International News in October 2006
Show all of 2006
1st Pan African Cultural Congress to Be Held in Ethiopia
The African Union (AU) will hold the first Pan African Cultural Congress (PACC) in Ethiopia from 13-15 November. more >
Ensuring the Survival of the Classical Arts
In order for the classical arts to survive in Mongolia, the theater management makes strategic partnerships locally and globally and follows a cultural policy in a move toward sustainability and preservation. more >
Kenya Won't Grow On Song And Dance
Culture - what anthropologists call a people's way of life - is not something that serious Kenyans want to spend too much time on, beyond the entertainment it provides. more >
The creativity mantra
Can the concept of Creative Industries be transformed into a new vision? more >
The elephant in the Arts Council room
Even in the Gadarene rush of Blairites leaving Whitehall ahead of the Gordon Brown regime, the mass exit from Arts Council England seems almost indecently hasty. more >
Koreas launch first joint literary association
The two Koreas launched a joint private association of literary writers Monday, the first such organization since they were divided more than 60 years ago. more >
Arts sponsorship reached record high of $32.7m last year
Arts sponsorship reached a record high last year, with 235 corporations and 44 individuals contributing $32.7 m to the arts. more >
National Museum highlights global civilisation
Dignitaries speaking at the National Museum recently had all praise for opening of the World Civilisation Gallery. The new gallery features artifacts, paintings, statues, carpets and many more from China, Iran, Korea, Japan, Switzerland, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and more. more >
Congress Should End Special Tax Breaks for Art Gifts
Wealthy donors have long received extraordinarily generous tax breaks when they donate art to museums. more >
Hunger vs. the Arts
Today's philanthropists want to fight disease and poverty - shortchanging operas and museums. How high culture is fighting for its share of the charity dollar. more >
The end of 'the two cultures'
A paper recently presented by the European Cultural Parliament, in which culture is placed 'at the heart of a knowledge-based economy', indicates why the polarisation between the sciences and culture and the arts is bogus. Of course they are different, and policies that do not recognise this are so 20th century. more >
Annual culture fix renewed
City museums, galleries and cultural institutions open their doors after-hours on Annual Culture Night for an evening of unusual and sometimes bizarre experiences. more >
Arts groups pursue tech's best features to enhance appeal
Arts organizations -- dance companies, classical music ensembles, art museums and the like -- are by their nature old-fashioned. They also depend on attracting a constant flow of ticket-buyers and other funding to survive more >
Bards to wax poetic in Tehran this winter
Tehran will play host to the first Fajr International Poetry Festival in January 2007. more >
Beijing to build 10 open-air theatres by 2008
Beijing plans to build 10 open-air theatres before 2008 - Olympics year - and will ensure that every urban community can project films, local government sources announced on Wednesday. more >
Big queues at new museum hailed as 'Berlin's Louvre'
Queues formed Thursday outside the relaunched Bode Museum in Berlin, after arts reviewers had dubbed it Europe's premier museum of sculpture and acclaimed it as a rival to the Louvre in Paris. more >
China to stage series of African cultural events during China-Africa forum
A series of African art performances and exhibitions will be staged in Beijing during the third ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in November, said a Ministry of Culture (MOC) official on Wednesday. more >
Comeback for Egypt's veiled stars
Egyptian actresses who left the film world for a more pious lifestyle are now back on television screens, in a bid to reinvent their image as more in line with the country's growing Islamic trend. more >
Culture often neglected in efforts to reduce poverty
Developing countries often assign a minor role to culture in their plans to reduce poverty. more >
Industry alarm at ACE ‘talent drain’
Arts Council England’s restructuring of its national office has come under fire from the theatre industry, with leading figures warning that the loss of talent and experience ahead of the impending Comprehensive Spending Review is a “major concern”. more >
MUSEUMS LIBRARIES & ARCHIVES SET THE PACE FOR 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
The Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) Partnership has issued a rallying call to the sector to participate in the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London during summer 2012. more >
Palestinian cinema fights the odds
Public cinemas are very rare in Gaza and the West Bank Cinema in Gaza and the West Bank has been given a shot in the arm by the start of a new festival that aims to showcase female Palestinian film-makers. more >
Promoting continuity through music and the arts
Are bars and coffeehouses becoming America's new synagogues? Is hip-hop becoming the newest form of prayer? more >
Remaking history
South Africa's dynamic new museums are not just showcasing the past - they are reinventing the country's identity, writes Andrew Meldrum more >
The Met's $20 push for a new audience
Jaws no longer drop at the thought of paying $375 for a prime seat at the Metropolitan Opera. It's the $20 orchestra seats that have people gaping. more >
Washington Opera To Set 'Butterfly' Free on the Mall
In its continuing efforts to win a wider audience, the Washington National Opera plans to present its second free live simulcast from the Kennedy Center to the Mall on Nov. 12. more >
Politics of identity
FOR many years, attacks on "multi-culturalism" in Britain were confined to the far Right, which argued, like its counterparts in other countries, that the nation could only survive if it was homogeneous, welded together by a single racial, religious or cultural identity. more >
What is arts policy?
What do terms like 'policy' and 'policy formulation' mean? Why are they important? This month Barry Hessenius discusses 'policy' with other experts in the USA, including Robert Lynch of Americans for the Arts and Anthony Radich of Westaf. more >
Bush Nominates Dana Gioia To Another Term As Head Of NEA
President George W. Bush intends to nominate Dana Gioia to another four-year term as chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts. more >
Botswana: Government Should Promote Cultural Music
One of the issues that featured prominently in the newspapers after the consultative conference between the private sector and government in Francistown a few weeks ago was the issue of 'branding Botswana'. more >
Culture Shines on World Stage
India’s soft power should be her vehicle to becoming a superpower, if one goes by Samuel P Huntington’s “Clash of Civilisations” thesis that the next fault-lines of geo-political power conflict will be cultural. more >
Namibia: Hope for Nam Music in the States
Some valuable ideas on how to promote Namibian music in the United States in particular were last Wednesday given to the local fraternity during a live video conference by an American expert. more >
Saudi schools to teach more moderate Islam
Saudi Arabia, homeland of 15 out of 19 of the September 11, 2001 hijackers in the United States, is readying a more moderate Islam curriculum for use in the kingdom's schools. more >
Spotlight Falls On Indigenous Language for Academic Purposes
Education Minister Naledi Pandor says the future of South Africa's indigenous languages as areas of academic study and research is a matter of pressing concern. more >
Ukrainian magnate opens Kiev’s first international contemporary art centre
Last month, Kiev saw the opening of the Pinchuk Art Centre, funded by 45-year old Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk. more >
Mozambique And Mauritius Renew Cultural Agreement
The governments of Mozambique and Mauritius renewed in Maputo on Monday an agreement on arts and cultural exchanges between the two countries, that was initially signed in 1993. more >
Cuts reduce role abroad
Canadian arts groups could be staying home after the Conservatives slashed funding which supports cultural exchanges. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >