International News in May 2009
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Invoking cultural activism
Germany has decided that the next phase in international affairs belongs not to economics or politics, but to culture. more >
Sorry, Melina. The Elgin marbles should stay put—or at least find their true price
Despite the efforts of the Greek minister of culture, Miss Melina Mercouri, the return of the Elgin marbles to Athens has mercifully not become a British election issue. The marbles are not going back and it is hard to conceive of any circumstance in which they ought to—least of all in response to the garbled nationalism of Miss Mercouri. more >
Asuncion’s Declaration
Cultural Diversity Coalitions that took part at the '1st Meeting of Mercosur’s Coalitions' which took place in Asunción, Paraguay on May 20-22, 2009, agreed on a number of actions. more >
Declaración de Asunción
Las Coaliciones para la Diversidad Cultural participantes del ¨ I Encuentro de Coaliciones del MERCOSUR¨, realizado en la Ciudad de Asunción, República del Paraguay, los días 20, 21 y 22 de mayo del 2009. more >
'Britain in danger of creative crunch' says BPI
Speaking at a joint meeting of the Federation of Entertainment Unions, UK Film Council and BAFTA on the future of the creative industries, BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor outlined how the music business has transformed itself in the digital age, but also warned of the threat posed by copyright infringement to thousands of jobs in the copyright sector. more >
A California arts funding bill reaches crucial stage
Arts institutions in California need all the money they can get at this point, and a new bill currently making its way through the halls of Sacramento is poised to help. If it can only make its way out of committee, that is. more >
Appreciation award opens to applicants
Emirati writers, artists and researchers have been invited to submit entries for the fourth annual Emirates Appreciation Award for Arts, Sciences and Literature. The award aims “to stimulate the intellectual, cultural and creative people in the UAE, to highlight and honour them, and motivate the younger generations to improve knowledge of science”, said Bilal al Budoor, executive director for culture and arts at the Ministry of Culture. more >
Central Highlands to host International Gong Festival
The inaugural International Gong Festival will be held sometime between July and September in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai. The festival will celebrate the Central Highlands’ gong culture, which was recognised by UNESCO as a unique part of the world’s oral and intangible heritage in December 2005. more >
Culture minister expects deep changes in artistic activity
The Culture minister, Rosa Cruz e Silva, said Tuesday in Luanda that her department will do everything to provide regular activities for national artists, by creating proper conditions to spread all the artistic modalities countrywide. more >
Culture minister inaugurates library
The Angolan minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva, inaugurated Saturday in central Bié province, a district library to cater for local residents. Speaking to the press, after the inauguration ceremony, the minister advised the youths, especially the students, to make a good use of the site for research and exchange of experience, with a view to increasing their knowledge. more >
Culture Ministry builds King Ndunduma statues
Two statues in honour of King Ndumduma shall be built this year by the Ministry of Culture in the Embala do Ecovongo region, 20 kilometres to the south of Kuito city, capital of southern Bié province. more >
Egypt's Unesco hopeful in book burning row
Farouk Hosny has been Egypt's top cultural official since 1987. Doubts still surround the prospects for Egypt's candidate to lead Unesco, the UN's cultural arm, despite his public apology for past anti-Israeli remarks. more >
Eurozine conference held in Vilnius
The 22nd European Meeting of Cultural Journals from 8 to 11 May 2009 was a resounding success, with over eighty representatives of cultural journals from Iceland to Bosnia, Ireland to Belarus meeting in Vilnius to discuss the topic of "European Histories". more >
Former Head Finance BKVB suspected of fraud
The former head of finance of the Fonds voor Beeldende Kunsten, Vormgeving en Bouwkunst (Fund for Art, Design and Architecture) is suspected of stealing €15.5 million from the fund which distributes subsidies to artists on behalf of the Dutch Ministry for Education, Culture and Science. Around €12 million was immediately recoved, but police are still trying to trace the rest of the money, as well as the suspect himself. As most of the money has been recovered, the payment of subsidies to artists is not in danger. more >
Funding issues for English filmmakers in Canada
In Quebec, we are privileged to have a strong film industry that caters to both languages. However, the English language film scene is lost amidst the larger francophone productions that are released every year. It is no surprise that most of the funding and allocation of money is granted to Le Cinema Quebecois. more >
Michelle Obama, administration's new Minister of Culture?
The heads of New York's most prestigious cultural institutions are in no doubt that she intends to play an active policy-making role in the arts world after they were summoned to meet her last week. more >
Michelle paints herself as the queen of arts
The US first lady is carving out a role as an unofficial culture secretary just months after her husband took office more >
Minnesota libraries gain $4.25 million for arts and cultural programs
Thanks to some savvy lobbying and enlightened legislators, public libraries in Minnesota will get $4.25 million for arts and cultural programs in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, as well as the fiscal year after that. The sum, which an advocate said should at least triple such programming, represents nearly ten percent of the $44.5 million allocated in the first year by the legislature; nearly half of the total will go to the State Arts Board. more >
New boss, no names - Officials walk into shock of their lives
Everyone is a little nervous the day a new boss joins, but the bureaucrats at Shastri Bhavan weren’t expecting to find their nameplates yanked off their office doors. A thief, not a bureaucratic shuffle — always a possibility when a new minister takes over — was responsible. more >
Nocturnal display: Museums in Armenia offer free late evening entrance as part of international campaign
Last weekend art lovers in Yerevan and other towns in three provinces of Armenia had a chance to visit different museums free of charge till midnight thanks to the ‘Museum Night’ campaign. more >
PA Senate votes to eliminate cultural funding despite increasing public demand for arts
On Wednesday, May 6, in its latest budget proposal, the Pennsylvania Senate moved to eliminate cultural funding. Ironically, the proposal comes at a time when arts organizations in the region are struggling to meet increased public demand for their programs and services. more >
Poland’s Minister of Culture at USC
During a brief afternoon ceremony inside Dean Cutietta’s office, Minister Zdrojewski decorated the Dean with the Gloria Artis gold medal. This highly prestigious award recognizes the most outstanding individuals for their contributions to Polish culture and is usually bestowed upon the recipient upon the initiative of the Minister of Culture or other high government officials. more >
Policy dialogue launched at first-ever EU-China Cultural Industries Forum
The European Commission and the Chinese authorities are launching a policy dialogue on culture and organising at the same time the first ever EU-China Cultural Industries Forum, which takes place in Shenzhen (China) on 15 May 2009. The aim of this event is to reflect on how to foster cooperation in the cultural industries, while sharing mutually beneficial Chinese and European experiences in this area. more >
PRACTICS
The European project PRACTICS, has just launched its four Cultural Mobility Contact Points, in Spain, in the Netherlands, in Belgium and in Wales. These pilot CMCPs aim at providing information of a legal and general nature to facilitate the circulation of artists and cultural operators of all artistic disciplines in or to these countries. more >
President of KUNA announces resignation due to a “political audit”
University president decides to reduce the pressure on KNUA, while the culture sector criticizes the trend of using audits as means to evict progressive personnel. more >
Spring plenary meeting in Bratislava
From April 23 to 26, the members of IETM met in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, for the Spring Plenary Meeting of the network. Almost 500 professionals of the performing arts field, from forty different countries, were there to exchange their opinions and practices on the topic ‘Culture and Education’. more >
Swedish Minister takes anti Pirate Bay stance
Lena Adelsohn-Liljeroth, the Swedish Minister of Culture held a speech before the Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers (SKAP) yesterday evening. While she was speaking she also commented on the verdict in the Pirate Bay trial and the sentences handed out to the defendants. more >
Tarim, Capital of Islamic Culture 2010
The countdown has begun as the ancient town of Tarim in Hadramout prepares itself to become the Capital of Islamic Culture 2010. The Ministry of Culture is expected to declare its cultural program to celebrate the occasion soon. more >
Thousands of booklovers gather in Tehran International Book Fair
Tehran International Book Fair was held in May during 11 days in Tehran Mosalla Site with hundreds of foreign publishers from 75 different countries. more >
UAE's Ministry of Culture promotes country's heritage at New York int'l book fair
The Ministry of Culture, Youth '&' Community Development aims to promote UAE innovation and creativity on the global stage through its participation at international cultural and artistic events such as the New York International Book fair, said Bilal Bodoor, Executive Director for Cultural and Arts Affairs. more >
Vietnam plans to outlaw dancing in karaoke clubs
Busting a move in a karaoke club may soon get you busted in Vietnam. Government officials are currently pushing for a ban on dancing in the country’s increasingly popular singing establishments. more >
Bill to boost state arts funding is put on hold until next year
It's "wait till next year" -- again -- for a bill in the state Legislature that would have provided a boost of about $30 million a year for the California Arts Council and raised the state's per-capita arts funding from last in the nation to the middle of the pack. more >
Four indigenous movements awarded Musgrave Medals
The Institute of Jamaica on Thursday presented Special Musgrave Medals to four of Jamaica's indigenous movements - the Maroons, Rastafari, Kumina and Revivalist. The groups, according to the Minister of Culture Olivia Grange, "represent the richness, vibrancy and dynamism of our forebears, as they sought to maintain their African heritage while in distant, foreign lands". more >
Meeting of ALBA Culture Ministers
The Culture ministers from the member countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) regional integration and cooperation bloc met to assess multilateral projects of integration.
more >
Ministry under fire for failing to preserve heritage
National Assembly Standing Committee on Culture expressed dissatisfaction over the insufficient efforts made by the Ministry of Culture to preserve National Heritages as it has been observed that most of the Historical Buildings are in dilapidated condition and directed the Ministry to ensure their proper maintenance to preserve them. more >
Venezuela distributes free books and movies
Throughout the past week, the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture distributed free books, movies and documentaries. The government's program called the Culture Mission, aims to promote readership by publicly distributing 2.5 million books nation-wide. more >
Venezuela Distributes Free Books and Movies, Promotes Cultural Development
Such promotion of cultural activity is the task of the government's program called the Culture Mission, and a new National Reading Plan, which aspires to promote readership by publicly distributing 2.5 million books nation-wide. more >
EU states concerned over Google library plans
EU competitiveness ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday are expected to ask the European Commission to take a closer look at Google's plans to create a digital library amid fears that European intellectual property rights are being breached. more >
Recommendations from the Third Annual National Arts Policy Roundtable
Redford Center Founder Robert Redford and Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, have announced policy recommendations resulting from the third annual Americans for the Arts National Arts Policy Roundtable, entitled The Arts and Civic Engagement: Strengthening the 21st Century Community. more >
Chilean President Bachelet opts for culture
Bachelet is doing everything possible to put Chile's culture on the map, on a small scale in her own country, with programmes like Creando Chile en mi barrio, which started in 2007. This year the over-all culture budget was increased by 38.6%, while an additional 126% was added to this specific project. more >
Creating A Scene
Desperate to attract a burgeoning creative sector, ‘creative clusters’ are the new economic drivers of Europe, but are they the answer? more >
Message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura on the occasion of World Day for Cultural Diversity
The annual celebration of 21 May as World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development provides an opportunity to reaffirm UNESCO’s constitutional mandate to preserve “the independence, integrity and fruitful diversity of the cultures” of its Member States and promote the “democratic principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect” through education, the sciences, culture and communication. more >
Plan to boost creative arts approved
In an effort to transform Taiwan into a major artistic and design center, the Executive Yuan approved a plan May 14 to develop the 'cultural and creative industry' in Taiwan. more >
El PP pide a los cargos de Cultura que expliquen en el Congreso su nueva estrategia
El portavoz de Cultura del Grupo Popular en el Congreso, José María Lassalle, señaló ayer la necesidad de que comparezcan en el Congreso «los principales responsables de la política cultural de España y expliquen cuáles han de ser los nuevos ejes estratégicos que marquen el desarrollo futuro del Ministerio». more >
EU grants 25 M euro to the Bulgarian ministry of culture
The ministry of culture will receive 14 million euro for the securing of suitable and effective state cultural infrastructure, contributing to the development of sustainable urban areas. more >
Group to bolster US cultural ties
A society that promotes and supports cultural exchanges and understanding between Bahrain and America has been established. more >
La UNESCO Celebra la Diversidad Cultural del 11 al 22 de mayo de 2009
A través de una variedad de eventos culturales organizados en torno al Día Mundial de la Diversidad Cultural para el Diálogo y el Desarrollo (21 de mayo) en la Sede y en muchos otros lugares del mundo, la UNESCO pretende resaltar menos el valor intrínseco de tal o cual producción que la fecundidad de su diversidad. more >
La UNESCO invita a los museos del mundo entero a celebrar el 18 de mayo Día Internacional de los Museos
Defensora de la causa de los museos y de la protección de obras de arte desde su fundación en 1945, la UNESCO invita a los museos del mundo entero a participar el 18 de mayo en las actividades conmemorativas del Día Internacional de los Museos, junto con el Consejo Internacional de Museos (ICOM), organización con la que mantiene una antigua y estrecha relación de cooperación. more >
Meeting of the Nordic Culture Ministers: 6 May 2009, Reykjavik
The Ministers of Culture from the Nordic countries met in Reykjavik to discuss the reform of Nordic co-operation in the cultural sector, which had been implemented two years ago. more >
Nominate a cultural policy actor of the month
The Compendium wants to give recognition and visibility to cultural policy actors who have introduced new ideas that led to changes in your country or on the European level. more >
The Council of the European Union session “Education, Youth and Culture”, 11 – 12 May 2009, Brussels
This is 2941st session of the Council of the European Union, took place under the Presidency of the Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports and the Czech Minister of Culture. Amiongst other things, culture as a catalyst for creativity and innovation in the domain of economy and economic growth was discussed. more >
The political party PP asks public cultural policy makers to explain to the Congress their new strategy
The culture spokesman of Congress’ Popular Group, José María Lasalle, made clear yesterday that ‘the main cultural policy officials of Spain should appear in Congress to explain what the new strategic guidelines for the future of the Ministry of Culture should be’. more >
UNESCO Celebrates Cultural Diversity from 11 to 22 May 2009
The numerous cultural events held on and around the World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May) at UNESCO Headquarters and elsewhere in the world are meant to underscore not only the intrinsic value of specific cultural productions, but also and above all the fertility of their diversity. more >
UNESCO encourages the celebration of International Museum Day: 18 May 2008
As an advocate for museums and safeguarding works of art and museum objects since its founding in 1945, UNESCO joins its long-time partner the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in encouraging museums around the world to celebrate the "International Museum Day" on 18 May. more >
Visiting Arts announce new Board Chair
Robert Palmer has been officially appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors at Visiting Arts. He attended his first meeting of the Board on Friday May 1 and will chair his first meeting in July. more >
A producer for the N.E.A.
President Bush’s chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia, was well-liked, even though (perhaps because) the mission he set out to fulfill was a mild, essentially centrist one. President Obama’s choice, Rocco Landesman, a Broadway producer and theater owner, will undoubtedly provide a bolder vision for the endowment and national arts funding. more >
AU countries will take part in panafrican festival
48 member states of the African Union (AU) announced their participation in the 2nd Panafrican Cultural Festival which will be held in Algeria from the 5th to the 10th of July 2009. 32 countries confirmed their participation by sending the lists of their delegations, indicated the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Khalida Toumi in Algiers. more >
Azerbaijan and Cuba signed a culture agreement
Signing of a co-operation agreement in the area of culture has been signed in Baku today between the Ministry of Culture & Tourism of Azerbaijan and Ministry of Culture of Cuba. more >
Cooperation between TIBF and foreign publishers is reciprocal
Cooperation between the Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) and foreign publishers is reciprocal, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance mentioned in a press conference on Monday. more >
Copied paintings plague Vietnam's museum
How many paintings and sculptures in Vietnam's national art museum are actually copies, nobody knows. But rumors have swirled for years that many treasured originals by Vietnamese artists have been either lost or sold off, and reproductions have taken their place. more >
Culture minister canvasses support for Art and Crafts expo
The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Senator Bello Jibrin Gada, has thrown his weight behind the hosting of the second edition of African Arts and Crafts Expo (AFAC) scheduled to hold between May 31 and June 11 in Abuja. more >
Culture Ministry organizes Sana'a international gathering for plastic arts
The 2nd session of Sana'a International Gathering for Plastic Arts is to be launch here on Sunday, organized by Ministry of Culture, and will last till May 24th with the participation of 13 Arab countries and China. more >
Delay in proposed Tory arts funding sparks criticism.
Five months after the Harper government created a $25- million fund that it said would put Canada on the map as a ``cultural capital'' of the world, critics are frustrated that there are still no new details or federal support to better enable Canadian artists to perform on the international stage. more >
Eventfinder chief executive on Ministry's $3m site
Alison Mau interviewed Eventfinder (eventfinder.co.nz) chief executive Michael Turner on TVNZ's Breakfast program on Thursday to discuss the Ministry for Culture's spending on a website, nzlive.com, that has cost the New Zealand taxpayer $3 million so far, with published plans to spend another $3.2 million over the next 4 years. more >
Futurebank sponsors 17th Heritage Festival in Bahrain
Bahrain-based Futurebank, in its first local sponsorship activity, has sponsored the 17th Heritage Festival, organised by the Cultural and National Heritage Sector at the Ministry of Culture and Information. more >
Georgia to host rival contest after Eurovision ban on Putin song
Banned from the Eurovision Song Contest for an anthem that mocked Russia’s Prime Minister, the Georgians have hit back by organising a song festival of their own. more >
Georgia welcomes back film crews
Less than a year after it was at war with Russia, Georgia is planning to capitalize on the international attention it has since earned to promote the Caucasian country as a low-cost co-production location. more >
Greek government unveils new home for Elgin Marbles
Fresh demands for the return of the Elgin Marbles are accompanying the launch next month of the £115 million Acropolis Museum, which has a reserved space for the world's most famous piece of classical statuary. more >
Heritage museum planned in Karachi
Sindh Minister for Culture and Tourism Ms Sassui Palijo said on Sunday that the government planned to construct a museum in Karachi to promote historical and cultural heritage of the province internationally. more >
How a Saharan refugee camp launched an international film festival
Dakhla, an isolated refugee camp in the Sahara, is not the most likely setting for an international film festival. And yet, last week, this desolate camp in south-western Algeria was transformed into a gala of screenings, workshops and concerts attended by an array of internationally acclaimed actors and film-makers. more >
Iceland stuck between a rock and hard place
How will Iceland’s art institutions and galleries emerge from the economic crisis? As most public funding is up for reassessment, the immediate future of independent arts institutions, organisations and projects is extremely shaky. more >
Iceland’s art scene faces an uncertain future
Artists are struggling, corporate and private sponsorship is drying up and museums are slashing budgets as the new government comes to terms with difficult times ahead. more >
Norway celebrates Eurovision win on National Day
Hundreds of Norwegians sang along to Alexander Rybak's winning song "Fairytale" as they walked in the country's traditional National Day parade celebrating the Norwegian constitution. Norway's minister of culture, Trond Giske, promised that Norway would put on a lavish show next year but without spending as much as Moscow, which splashed out 24 million euros ($32.5 million) this year. more >
Obama budget plan boosts arts funding
The National Gallery of Art's East Building needs emergency repairs after engineers found signs of structural problems. President Barack Obama's proposed budget released Thursday includes $40 million to repair the landmark, designed by the celebrated architect I.M. Pei. more >
Obama's 100 days of art
Americans for the Arts is patting the new president on the back for the commitment to the arts he has displayed in his first 100 days. The cultural advocacy group, which lobbied hard to save $50 million in arts funding in the recently passed economic recovery package, issued a press release from its president Robert L. Lynch, lauding the president’s progress so far, and encouraging him to "build on these initial budget requests to secure even higher funding levels to address the needs of the arts and arts education community." more >
Officials 'broke arm's-length rule' over arts funding
Government officials have been accused of undermining the well-established principle of staying at arm's length when it comes to arts funding. more >
Race to preserve the World’s oldest submerged town: Pavlopetri, Greece
The oldest submerged town in the world is about to give up its secrets — with the help of equipment that could revolutionise underwater archaeology. more >
Russia forms organisation to promote local films abroad
The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation is to create a government-sponsored, non-commercial organisation for the promotion of the Russian cinema abroad. more >
Saudi Arabia to regulate kingdom-based websites
Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja revealed Saudi Arabia's intention to enact laws, regulation, and legislation for newspapers and internet websites. The most important of the proposed legislation is for websites to require official licenses to be granted by a special agency under the purview of the Ministry of Information. more >
UK's games industry demands action to stop brain drain
Increasing numbers of the UK's best videogame designers are being lured abroad in a costly brain drain which the UK industry says the government has done far too little to stop. more >
Vietnam to host 2nd Asia-Europe Film Festival
The Vietnam Cinematography Department, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has liaised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise the 2nd Asia-Europe Festival on May 15-22 in Hanoi. more >
Yemen prepares Tarim City to be Islamic Culture Capital 2010
Yemeni government represented by Culture Ministry began preparing Tarim historical city in Hadhramout governorate to host activities of Islamic Culture Capital 2010. more >
Obama Set on Broadway's Landesman For NEA Head
President Obama yesterday announced his intention to nominate Rocco Landesman, a major player in the commercial theater world, to head the National Endowment for the Arts. more >
Good news for bookworms
The almost total cancellation of library membership fees, as part of the amendment to the Public Libraries Law passed in the previous Knesset, has created a rush to the libraries even without a PR campaign. more >
In Abuja, culture experts canvass preservation of mother tongues
The preservation and promotion of the indigenous languages was the focus of the one-day yearly public lecture organised by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC). more >
President Obama announces more key administration posts
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Rocco Landesman, Nominee for Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. more >
2009 World Cultural Diversity Festival
Culture is at the heart of the Diversity Festival organized by UNESCO in many regions of the world, from 11 to 22 May 2009, to celebrate World Day for Cultural Diversity, for Dialogue and Development. more >
Obama calls for more arts aid
President Barack Obama signaled strong support of the arts and humanities by giving sizable increases to the national endowments in the 2010 budget plan he sent to Congress Thursday. more >
Plan to create up to 10,000 entry-level jobs in cultural industries
The positions, which will be paid at least at National Minimum Wage, will primarily take the form of apprenticeships or on the job training for people aged between 18 to 24 who have been out of work for up to a year. more >
Producer Is Chosen to Lead Arts Endowment
Rocco Landesman, the colorful theatrical producer and race-track aficionado who brought hits like “Big River,” “Angels in America” and “The Producers” to Broadway, has been nominated as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House said on Tuesday. more >
Americans for the Arts Responds to Administration’s FY 2010 Arts and Culture Funding Recommendations
'As the White House works to jump start the economy and re-prioritize the nation’s domestic spending initiatives, the administration’s FY 2010 budget proposal to increase support for the National Endowment for the Arts provides another encouraging nod of confidence in the role the arts play in America’s future.' more >
Giving to the arts and attracting donors
Audio: AbaF's Sue Roff on why people give to the arts, and how the arts can attract donors. more >
Stage of Emergency
Once flush with corporate and private donations, rising ticket revenue and government subsidies, many nonprofit arts groups now find themselves reeling. Cuts of every kind -- staff and artist layoffs, furloughs, canceled performances and tours, truncated seasons -- are widespread. more >
Art Students' Predicament: Special Skills but Limited Prospects
Lindsay Perkins, a senior at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, carries a grim resignation about her post-college fate. She fears her specialties at the $27,000-a-year private school -- print- and screenmaking -- might not position her well in the increasingly survivalist economy. more >
Babylon ruins reopen in Iraq, to controversy
After decades of dictatorship and disrepair, Iraq is celebrating its renewed sovereignty over the Babylon archaeological site — by fighting over the place, over its past and future and, of course, over its spoils. more >
Colloquium on EU-ACP cultural relations
On 2-3 April, the European Commission organised an international colloquium entitled “Culture and Creativity: Vectors for Development” in Brussels. In the framework of EU cooperation with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the event gathered over 500 participants. It was preceded by a series of professional workshops, where practitioners in a range of fields in the arts and culture analysed the present state of EU-ACP cultural relations and formulated a series of recommendations. www.culture-dev.eu more >
Consultation on EU plans for a European heritage label
The European Heritage Label was launched as an intergovernmental initiative by several European states in 2007, with the aim of strengthening a shared European identity and fostering a sense of belonging to a common cultural space. In November 2008, a proposal was made to transform the current intergovernmental European Heritage Label into a formal European Union initiative. The European Commission has launched an impact assessment on this proposal, which includes a public consultation open until 15 May. more >
Euromedinculture citizenship: participation in regional forums
The Euromedinculture Citizenship first set of regional forums took place in France, Spain and Portugal in April. The events enabled the local population to discuss the cultural dimension of the EU and the themes of the European Agenda on Culture. more >
In the red? Let’s paint the town
While empty shops punctuating high streets may have become a defining, if depressing, feature of the credit crunch, Scotland's artists are finding these spaces left behind by collapsing retailers perfect for setting up impromptu galleries and studios. more >
LabforCulture: sharing experiences on the financial crisis
LabforCulture has recently created a dedicated online space featuring articles and stories on the impact of the financial crisis on the culture and arts sector around the world. more >
Music and the arts in conflict transformation and peace building – call for papers
Music and Arts in Action (MAiA), a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal, invites submissions for a special issue examining the role of music and the arts in conflict transformation, peace building and peace movements, to appear in winter 2009/10. The deadline for papers is 1 October 2009. more >
No rhyme, but first female Laureate gives her reasons for taking job
Britains's first female Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, said she had accepted the post yesterday to recognise "great women poets" of the past and to make her 13-year-old daughter proud. more >
Once again, France will vote on piracy
As expected, the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy last week revived a proposal to crack down on online piracy by cutting off the Internet connections of people who ignored two warnings to stop unauthorized downloads of copyrighted movies and music. more >
Study emphasizes importance of creative sector to Texas economy
A new study shows that Texas’ creative sector is growing faster and paying higher wages than jobs in other arenas. But the study warns that more funding is needed to continue that momentum. more >
Former athlete fit and able to leap new arts funding hurdle
Perhaps it was Ben Thomson's expertise at leaping hurdles as an international decathlete which convinced ministers he was the right man to be the new chairman of the National Galleries of Scotland. more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >