International News in August 2009
Show all of 2009
Obama drops cautious arts policy
In his first year, President Barack Obama has marshaled the largest infusion of cultural funding in decades — despite a few stumbles. more >
Cuba will create new international cultural awards
The intellectual Miguel Barnet, president of the Cuban National Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), announced the creation of several awards with the purpose of strengthening the projection and the international visibility of the organization. more >
Culture is a concept in permanent construction
It has been one month since Breni Cuenca was appointed as Culture Secretary. An interview with Ms Cuenca. more >
La cultura es un concepto en construcción
Un mes fue el retraso en su nombramiento y también un mes es el que Breni Cuenca lleva en su cargo al frente de la recién creada Secretaría de Cultura, ente que pasó a sustituir al extinto Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte (CONCULTURA). more >
Ministro de Cultura de la isla califica de vergonzosas amenazas contra Juanes
El ministro cubano de Cultura, Abel Prieto, calificó hoy de vergonzosas y lamentables las amenazas de muerte que ha recibido el cantante colombiano Juanes por haber anunciado un concierto para el 20 de septiembre en La Habana. more >
Seminar: 'The Culture Sector Today'
On September 10 and 11, 2009, Cartagena de Indias will be the venue for the most important cultural seminar of the year “The Culture Sector Today”. more >
Seminario: ‘El Sector Cultural Hoy’
Hasta el próximo viernes (4 de septiembre) estarán abiertas las inscripciones para participar en el evento del Ministerio de Cultura que durante el 10 y 11 de septiembre del presente año, tendrá a Cartagena de Indias como epicentro del seminario internacional más importante del año denominado ‘El Sector Cultural Hoy’. more >
China seizes nearly 5.5 mln illegal publications in six months
China's Ministry of Culture said 5.48 million illegal publications had been confiscated during the first six months of the year, in a nationwide crackdown ahead of National Day celebrations starting Oct. 1. more >
Government art cost taxpayers £500,000
The Government Art Collection has spent £556,911 of taxpayers money on new artworks in the past year, including £14,000 on a piece of art made from old lightbulbs for an embassy. more >
Minister encourages cultural agents to promote entertainment houses
The Angolan minister of Culture, Roas Cruz e Silva, Tuesday in Luanda, encouraged cultural agents to combine efforts to recover and change the image of entertainment houses in the country. more >
NEA budget 'should double' says New NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
In a frank and wide-ranging interview with the Chicago Tribune, new NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said that he plans to focus his oft-beleaguered federal agency's efforts on both the role of the arts in K-12 education and on promoting the arts as an economic engine for cities and towns. more >
South Africa hosts World Summit on art
Johannesburg, South Africa will host the world from September 22 to 25 for this year’s World Summit on Arts and Culture. more >
Cultural Policy of Non-Western Countries: Nicaragua
The arts are not always in a prominent place on the political agenda in Africa, Latin-America and Asia. Nevertheless, an increasing number of governments recognise the importance of culture in itself and in connection to social and economic development. more >
Culture, power and development, the social dimension
History shows that culture is a form of power, which does not always transform itself in a process of social development. more >
Graffiti offers structure for Brazilian youth
"Graffiti artists in Brazil take the time to make special works of art, usually with a social or political message. That is why we are organizing a life-size open air exposition." more >
Pérdida de rango perjudicará los planes de Cultura
La Secretaría de Cultura corre el riesgo de perder su rango en caso que mañana la Cámara de Senadores apruebe, durante su sesión ordinaria, el proyecto de ley presentado por el diputado de Patria Querida Sebastián Acha, que estipula la reducción de su categoría actual a la de viceministerio. more >
Ticio believes his administration has been positive
The Minister Ticio Escobar is pleased with the results accomplished after one year as Head of the National Culture Secretary. “These were even more than what was expected”, he pointed out. more >
Ticio considera positiva su gestión frente a Cultura
El ministro Ticio Escobar manifestó estar satisfecho por los resultados alcanzados en este primer año de su gestión al frente de la Secretaría Nacional de Cultura "que fueron, incluso, muchos más de los esperados", según resaltó. more >
To lose the current rank would be detrimental to the Culture Secretariat’s plans
Paraguay’s Culture Secretariat is running the risk of losing its rank if the Senate’s Chamber passes, on its ordinary session, the bill presented by Patria Querida’s Deputy, Sebastián Acha, by which its current rank would be lowered to Vice ministry. more >
Plan to set up think tank to project culture
Ministry of Culture is planning to set up a think tank on culture to advise the government on preserving and projecting the rich culture as an effective instrument to counter the tendency of intolerance. more >
Malta Arts Fund
The Malta Arts Fund, launched on August 7 2009, aims at supporting artists and arts organisations in fulfilling and realizing their potential and in advancing their skills and level of professionalism, and consequently contribute to strengthening local artistic practice and cultural development. more >
United We Serve: Share Your Story
Americans for the Arts is happy to announce the launch of a new web portal dedicated to promoting community service opportunities for arts groups, arts volunteers, and artists nationwide. more >
Arts alliance speaks out on health care
An alliance of American nonprofit arts organizations has banded together to ask Congress for help in securing affordable health care for the cultural sector. more >
Coup or conspiracy in the culture house?
EFCC’s swooping of parastatal heads on allegation of misappropriation of funds and subsequent arraignments in courts without regards to due processes only but point to the fact that there is either a conspiracy from some quarters to achieving some selfish agenda or that the actions are intended to carry out a clean sweep exercise in the Ministry with the aim of replacing present professional administrators with political cronies. more >
Cuts won't blunt edge of the Fringe
With 90 shows to stage, and less money to do it with, this year’s Dublin Fringe Festival will still thrive, says its artistic director, Róise Goan more >
First ASEM Culture and Arts Festival to open in Beijing
The first Asia-Europe Meeting Culture and Arts Festival is to open on September 2nd in Beijing. The theme of the week-long event is "Sharing Diversity and Innovation" and it's aimed at bringing out the diversified Asian European culture in music, dance, film, theatre, exhibition and publications. more >
Minister of Culture meets Iranian Ambassador
Minister of Culture , Arts and Heritage H.E. Dr. Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari met on Tuesday with h.e. Abdullah Sohrabi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran accredited to Qatar . Aspects of cultural cooperation between the two countries and means of boosting them were discussed during the meeting. more >
Ministry of Culture reduces 200 positions
The Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Patrimony will reduce 200 positions, thus saving two million lei for the state budget, said Minister Theodor Paleologu at Victoria Palace on Wednesday. He said that institutions subordinated to the Ministry carrying out complementary activities would merge together. more >
New NEA Chair Rocco Landesman produces paroxysms and purrs
Following his confirmation by Congress as the new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, former and probable future Broadway producer and theater owner Rocco Landesman made it evident that the epoch of tiptoe-through-the-tulips NEA leadership is over, and good riddance to it. more >
Obama stimulates his friends' art groups
Our editorial of today discusses the many regrettable and forgettable arts groups that are receiving small stimulus grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. What is less commonly known is the connection that several of these groups have to President Obama's 2008 campaign. more >
Scottish laser pioneers lead way in preserving world heritage treasures
British scientists are to begin work on a revolutionary project to record three-dimensional models of world heritage sites so that they can be re-created if they fall victim to climate change, natural disaster, war or terrorism. more >
Shaikha Mai receives Italian Ambassador
As part of the continued engagement with several ambassadors in Bahrain and building bridges of cultural cooperation, the Minister of Culture and Information Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa received today the Italian ambassador to Bahrain Enrico Padula. During the meeting both sides reviewed means of further bolstering cooperation between the two countries in the media, culture and heritage fields. more >
Theatre angels delight in allowances
Investing in the arts should be big business given sell-out runs at the International Festival of many productions, including The Last Witch and Faust, and with tickets for scores of Fringe shows, not least Rhys Darby and Denise Van Outen, hard to come by. But when it comes to backing the arts, UK tax laws are positively medieval compared with other countries. more >
Animation Expo success
The 5th China International Animation Game Expo, which took place in July at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, was an overall success according to InterGame sources. more >
Are we really solving problems or just creating new ones?
Our Ministry of Culture delivered a piece of bad news to our teenagers - again. This time it's a new regulation on the time per day that each teenager in Thailand is allowed to access online games. Apart from shouting, "No, you can't do this," our cultural authorities could perhaps also promote "Do you want to try this?" as well. more >
Asian Ministers join forces to raise cultural interest
Top cultural ministers from 17 Asian countries are discussing ways in which they can promote culture and the arts, despite economic difficulties. more >
Female artists need to be encouraged – Khoja
Women deserve to have an opportunity to work in the field of graphic design in media, public relations and marketing companies, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said here Saturday. more >
French library denies ‘Google seduction’ claims
France’s national library has been forced to deny rumours that it has sold out to Google over digitization, and thus ended protracted resistance to perceived cultural imperialism. more >
Historic processes take place in South Caucasus
Interview with Alexander Bozhko, Ukraine's Ambassador to Armenia, on what has changed in the South Caucasus since the hostilities last August. Amongst changes highlighted, last November, in Odessa, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Armenian Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs signed a cultural cooperation program for 2008-2012. more >
International Festival of Authors gets Scottish funds
Toronto's International Festival of Authors (IFOA) has received a monetary gift through a new partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival to the tune of £50,000 ($90,000 Cdn) to promote Scottish writers. more >
Macedonia, Czech Republic sign cultural cooperation agreement
Macedonian and Czech ministers of culture - Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska and Vaclav Riedelbauch respectively, signed Wednesday an agreement on cultural cooperation between both ministries for 2009-2011. more >
PANAF: A celebration of African culture
For two weeks in July 2009, Algiers, the capital city of Algeria, was a beehive of activities as it hosted thousands of people gathered for the second edition of the Pan-Africa Festival of Culture (PANAF). more >
Reedited works of Óscar Ribas made available to Angolans
A collection of 15 books authored by writer Óscar Bento Ribas (born in Luanda in 1909) re-edited by the Ministry of Culture, through the Angolan Institute of Book and Disc (Inald), was published this Wednesday. Re-editing these books permits to spread them all over the country, in the libraries and trading ways. more >
Saudi radio to start broadcasting in Turkish from 22 August
The Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khojah has approved that Saudi Radio starts broadcasting in Turkish language next Saturday [August 22]. more >
Senate body for preserving archaeological sites
The Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism has made a passionate plea for preservation of our historical and archeological sites, which are presently in a bad shape due to years of neglect. "We need to make a determined effort in this regard otherwise our precious treasure will be soon lost", it observed. more >
UAE envoy meets Romanian minister of culture
UAE Ambassador to Romania Yaqoub Al Hosani has received Romanian Minister of Culture Theodore Ballego. They reviewed measures for concluding a bilateral cultural agreement. more >
UCLA considers shutting down arts library
One of this city’s largest cultural resources, the arts library on the University of California, could fall victim to drastic budget cuts the school has begun making across its departments.The library contains more than 270,000 volumes in several fields, including art, architecture, design, film, television, and theater. more >
Asian countries seeking ways for cultural development as crisis lingers
The development of Asian culture during the present global downturn is the focus of a ministerial round-table meeting involving 17 countries, a major part of the 11th Asian Arts Festival. more >
We must develop arts
Authorities should strive to clear the injustice caused to art if they are to develop and promote the arts sector in the country. more >
Arts Chief to See What Plays Peoria
Rocco Landesman, who was confirmed this month as the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, has accepted an invitation to visit Peoria, Ill., an offer proffered in response to public comments he made about the city. more >
Can art put new heart into our seaside towns?
For many of Britain's faded resorts, art and architecture are now seen as the path to renewed prosperity, while others are trying a humbler, homegrown solution. more >
Cultural institutions stagger out of recession
Now that "recovery" has replaced "recession" as the favourite R-word of financial prophets, it's time to ask whether Toronto's cherished but vulnerable cultural institutions can manage to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again after a year of living dangerously. more >
Creative Scotland 'coming soon'
Transition director Richard Holloway said: "I can safely say Creative Scotland will come - and soon." more >
Disproportionate Granting of Funds to Visual Arts
The National Arts Council of Namibia (NACN) has disbursed an amount of N$1.3 million to Namibian artists this year. more >
Arts Alive back on Joburg billing
This year’s Arts Alive International Festival offers a jam-packed schedule of dance, poetry, art and music – a line-up sure to entice all Joburg culture vultures. more >
Arts Groups Issue Call to Congress for Health Care Reform
Americans for the Arts and a coalition of 20 national arts organizations, together are calling on Congress to fully recognize the rights of individual artists and arts groups in the health care reform debate. more >
Northern Ireland’s Arts Council launch drama bursary
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has launched a new bursary to enable the region’s professional actors to develop their skills. more >
Cultural Massacre
In such a difficult moment for our society, when we are facing an economic crisis and the violence of an all-out war, social instruments that help social inclusion and transformation are mutilated. We cannot be impassive when facing this cultural massacre. more >
Masacre cultural
En un momento tan difícil para toda la sociedad, cuando enfrentamos una crisis económica y la violencia de una guerra sin cuartel, los instrumentos sociales que nos ayudan a la trasformación y la inclusión social son mutilados. No podemos quedarnos impávidos frente a esta masacre cultural. more >
Ministry of Culture pledges to promote confidence and authority of creative artists
Promoting Bulgarian culture abroad is among the major priorities pledged by Bulgaria’s new Minister of Culture, internationally acclaimed sculptor, Vejdi Rashidov. Another ambitious goal Vejdi Rashidov has set himself, is taking Bulgarian art out on the market, after being state subsidized until now.” You can’t have ten theatre companies making excellent productions, playing to packed houses and earning the upkeep of another financially failing 40 companies”, commented Vejdi Rashidov. more >
Archaeologists find cache of tablets in 2,700-year old Turkish Temple
Excavations led by a University of Toronto archaeologist at the site of a recently discovered temple in southeastern Turkey have uncovered a cache of cuneiform tablets dating back to the Iron Age period between 1200 and 600 BCE. more >
Arts funding for the circus
As we struggle around the country offering our audiences a brief respite from the changing winds of fortune I have noted with some concern the response of the arts community to the proposed funding cuts. As the newest arrival to the table we are hoping that the minimal funding which circus receives is not seen as an easy target by our more well-off cousins. more >
Evolution and Creation: Australia’s Funding Bodies
In numerous conversations with street-level practitioners, the recurring theme is that the cultural funding and policy making system is broken. more >
Mecca cities of art and prosperity
Art museums and creative projects to revive a nation's economy modelled after the success of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Can Bangkok emulate Bilbao in terms of creative ideas towards becoming a "Creative City"? more >
Ministry of Culture to merge folklore arts training project with 'Summer in My Country' programme
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development is considering the idea of merging the nationwide folklore arts training programme with the recently launched 'Summer in My Country' project. The 'Summer in My Country 2010' will make room for adequate training of the young generation on the traditional arts and the heritage, which was launched as a separate project under the name 'Our generations and the Folklore Arts'. more >
Should taxpayers fund the arts?
With the news that opera will receive £2.4m in recession support from Arts Council England as part of their first round of Sustain funding, is it not time that the state stopped funding a form of entertainment that appeals only to a small section of the population? more >
The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident
Artists have a duty to dissent—even against Obama. more >
Free Night of Theater Builds Future Audiences
A new study by Shugoll Research shows that Theatre Communications Group’s Free Night of Theatre program is bringing new audiences to the theatre. more >
Ministries 'at odds' over new IP rights agency
The government is working toward a coordinated policy and approach to protect intellectual property rights in Bangladesh, and wants to bring all related agencies under one roof. more >
New Endowment Chairman Sees Arts as Economic Engine
Now that the Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is officially chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts — he was confirmed on Friday — his straight-talking style, Missouri roots and affinity for baseball and country music are expected to give him a leg up with many legislators. more >
Stearns: Money went to 'obscene' art
U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, joined by 50 fellow congressional Republicans, has fired off a scathing letter to the head of a federal arts agency, expressing outrage that taxpayer money went to groups that produce "objectionable and obscene movies, plays and exhibitions." more >
Understanding art and culture in Iraq-Kurdistan
Andrew Mitchelson of the Live Art Development Agency reports back on his research trip - part funded by VA - to Iraq Kurdistan earlier this year and the contemporary art scene that is thriving there against all the odds. more >
Visiting Arts trip to Washington, D.C.
Yvette Vaughan Jones reports back from Capitol Hill on culture and cultural diplomacy under the new US administration. more >
Ammar Al Nuaimi stresses role of Ajman in UAE cultural scene
Ajman Crown Prince and Chairman of Ajman Executive Council HH Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, has been briefed about the programmes and future plans of the Department of Culture and Information in Ajman for year 2009 to 2012. more >
Artistes' coalition battles Culture Minister, to meet with President, National Assembly
The Coalition of Nigeria Artists rose from their extra-ordinary meeting on August 3, 2009, where they deliberated on the recent developments in the culture sector. In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, certain far-reaching decisions were made regarding the arraignment of the directors-general of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Mr. Afolabi Adesanya and his counterpart at the National Gallery of Art, Mr. Joe Musa. more >
Bristol professor appointed a Commissioner of English Heritage
Professor Ronald Hutton has been appointed the Historical Commissioner of English Heritage by Barbara Follett, the Minister for Culture. more >
Bureaucrats should never call the tune for the arts
We all lose if a recession is used as an excuse to impose mediocrity and tighter state control, writes Emer O'Kelly. more >
Chinese cultural industry maintains growth via government-supported loans
A list of 15 cultural enterprises has been submitted to the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) via the Ministry of Culture for a huge amount of bank loans to support development of China's cultural industry. more >
Culture ministry to handover 126 archaeological sites to Sindh govt
The ministry of culture has decided to hand over 126 archeological sites, except Mohanjo Daro, to the government of Sindh by the end of August this year. The process of transferring the sites will commence from Makli Hill, Thatta which is on the World Heritage Site list and it is expected that the provincial government will address the long standing problem of encroachment at the site. more >
In Moscow, new homes planned for contemporary art
Last Friday Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev green-lighted a $100 million proposal to build a museum of contemporary art in Russia’s capital. The project’s instigators, Mikhail Mindlin and Leonid Bazhanov, serve as heads (executive director and artistic director, respectively) of the National Centre for Contemporary Art, an institution founded in 1992 and headquartered in Moscow. more >
Iraq to officially censor books
The Iraqi Ministry of Culture has just taken the unexpected step of launching a program of official censorship of books imported from abroad. The new rule also applies to books published within Iraq, as publishers are required to obtain authorization before printing. more >
Ministry rejects plan to hire folk artists on permanent basis
The National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Lok Virsa’s proposed plan of hiring folk artists on permanent basis has been turned down by the Culture Ministry on the ground that the institute could not generate enough funds for regularly paying these entertainers. more >
Treasury partly to blame for British arts funding crisis?
The £100 million ($164 million) funding crisis at Britain's Department for Culture, Media and Sport that is threatening expansion projects at the British Museum, Tate Modern, and the British Film Institute's new center may not only be due to internal mismanagement. Word has it that the Treasury is also to blame for tightening budgets. more >
Mo' money, same problems for Canadian hip-hop artists
The Canada Council for the Arts wants to support more hip hop, but the artists are still stinging from past rejections. more >
Summit Views #1
A weekly column on the build-up to the fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture in September. more >
Bureaucrats should never call the tune for the arts
Tell a pop fan that U2 and Bruce Springsteen should amalgamate because there's really no difference between them, and the sound they'd make together would be more efficient, and you would rightly be regarded as a lunatic. more >
OTM Virtual Mobility research - please contribute!
On-the-move.org is on a new research mission in 2009 to sample the fast evolving environment of virtual mobility in the contemporary performing arts. more >
World Summit to explore cultural diversity
At the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture in September the theme will be Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts. more >
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