International News in June 2007
Show all of 2007
Gioia to graduates: 'Trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones'
Almost everything in our national culture, even the news, has been reduced to entertainment, or altogether eliminated (also available as a vodcast) more >
Ukraine Reports on Cultural Policy
Ukraine became the 27th state member of the CoE reporting on its cultural policy. more >
Cultural Policy journal relaunched
The Department of Cultural Policy and Management has relaunched its multi-disciplinary ejournal. more >
Anti-piracy laws outdated
Artists in the country have complained about piracy for a while and it seems the cry is far from being over; the anti-piracy law is outdated more >
Arab cultural capital: Algiers
The Arab League imported the concept from Europe, but Algiers is not Graz. Europe's cultural capitals hope for visitors – is Algiers ready for tourists? more >
USA Arts Job Bank Launched
Americans for the Arts has launched its new and expanded employment resource-Americans for the Arts Job Bank. more >
Arts and culture is not just an addition to education portfolio, insists Minister
New Culture Minister Carwyn Jones has vowed to place arts at the top of his agenda, saying they are not merely an addition to his portfolio. more >
UNESCO Convention Session Closes
The first session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, chaired by Professor Kader Asmal (South Africa) closed today at UNESCO Headquarters. more >
You're setting us back, Sir!
The Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Samson K. Boafo, announced last Monday that the month of November has been set aside as cultural awareness month to be observed annually. more >
‘Building bridges in arts industry is a key task’
Rebuilding people’s confidence in Wales’s beleaguered arts industry is a key task, says new Culture Minister Carwyn Jones. more >
Call for papers
Organisers of November's Cultural Trends Conference in London have issued a call for papers. more >
UNESCO, UCLG Strengthen Cooperation
UNESCO and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) have signed an agreement in order to strengthen their cooperation. more >
'Hard as it is for Londoners to believe, the capital isn't the centre of the arts universe'
In England, the tradition of going up to London to see a show has been entrenched for 500 years. The result is arts monsters, all of them in London, such as the Royal Opera, English National Opera and the National Theatre. more >
A Prime Minister Cool to Culture Will Leave Behind a Hot Arts Scene
As Tony Blair prepares to step down as UK Prime Minister, his legacy is dominated by one word: Iraq. But history may judge him by another standard: his support for the arts. more >
Aboriginal Artists are conned into selling their works
An official inquiry may recommend increased powers for authorities to crack down on the shady dealers who prey on Aboriginal artists. more >
Artists Treated Worse Than Animals
The ill-treatment of Namibian artists by art promoters and festival organizers was last week likened and compared to that of animals during a press conference by the Oruuano Artists Union. more >
Can art help climate change?
A new exhibition - featuring 42 contemporary artists from around the world - aims to do just that. more >
Chinese culture minister visit Malaysia
A Chinese delegation led by Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng met Malaysia's Arts, Culture and Heritage minister Rais Yatim on Friday. more >
Cultural Network Spreads to SA
African Synergy -- a pan-African cultural network of artists, festivals, venues and promoters founded last year -- will next week launch its operations in South Africa. more >
Culture Minister Back Home
Angola's minister of Culture, Boaventura Cardoso arrived Wednesday in the country after attending from June 11 to 14 the V International Congress on Culture and Development that happened in Havana, Cuba. more >
Finally, Musicians to Earn More for Their Sweat
The fortunes of local musicians are soon to change for the better as they will now be paid when their songs are played in public places. more >
FREE ACCESS TO MUSEUMS IS A 'NO BRAINER' SAYS MLA
The Museums Libraries and Archives council have responded to reports in the weekend media alleging the Conservative Party may scrap free admissions to museums with a robust defence of the policy. more >
Govt to Honour Women in the Arts
Female entrepreneurs who have used arts and culture to uplift their communities will be honoured with a new award instituted by government. more >
Internet Smackdown: The Amateur vs. the Professional
Web 2.0 critic Andrew Keen is taking a lot of flak for his book attacking the internet as a refuge for mediocrity and dilettantism. The truth hurts, I guess. more >
Less 'kultcha', more creativity
The international presence and profile of Australian culture has been allowed to fade with a huge cost to the nation, writes Steve Dow. more >
LONDON 2012 UNVEILS PLANS FOR CULTURAL OLYMPIAD
The Cultural Olympiad will start in 2008. London 2012, the body responsible for organising the 2012 Olympics, has outlined the framework for a wide-ranging ‘Cultural Olympiad’. more >
NEA chairman blasts American culture in commencement talk
The leader of the National Endowment for the Arts decried culture as bankrupt and called for the elevation of artists and intellectuals in society at Stanford University's commencement address on Sunday. more >
North American museums bounce back from 11 September
Art museum expansions, attendance, exhibitions, acquisitions, endowment income and budgets are all increasing in North America. more >
Study Reveals Strong Relationship Between Music Education and Academic Achievement
Students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, according to a study published in last week's issue of the Journal for Research in Music Education. more >
Submissions close on art royalties
A controversial proposal that would see kiwi artists receive a 5% cut of the profit every time their work is re-sold on the secondary art market saw its final day for submissions today. more >
Tony Blair’s legacy for the arts
The Prime Minister steps down on 27 June after ten years in office. What has he achieved for museums, artists and the public? more >
Stagecoach attacks child licensing law
Stagecoach Theatre Arts, the world’s largest stage school chain, is campaigning for the government to fix “seriously flawed” child licensing legislation, which it claims prevents youngsters from breaking into the industry and puts them at risk. more >
A study of Seattle media obsession with studies
Want a stadium? More arts funding? Pork for bio-tech? Just turn to the new boom business journalists can't resist: the economic-impact industry. more >
An unfulfilled dream
After more than a decade of promoting tourism as an alternative industry for national development in Trinidad and Tobago, there is now a feeling that along with other countries in the region, we lack what it takes to meet visitor needs and wants. more >
Cultural Diversity vs Colonial Models in Cuba
The United States seeks to impose a dazzling and alienating colonial model disguised as global culture to convert us into a docile and obedient flock," said Rafael Bernal, Cuba’s vice minister of Culture in Havana on Monday. more >
Culture Summit In Bucharest Ends
The regional conference of the South-East European countries ended with a joint declaration that celebrates cultural diversity. more >
Art Community Laments Lack of School
The artist community in Gambia has expressed concern about the lack of even a single arts school in the country, describing the issue as one of the major hindrance for the development and promotion of the spirit of arts in the country. more >
Basic humanity of the arts world - we hope - transcends race
Several recent issues involving arts groups and race have made headlines and angered minority interest groups. more >
Convergence of Europe's top art fairs generates buzz
The world's oldest and most prestigious contemporary art fair opens tomorrow in Venice, beginning what promises to be the European art season of the decade as four premier events align in an unusual convergence that is generating extraordinary buzz. more >
Developing African Publishing for the World Market
The development of publishing generally is of importance to every being because books are universally recognized for their ability to, in Francis Bacon's words, "make the man." more >
Fund to Change Face of Zimbabwe Arts
The official launch of the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust (CFOZT) last week at the 7 Arts Theatre in Harare heralded a new era for the arts. more >
Newspapers Trimming Classical Critics
Classical music criticism, a high-minded endeavor that has been around at least as long as newspapers and reached an English-language peak with George Bernard Shaw, has taken a series of hits in recent months. more >
Quebec, Ontario team up for new arts residency program
Arts councils in Ontario and Quebec are hoping to spark cross-border arts exchanges with a new joint artistic residency program, announced in Montreal Monday. more >
Regenerating inner cities through investment in the arts
When the history of the past 20 years comes to be written, the attempt to regenerate our inner cities through investment in the arts should form a significant chapter. more >
South Africa To Host Arts World Summit
The International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) has chosen South Africa to host the fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture in 2009. more >
The Arts Council must bite the bullet over funding
The Arts Council said it was going to make tough decisions. In the event it lost its nerve. more >
Website to Promote African Arts Created
A website to promote and strengthen African arts has been created. more >
What's our role on the world's culture stage?
Toronto isn't the only city that likes to think of itself as "creative." more >
Why discord followed the New Labour fanfare
Does Tony Blair deserve any credit from the art world? asks Julian Lloyd Webber. more >
Why YouTube may be hazardous to our culture
Andrew Keen is not one for the other hand. He calls his new book "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture," and it is a full-out, on-the-one-hand polemic. more >
Musicians Get Peanuts in Royalties
Zimbabwean musicians, who depend largely on royalties from airplay, are paid $94 every time their songs are played on radio. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >