International News in May 2006
Show all of 2006
Government approves support for art
The government today approved the programme of more efficient support for art in 2007-2013, which could fundamentally affect state funding of culture, Culture Minister Vitezslav Jandak told reporters after the government meeting today. more >
Saatchi site seeks Arctic Monkeys of art world
First internet sites such as MySpace turned the music world on its head, enabling bands like Arctic Monkeys to become hugely popular without the patronage of radio stations or record labels. Now a new website set up by the Britart patron Charles Saatchi that aims to have a similar effect on the rarefied gallery world is attracting work from hundreds of artists every week. more >
Development or Cultural Heritage? Where goes the Priority?
A few weeks ago, Iranian cultural heritage authorities announced that UNESCO's Director of World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, would come to Iran to examine and discuss a number of issues regarding some cultural heritage sites within the country that are put in real jeopardy as a result of the country's development projects. more >
Interculturalism: What is it?
What do we, in fact, talk about when we talk about interculturalism? What do we refer to when, more and more often and with an ever greater eagerness, or even casually, we use (or even abuse) this ambiguous, powerful, strongly superfluous culturological term, a term which, since the end of the 1960s, has in an imposing manner grown into a respectable methodological category? more >
Qatar restructures its culture ministry
The State of Qatar has restructured its National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage, the organisation which oversees all cultural activity in the energy-rich Gulf state. The move follows the arrest last year of the NCCAH’s former chairman Sheikh Saud Al Thani and our revelations of his misappropriations of public funds. more >
The arts of the state could yet prove a political weapon
Labour can knock the happiness-touting Cameron into nowhere with examples of its cultural record. more >
Flood on the Tyne
David Ward finds a cultural revival in full spate on the banks of the Tyne. Perhaps losing the contest to be European capital of culture was the best thing that ever happened to Newcastle-Gateshead. more >
Foreign cultural ministers expect more co-op with China
The fast development of China's cultural industry brings increasing opportunities for cultural cooperation, said cultural ministers from many foreign countries, who were attending a cultural fair in the South China city. more >
Namibia: More Funding Needed for Art And Culture
By her own admission, government funding for arts and culture development in the country has thus far been insufficient, presumably in light of more pressing issues such as HIV/AIDS, education and training sector financial needs. This is the view of the Deputy Prime Minister, dr Libertina Amathila, who yesterday spoke at the official inauguration of the refurbished art gallery at the Visual Arts Department at the University of Namibia. more >
Netherlands Opts For Strategic International Cultural Policy
Culture State Secretary Medy van der Laan and Foreign Affairs State Secretary Atzo Nicolaï intend to streamline the Netherlands' international cultural policy. More attention will be paid to political and economic relevance and to the influence of other cultures on Dutch art, according to a letter they sent to the Lower House yesterday. more >
Our Own Creative Land
Professor Michael Geist's 2006 Hart House Lecture, Our Own Creative Land: Cultural Monopoly and the Trouble With Copyright, was delivered at the University of Toronto on March 30. more >
Rattled by cultural confusion
The debate over the proposed West Kowloon cultural district boiled over in February and the government finally yielded to public opinion and pressure from legislators. more >
UNESCO's Cultural Diversity Week
UNESCO has named this week, 15-21 May 2006, as the Cultural Diversity Week to stress the importance of diversity of culture in today’s world. more >
Mixed media: The melding of art and business skills
As arts-and-cultural leaders increasingly become intertwined with finances --fund raising, endowments, balanced budgets -- more seem to be turning to people with a business background. more >
More Chinese prefer electronic reading
Electronic books, e-bookstores and digital libraries are becoming more popular in China. more >
Reader Interest in Turkish Authors Increases
Statistics from Turkey suggest that over the last six years there has been an increase in interest in Turkish authors and a decrease in publication of translated books. more >
Talawa cash to create four new ethnic arts centres
Public cash pulled from Talawa’s aborted project to build the UK’s first black-led theatre in Westminster will now be used to set up at least four “centres of excellence” for ethnic performance groups across the UK. more >
Welsh artistic freedom defended
Eleanor Burnham AM today launched a vigorous defence of artistic freedom in Wales. Her campaign to preserve artistic freedom has already received the backing of the National Campaign for the Arts. more >
A city in harmony with its music community
What the city of Austin does for its music scene will blow your mind. They offer parking perks, free electricity audits to clubs and music at council meetings. more >
Call for cultural policy makers
A call for cultural policy professionals is being made around the world. If you would like to assist the next generation of policy makers, then read on. more >
Chinese heritage specialists training
At least 100 Chinese heritage specialists will be trained in protecting the cultural heritage sites and relics along the Silk Road over the next five years as part of a joint project between China, Japan and South Korea. more >
Half of UK 'infringing copyright'
More than half of British consumers are infringing copyright law by copying CDs onto other players they own, according to the National Consumer Council. more >
Highlighting the Role of Handicrafts in World Economy
The last day of the First International Conference on Tourism and Handicrafts was held today in the seminar hall if Iran’s National Broadcast. more >
Lethal RIAA Broadcast Treaty
The World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights held its 14th Session in Geneva to determine the fate of the controversial Broadcasting Treaty on May 1-5. more >
Riyadh aims to save folk culture
A new project in Saudi Arabia aims to preserve the kingdom's disappearing folk culture, but some say the new programme has come too late. more >
Sign petition to protect artists rights to mobility!
In order to protect artists rights to mobility, and in reaction to the ongoing multiplication of incidents at the European Union borders, the Schengen Opera Collective and its 70 companions ask you to join them by signing the online petition just launched. more >
SURVEY SHOWS ART GROUPS SUBSIDIZE ARTS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
New York City cultural institutions spent almost $58 million, or 12.6 percent of their 2004-05 budgets, on education programs in the city's public schools, including millions that they raised for the programs, a new survey from the Arts in Education Roundtable finds. more >
Cultural movement gathers momentum
UAE nationals have expressed their happiness and deep gratitude with regard to the establishment of the Emirates Appreciation Award for Science, Arts and Literature, by the Ministerial Service Council. more >
Council braces for changes
The future of Australia Council chief executive Jennifer Bott seems less certain following David Gonski's surprise announcement last Friday that he will retire as chairman on June 30. more >
Fury as SAC puts damning reports online
Scotland’s arts council is facing a backlash from many of the country’s leading theatre organisations after it published a series of damning assessments of their work. more >
Arts Council England Research Archived
Arts Research Digest is now home to Arts Council England's electronic research archive. Browse and search on the research database to access 11 years of research the digest has featured together with documents from the Arts Council England electronic archive. more >
International study on the governance of diversity
Queen's University, the Université du Québec à Montréal and the University of Toronto that will explore ethnic politics and the complexities of democracy in multi-ethnic and divided states. The researchers will build on Canada's experience in accommodating linguistic and cultural diversity to find solutions for governance of multi-ethnic states around the world. more >
Minister in France defends iPod law
Describing the act as "courageous" and "forward thinking," the French minister of culture said the government would press ahead with a law that would effectively outlaw Apple's popular iTunes online music system. more >
Players want arts policy
Like a blind man searching for his way without a guide, so is the going for arts and culture bodies in the country. Unlike other sectors which have national policies to guide and regulate their activities, this industry is like a stray dog. more >
China to mark first national cultural heritage day
Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili on Monday called for nationwide efforts to mark the first national Cultural Heritage Day. more >
Japan to promote diplomacy with pop culture
Japanese manga, animation and music, with their growing global popularity, will be used as new ways to promote Japan's diplomacy, local media reported Monday. more >
Zimbabwe govt tries to silence musicians
The Zimbabwe government, running scared in the face of mass anger at the economic hardships caused by its failed policies, is desperately trying to stifle any independent voices - including those of musicians and artists. more >
Arts boss was sacked for opposing Pugh
Documents have been released proving for the first time that former Arts Council of Wales Chair Geraint Talfan Davies was removed from his post because of his opposition to Culture Minister Alun Pugh's plan to directly fund six big arts companies. more >
Arts Council raises fears over Festival's financial state
The Scottish Arts Council has called for the Edinburgh International Festival board to be overhauled because of its "precarious" financial position. more >
Big Five arts companies to share £2m Executive bonus
A £2 million boost in funding for Scotland's national performing arts companies will be announced today by the culture minister, Patricia Ferguson. more >
It's All About Funding
Delegates from 37 African countries meeting in Johannesburg last month spent six days discussing the factors that hold back African cinema. more >
Kemp consults Aboriginal artists
Following a three-day trip to central Australia this week, Arts Minister Rod Kemp has promised to consult the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to find ways of cracking down on unethical behaviour in Aboriginal art. more >
Launch of African World Heritage Fund
A fund to help the States of sub-Saharan Africa improve the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage will be launched in South Africa on 5 May. The African World Heritage Fund will also be used to help boost the number of African sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. more >
Malaysia open Muslim media center
Malaysia said on Tuesday that it will host an international center for Muslim journalists aimed at countering attacks on Islam and negative images of the religion. more >
Music's Merger Mania
San Diego has nine ballet companies. At least four opera companies compete in Chicago. And in Northern Virginia, there are three symphony orchestras within a 10-mile radius. At a time when performing-arts groups are facing slumping attendance and rising deficits, how many symphonies, opera companies or dance troupes does one city need? Increasingly, the answer is one - or, in a few cases, half of one. more >
Recognizing Role of Handicrafts in Tourism Development
The First International Conference on Tourism and Handicrafts will be held from 13-15 of May 2006 in the seminar hall of Iranian National Broadcast in Tehran. This conference has been organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization in order to discuss the role of handicrafts in promoting tourism industry which will result in job creation and earning more currency through attracting more tourists. more >
Ballet school director to move to Canada Council
Heritage Minister Bev Oda has chosen Robert Sirman, who has guided the National Ballet School of Canada since 1991, as her recommendation for the next director of the Canada Council for the Arts. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >