International News in July 2008
Show all of 2008
Recommendations for Enhancing Cultural Presence Abroad
An Agency for Cultural Affairs advisory panel, tasked with proposing ways Japan can enhance its presentation of its culture internationally, has released its interim report. more >
European Union – Towards a better recognition of performing artists?
On July 17th the European Commission adopted a proposal aimed at extending the duration of protection on music recordings for performers and record producers to 95 years. more >
USIA needs to be revived to fight anti-Americanism
At the urging of Congress, the Department of State, current home of the government's public diplomacy efforts, has commissioned a study to review the instruments and techniques needed to burnish the U.S. image. more >
1200 museums to be free of charge by next year
In an interview, Vice Minister Zhang Bo of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that by next year, 1200 of China's national museums will be free of charge. more >
A Network for Culture and Development … beyond Creative Exchange
Following its demise, members of the Creative Exchange network have established
a new online networking space for culture and development.
more >
A portrait of art as a tax deduction
A federal crackdown on deductions for so-called fractional gifts of art has crimped donations of valuable collections. more >
Art for art’s sake
There are more substantive reasons for valuing arts education than the current 'arts assist academics' perspective. more >
Beijing Games cultural activities
The 6th Olympic Cultural Festival will not only show Chinese culture and international cultural artistic features, but the exchange and convergence of internationalisation and multiculturalism through broad international participation. more >
Economic Partnership Agreement good for the arts
Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris Sinckler has sent out a call to all artists to utilise the government's Economic Partnership Agreement program. more >
New global survey reveals city dwellers around the world hold similar views and feelings about city life
Cultural activities, entertainment possibilities and diversity ranked highly in a global survey of what city-dwellers like about the cities in which they live. more >
Peru’s Government proposes creation of Ministry of Culture
The creation of a Ministry of Culture has been proposed by President Alan García in order to boost artistic creation and re-evaluate ancient Peruvian cultures. more >
Thinkers, Artists Close Bolivia Talks
At a meeting in Bolivia, culture ministers and other authorities from the sector plan to meet to agree upon common development policies in culture. more >
Unearthing hidden talent
The Department of Arts and Culture has helped launch the Youths in Art Programme aimed at equipping young artists with the resources they need to succeed in the music industry. more >
Arts Council must regain credibility after funding fiasco, says report
Arts Council England mishandled its last funding round so completely that it ended up on the receiving end of "the most damaging publicity in its 60-year history," according to a report published today. more >
Brazil musician leaves government
The Brazilian musician and Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, says he is standing down from the government to concentrate on his music career. more >
Connections and Creativity - Ontario Arts Council's New Strategic Plan Now Online
The plan will provide a framework to guide the Arts Council's priorities in the coming years. more >
Czechs lack cultural policy - opposition shadow culture minister
The Czech state lacks a cultural policy, shadow culture minister Vitezslav Jandak (Social Democrats, CSSD) told journalists today. more >
No Money For Cook Islands Artists Group To Attend Festival
Eighteen artists from the Cook Islands did not make it to this year's Pacific Festival of Arts in American Samoa due to the non-availability of government funds to pay for their airline tickets. more >
Vatican at the next Biennale?
Could the Vatican get its own pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2009? If Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s new minister of culture, has his way, we may be seeing more than a new national pavilion for the sovereign state at the Bienniale’s next iteration. more >
China trip inspires Culture Minister to set new agenda
After a quiet four months in office, Culture Minister Anusorn Wongwan has finally found his groove - in China. more >
Diversity Unites
The Diversity Unites congress will present and discuss concepts, structures, models and core projects from different cities and regions in Europe, cultural circles and social formations; all these can be seen as prime examples of local intercultural work. more >
5th Summit of the Americas: Draft Declaration of Port of Spain
The draft Declaration of Commitment for the 5th Summit of the Americas, to take place in April 2009, recognises inter-cultural dialogue and respect for cultural diversity and commits to nurturing creativity and promoting cultural industries. more >
A ministry’s artless posturing
The repeated cancellation of big arts productions gives an indication of the Culture Ministry’s future course. more >
Analysts Comment on Rumours About Removal of Afghan Culture Minister
Rumours are circulating that Information and Culture Minister Karim Khoram will be removed from cabinet. more >
As PONCHO regroups, Seattle arts struggle
The key problem is the shortage of public funding for the arts, as private donors are realizing they can't shoulder all the costs. more >
Cabinet to attract foreign funds
The government is introducing a plan to boost the development of Taiwan's cultural creative industry that includes setting up a pricing mechanism for intangible cultural assets. more >
Changes for Council of Pacific Arts
Major changes, including a new name for the Council of Pacific Arts, were decided at the 22nd meeting of the council on Wednesday in Amerika Samoa. more >
Cultural caregiver
This is the age of cultural caregiving. And ardently espousing this doctrine is Cecile Guidote Alvarez, executive director of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. more >
Cultural identity and mental health
A Harvard University medical student has suggested ways in which links might be identified between Mäori cultural identity and better mental health. Interested in exploring some of the methods and identity scales currently being used to assess cultural identity and ways in which these scales might be modified to better capture the experiential identity of indigenous peoples in the 21st century. more >
Cultural organisations of the Caribbean call on governments to ratify the 2005 UNESCO Convention
Caribbean governments should observe the principles of the 2005 UNESCO cultural convention in trade negotiations and agreements. more >
Culture Ministers to Meeting in Bolivia
An exchange among culture ministers and officials from member countries of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) and MERCOSUR (the Southern Common Market) will be held in La Paz, Bolivia, in July. more >
Estonian actors travel on the expense of culture money
The supporter of Estonia’s cultural activities culture capital is becoming the national travel agency since the Estonian actors are using the money on exotic travels and explain them with the purpose of culture- and self-perfection. more >
European culture ministers conference to take place in Azerbaijan
Ministers from European, ISESCO and ALEKSO member countries, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs will be invited to the European culture ministers in Azerbaijan this December. more >
Ex-Malian Culture Minister Pascal Coulibaly dies in Tunis
Former Malian Culture Minister Pascal Baba Coulibaly died on Wednesday in Tunis aged 57 years, an official source here told PANA. more >
Govt finalises draft of culture policy
The government has finalised draft of new culture policy after revising over a decade-old policy of 1995 making it an action-oriented document to be implemented at the grassroots level. more >
KL’s cultural hot spots launched
The Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage has launched a program that will see ‘cultural hot spots’, or mini cultural centres, established around the country. more >
Looking for Equity in Arts Financing
Alternative views of arts grants distributed by New York City’s Cultural Affairs Department have reignited a lively debate about just what cultural equity means. more >
New Zealand Minister: We'll Help Pacific Protect Cultural Knowledge, Property Rights
The New Zealand government is prepared to offer resources and expertise to help Pacific Island countries and territories develop necessary programs and law to protect their rights of their culture and heritage. more >
Promoting eBook a main policy of culture ministry
Promoting electronic books is one of the practical measures taken by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry for the year to March. more >
Public art policies promote civic creativity
This is the first article in a series of four that will examine arts policy and art in public places. The Sudbury Arts Council asked the city last year what guidelines are in place regarding art in public spaces, and guidelines regarding a general arts policy. more >
Remembering Scotland at War
Museums Galleries Scotland has announced details of Big Lottery Funding of £590,000 for the continuation of a museums-led initiative that will see young people working with older generations in communitiy arts events across Scotland. more >
Taiwan wants world heritage status for its sky lanterns
Taiwan wants to apply for world cultural heritage status for its sky-lantern festival, but may meet obstacles as it is not a member of the United Nations. more >
The Arts Column: how to put children off culture for life
A counter-argument to the manifesto to put the arts ‘at the heart of the school curriculum’. more >
Youth Prepare to ‘Ignite the Americas’ in Canada
Dozens of young people from across the western hemisphere will converge in the city of Toronto, Canada this September for Ignite the Americas, a youth arts policy forum. more >
Zambia warns cultural associations not be used to advance tribal politics
Zambian Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande has warned that cultural associations should not be used to advance tribal politics, according to Sunday Post. more >
500 researchers at Albanian culture seminar
The International Seminar on the Albanian Language, Literature and Culture, in Prishtina from August 18 to 19, will gather 500 people from over 90 countries to present research work on albanology. more >
Main results of the informal meeting of Ministers for Culture
Christine Albanel, French Minister for Culture and Communication, brought together her fellow EU ministers for an informal meeting in Versailles on 21-22 July. more >
Rosen launches children's manifesto
Action for Children's Arts, an umbrella body for arts organisations, has launched the UK's first Manifesto for Children's Arts. more >
The Greek cultural industry is bankrupt
Greece has great potential in cultural industries: with minimal investment its performance would be very good. But the Ministry won’t be able to negotiate the acquisition of the necessary resources. more >
Abu Dhabi prepares book on intangible heritage
The Department of Intangible Heritage at the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage has prepared a book on the proceedings of the first regional meeting regarding intangible Arab heritage, held in Abu Dhabi in 2007. more >
Artists to develop child-art protocols
Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, has written to the Australia Council and Screen Australia, asking them "to develop a setof protocols to address the depiction of children in works, exhibitions and publications that are recipients of government funding". more >
Arts Council plans further three year initiative for Traditional Arts
The move comes after the successful completion of the Traditional Arts Initiative 2005-2008, which introduced the Deis scheme and increased support for the traditional arts through the Arts Council’s mainstream grants and awards. more >
Arts policies
An editorial looking at New Zealand's arts policy landscape in the lead-up to the 2008 general election. more >
European Union Cultural Attaché Event
The meeting provided a platform to explore the UK’s statutory cultural funding bodies’ engagement with the European Union’s nations. more >
Experience economy is good, but why, nobody knows
Research reports have found that too little is known about Denmark’s experience economy and that government policy is fractured across multiple ministries. more >
GES plans to use cultural heritage as a major strategy for nation's development
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has mapped out a comprehensive strategy to preserve, harness and use the Ghanaian cultural heritage and resources to develop a vibrant and a prosperous national community. more >
Govt committed to promoting Pakistani culture, talent, creativity
Minister for Culture Sherry Rehman has said that the government was committed to institutionalising and promoting Pakistani culture, talent and creativity. more >
Innovation Strategy: Music Service Corps
We should create a national service corps for musicians and artists to work in public schools and underserved communities. more >
Investing in local talent
To the small band of resident artists currently operating out of the UAE, there’s little by way of the kind of grants, awards or incentive-based prizes that fuel art scenes worldwide. more >
Is Britain failing to give children full access to the arts as required by UN's Charter on the Rights of the Child?
A UK umbrella body for arts organisations involved in providing arts for and with children, will launch the UK's first 'Manifesto for Children's Arts' on 21 July. more >
Ministry of Culture and Tourism investigates 11 artists
Action has been taken by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to stop the abuse of national symphony orchestra laws by launching an inquiry into 11 artists alleged to not be fully performing their duties. more >
Pacific Arts Festival hours away from opening
The 10th Festival of Pacific Arts opens tomorrow in Pago Pago, American Samoa, with a diverse range of art forms on show and a number of symposia focusing on issues in arts and culture. more >
Review of ‘Art and Upheaval’
A review of the book ‘Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World's Frontlines,’ a collection on artists working with communities during conflict and war in a number of countries. more >
‘Home & Away’: comparing national policies for live art touring
A brief report on the IETM/VTi Satellite Meeting in May 2008. A comprehensive report of the seminar will be produced later in 2008. more >
Buyer beware
The law protecting cultural heritage is no longer serving the interests of Aboriginal artists, the international promotion of Aboriginal art, or the market. more >
Campbell issues equal cultural funding promise
The Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure, Gregory Campbell, has vowed that Ulster Scots and Irish cultural outlooks will receive parity of funding while he is in office - whether people like it or not. more >
China bans entertainers who "offend sovereignty"
Overseas entertainers will be banned from the Chinese mainland if they are deemed to have "offended the country's sovereignty" during performances, says China's Ministry of Culture. more >
Cutting through black and white
If one seriously wishes to address the failure of transformation in the arts, hammering on about how the industry reflects the broader South African reality is a soft target. more >
Debating Aspects of Cultural Dynamism
Habineza Joseph, Minister of culture and sports "Culture dynamism has always been useful in changing and admitting new and positive elements." more >
Returns to national arts and creativity policy stage
A seminar will be held on July 17-19 which will work to shape non-partisan policy recommendations critical to the advancement of American culture, and design a plan to encourage a stronger, more vibrant cultural policy environment for the arts in the future. more >
Australian arts 'asphyxiated'
Soprano Lisa Gasteen says the arts are being asphyxiated in Australia and she is not surprised by Adelaide's failure to restage the Ring Cycle. more >
Ministers call for consolidated effort in promoting historical, cultural heritages
Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin stressed today the need for consolidated promotion of Ethiopia’s historical and cultural heritages. more >
Nude girl magazine gets M classification
The Classification Board has given an unrestricted M rating to an art magazine featuring a nude six-year-old girl on the cover. more >
Earthquake-devastated culture fights for its survival in China
The Chinese Cabinet, or State Council, is weighing whether to establish a "cultural protection region" for the Qiang, the vice minister of culture, Zhou Heping, told Xinhua. more >
Orchestra funding hits bad note
Composer Stavros Xarchakos yesterday launched a strong attack on the government and the way that Greece funds the arts as he revealed that the State Orchestra for Greek Music (KOEM), which he conducts, is on the verge of financial ruin. more >
Pressure mounts on EU leaders to double copyright protection length for performers
EU officials are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss proposals made by EU internal market commissioner Charles McCreevy, who has recommended that rights for performers should be extended to match the amount of time that music writers are currently covered by. more >
The Royal Ballet’s Asian tour is a great lesson in cultural diplomacy
Did an orchestra lure North Korea to the negotiating table? more >
Why a bit of credit crunch may be no bad thing
There's no sign the 2012 Olympics is losing its capacity to suck away cash, says Rupert Christiansen. more >
Arts council buries hatchet with theater companies
Kuwait's National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters(NCCAL) has long been accused of a lack of support for local theater companies and the arts in general. But after holding recent meetings between the two sides, their longstanding differences have been set aside. more >
Silvertails not only ones with whole lot of art
The art galleries and museums of NSW are luring diverse crowds, particularly low-income earners, a study by Museums and Galleries NSW has found. more >
Arts Council accused of ignoring Watermans funding advice
Watermans bosses claim to have discovered that two departments within Arts Council England (ACE) recommended that their funding should continue and that a cut would cause huge damage to the arts centre - but this was not passed on to the decision board. more >
Bole promotes culture and arts
It is vital that we make art and culture a part of our core script, interim Minister for Culture and Arts Filipe Bole said yesterday. more >
Euphoria turns sad for Boyce
Promoter Peter Boyce seems headed for a clash with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF). For the third straight year, one party is accusing the other of trying to get artistes to sign exclusive contracts. more >
Prepatory work for Russia
The plans of the new Russian Minister of Culture, Alexander Avdeyev to boost the arts in the new Russia. more >
What will the artistic face of İstanbul look like in 2010?
İstanbul is gearing up for the year 2010, when it will assume the title of the European Capital of Culture, and the projects to be carried out in connection with this have already started blossoming. more >
Creative Exchange closes
Creative Exchange, a network for culture and development based in the UK, will cease operations at the end of July 2008. more >
Culture and Conflict: Introduction
A special article on culture and conflict that investigates how art provides practical help in times of war, conflict and violence in five countries. more >
KEA study commissioned in the run-up to European Year of Creativity and Innovation
The European Commission has commissioned a study on policies to promote the role of creators and creative industries in fostering individual creativity and social innovation due for release in February 2009. more >
Culture line of defence against extremism
Minister for Culture Ms Sherry Rehman said on Tuesday that study of Pakistani cultural heritage is not only imperative for development of arts and culture, but it is also a line of defence against extremism in the present political scenario. more >
Germany's Imagemaker - Michael Zenner
The Directorate-General for Culture and Communication in the German Foreign Office seeks to make Germany an attractive nation abroad by disseminating “stimulating, credible information and dialogues on culture and education”. more >
'Our media has no memory'
Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan, referred to as ‘the intellectual’, has a passion for freedom of expression. more >
Around the Arts: Panel review important to the arts
An behind-the-scenes look at issues in supporting new media arts via peer-review panels. more >
Artists as entrepreneurs
American artists "more entrepreneurial" than a high-tech CEO? How can that be? more >
Arts Council seeks groups for new roster
Arts Council England is developing a national design roster to develop the Council’s communications and branding. more >
Crop-Over spread
Minister of Culture Steve Blackett has foreshadowed ‘a paradigm shift’ in the development of the cultural industries through inter-ministerial co-operation between the Ministries of Education, Trade, Finance and Foreign Affairs.
more >
Diversity in Dialogue-the Cultural Wealth of the World
Cultural diversity is thus an asset that is indispensable for poverty reduction and the achievement of sustainable development. In Ghana, the Ministry Of Chieftaincy and Culture has set aside November every year as a National cultural awareness Month. more >
Hong Kong LegCo endorses $2.77 b funding for cultural district project
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council (LegCo) has approved a funding application by the HKSAR government for about 2.77 billion U.S. dollars to build a cultural district in West Kowloon. more >
Let's aim for the cultural omnivore
Rather than competing against one another to sell subscriptions and single tickets, perhaps arts organisations could work together to increase cultural participation. more >
Sometimes Impatiently, New Generation of Arts Patrons Look to the Future
A small and privileged group of young adults is eager to make its mark in the world of arts philanthropy, bringing with them a fresh set of perspectives and priorities to the institutions and organizations they serve. more >
The runaway success of Müzekart
The Müzekart (museum card), recently introduced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to boost people's interest in Turkish museums, has proven far more popular than expected. more >
Going back to my roots
An interview with Fiji Arts Council director, Letila Mitchell, about the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts. more >
Guidelines plan in nude child row
The Rudd Government will ask the Australia Council to develop a set of protocols to cover the representation of children in art, after a taxpayer-funded magazine put a picture of a nude six-year-old girl on its cover to protest at the Bill Henson dispute. more >
Magazine uses nude photo as protest
A taxpayer-funded magazine has used a picture of a naked six-year-old girl on the cover of its July edition in protest against the treatment of artist Bill Henson. more >
Germany to spend more on culture
Germany's coalition government has agreed to up its culture budget by 1.5% to E1.13 billion ($1.8 billion). more >
Direct arts funding ‘has an Eastern European feel’, says Burnham
Culture secretary Andy Burnham has ruled out direct government funding for the country’s flagship arts companies, claiming that such a move would undermine Arts Council England. more >
The Arts Council is heading in the right direction
ACE has helped many organisations in recent years and is in an excellent position to build on its achievements. more >
Wales Arts Council under attack
The Arts Council for Wales's provision of arts facilities is still insufficient at community and national levels according to a report by the Assembly's audit committee. more >
Putting the Arts back into the Arts
An interview with Bill Ivey, former Chairman of the NEA, about why we’re making less art and what public policy’s got to do with it. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >