws. Communications Minister Helen Coonan announced the proposals at a conference in Sydney. more >
The 'culture industries' offensive
"Creative economy''? "Creative industries''? People out there could be excused if they show little or no understanding about what such questions mean. more >
Agency for Cultural Affairs' Budget Remains Stable for 2006
The Agency for Cultural Affairs' annual budget for this year has been announced. The Agency will head into financial year 2006 (which begins from 1 April) with 100.6 billion yen (AUD$1.15 billion), 0.9% less than they did last year. more >
Heritage wars
Heritage is in demand. Ever more of the world's heritage is looted, destroyed, mutilated, shorn of context, hidden from scrutiny, auctioned on eBay. Why? Partly because its virtuous stewards treat nations and tribes as enduring entities with sacred rights to time-honoured legacies. more >
Creativity cult fails to deliver goods
Here is an heretical thought: The focus on creativity and innovation to create wealth is misguided. It has not produced the expected results in economic development over the past decade. more >
Uganda: Govt in Cultural Promotion
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has started a national culture policy to ensure that Uganda becomes culturally vibrant, cohesive and progressive. more >
The rise of clip culture online
The telecommunications and broadcast industries' vision of the future of the internet invariably involves its convergence with television. more >
Syrian city is Islamic cultural capital
Hundreds of Arab and foreign dignitaries have gathered in the Syrian city of Aleppo for the opening ceremony at the start of its time as the Arab world's capital of Islamic culture for 2006. more >
Four Years After Scrapping Entry Charges - Free Admission Is Still A Growing Success
More than five million extra visits have taken place at once-charging national museums since entry fees were scrapped by the Government in December 2001, Culture Minister David Lammy announced today. more >
Wales puts on its dancing shoes
The future of dance in Wales is bright, according to Culture Minister Alun Pugh. more >
Culture Division Lauded for Spearheading Protection of Country's Cultural Industries
Senator Donna Scott-Mottley has hailed the Culture Division of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, for leading the charge to protect the country's cultural industries. more >
French MPs say song downloads must work on any player
The dominance of the Apple iPod hit its first European stumbling block yesterday when French MPs voted to force companies to allow music downloads to be played on all types of digital players, not just their own. more >
Zimbabwe: New Era Dawns for Arts
SIDA is reviewing its funding mechanism of the arts and culture sector in Zimbabwe following the yet to be completed evaluation of the Zimbabwe Culture Fund. more >
Barbados creates national orchestra
The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados is in the midst of auditioning members for a new national initiative. The National Youth Steel Orchestra will be established soon, with auditions taking place over April. more >
South Africa: Summit Creates Platform for African Filmmakers
Spokesperson for the Department of Arts and Culture, Sandile Memela, said the department hoped this would assist in the development of a common policy for film and a strategy that would inform Nepad and the AU. more >
REVIEW SUPPORTS ARM'S LENGTH FUNDING
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland, has just announced a major shake-up of quangos in Northern Ireland. But despite making sweeping changes, he has stuck with the principle of arm's-length funding for the arts. more >
Arab culture center to open in Latvian capital
The first center promoting Arab culture in the Baltic states is to be opened in the Latvian capital, Riga, the Libyan-born director of the center said on Friday. more >
China, Spain seek new channels to cement cultural exchanges
China and Spain are making joint efforts to promote the founding of an Institute of Confucius in Spain and a branch of the Cervantes Institute in Beijing in the near future, according to a document issued Wednesday at a China-Spain forum. more >
Actors Back Bill to Protect Likenesses
Actors Paul Newman, Christopher Plummer and Charles Grodin, all state residents, said they worry technology has made it possible to access their films, images and voices, and to use that material to produce another product they know nothing about. more >
Six cultural institutions get millions in Ontario budget
The Art Gallery of Ontario and several other major cultural projects got a $49-million boost from the Ontario government in its annual budget. more >
Film industry needs talent, technology, support
Despite its advances in re-cent years, Viet Nam’s film industry still lacks professional talent, modern technology and needs more Government support, HCM City filmmakers say. more >
ACCC closes Indigenous art probe
A second major investigation into the Aboriginal art industry has been closed after it was unable to establish concrete evidence of fraud and misrepresentation. more >
Ringtones? MP3s? Beethoven would have been proud
What marks out classical downloading from pop-based genres is that classical music has so much more to gain. Digital technology is fast becoming the new vanguard in the fight for audiences. more >
Back to the drawing board
Not since the golden days of Disney have animated feature films been so popular ... and profitable. more >
S. Korean minister to promote arts to Asia
South Korea's new culture minister has stated that he will be promoting exchanges with Asia in order to boost the country's cultural image. He hopes to boost ties with Asian countries that have embraced Korean cultural products. more >
Report launched on culture and politics
A new report on culture will be launched this week in London. John Holden will be presenting his new thesis, Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy, which explores culture, politics and the public. more >
Angola: Third Conference On National Culture Set for September
The Culture Ministry announced Monday the holding on 12-16 September, here, of the Third Conference on National Culture to bring into focus the analysis of the institutionalisation process of the National Culture Council, which started in 1976. more >
Namibia: Art a Vital Career Tool
With the ever-increasing failure and dropout rates at high school level, there is a need to encourage school-going children to develop their artistic talents while young as this would come in handy in future. more >
International discourse on non-Western Cultures in art
One of the outcomes of globalization has been a greater engagement with art from non- Western centers. The cultural specificities of these locations and issues related to the process of assimilation into the mainstream were the focus of a recent seminar held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. more >
ASSESSING POLICIES FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION OF ETHNIC MINORITIES
This project proposes to evaluate the cultural policies introduced in National Action Plans on Social Inclusion under the European Union’s Open Method of Co-ordination by six member states in terms of their impact on promoting social inclusion of ethnic minorities, including Roma/Sinti groups. more >
Calls for arts row Minister to resign
Culture Minister Alun Pugh yesterday rejected claims he broke the ministerial code of conduct for public appointments. more >
More participation from the public, creative power and variety of cultural elements
Cultural affairs are continuous. They take time to cultivate. Speaking of cultural policies, Chairman of Council for Cultural Affairs, Chiu Kun-Liang said, "Cultural affairs should be based on current society and expand its width and depth." more >
Cost of visas stop tours
One of Britain's leading symphony orchestras has been forced to scrap an American tour, partly because of the "mind-blowing palaver" and cost of securing visas for 100 players and staff. more >
Britons lead spending on culture and recreation but government takes a more miserly approach
France and Germany might be regarded as cultural strongholds, while the United States and Australia are known for their fondness of sporting and leisure pursuits, but according to figures released yesterday, Britain beats them all by spending more per household on recreation and culture than any other developed country. more >
Making the Case for Culture
Early findings show U.S. households among leaders in industrialized nations in spending on recreation and culture, but Government spending lags near bottom. What is the ROI of culture? How do we understand the value of investment in cultural activity? Who are the world's 'cultural superpowers?' These are some of the questions that "Making the Case for Culture," a new research project made possible by the collaboration of the Louise T. Blouin Foundation with the OECD, will seek to answer. more >
April 2006
Experts stress national cultural policy
Senior culture experts have underlined the need for His Majesty's Government to prepare a 'National Culture Policy' for the preservation and promotion of the country's rich cultural heritage. more >
NGOs and the state: a cultural debate
An interview with Tzvetelina Iossifova, one of the founders and directors of the Red House Centre for Culture and Debate. more >
Arts sector needs democracy boost, insists culture minister
David Lammy has urged the cultural sector to become more like the BBC and the NHS in the way it engages with the general public, if it is to achieve an improved funding settlement in future budgets. more >
Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Festival
The fourth annual Vietnam Japan Cultural Exchange Festival will be held in Hoi An town, central Quang Nam province, from August 5-7. more >
Fed Govt moves to clean up Indigenous art fraud
The Federal Government is set to investigate allegations of criminal activity and exploitation in the Aboriginal art industry. more >
Measuring emotion at the symphony
The movements of a conductor's baton, his free hand, and even his eyes guide an orchestra's performance. But what about when a conductor throws back his head, hops around the stage, or leaps into the air? Are these ego-driven excesses of exuberance, as some critics say, or an integral part of helping the musicians and the audience truly feel the music? more >
UK charity the Art Fund embraces the new
We know it for its tireless dedication to British heritage: without financial support from the Art Fund, some of the greatest works in museums throughout the UK would not be here, including The Rokeby Venus by Velázquez in the National Gallery in London. But now the Fund may be about to embark on a new adventure: to help the collecting of contemporary art. more >
Creative economics
The UK government is kidding itself if it thinks designers can revive the economy. more >
Brazil and England discuss the economics of creativity
Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and the deputy minister of Foreign Relations of the United Kingdom, David Triesman, met in London on Tuesday to discuss the establishment of an International Center for the Creative Economy. more >
Emerging Artists: No Room to Grow
According to a recent Freelancer's Union report, New York city's creative sector—comprised of artists, photographers, designers, composers and writers—is facing increasing economic uncertainty related to a lack of stable employment. more >
Vietnam – Denmark Cultural Development and Exchange Fund launches
The Danish Embassy on April 7 launched the Vietnam - Denmark Cultural Development and Exchange Fund in Hanoi. more >
Angola: Country Attends Afro-American Culture International Conference
The Ministry of Culture will participate this Monday, until 15 April, with two specialists, in the 9th International Conference of African and Afro-American Culture, taking