International News in April 2010
Show all of 2010
Guillermo Corral dejará Cultura para irse a Washington
El director general de Industrias Culturales vuelve a Exteriores para impulsar la Spain Usa Foundation. more >
Guillermo Corral Will Leave Culture Department to Go to Washington
The General Director of Cultural Industries will return to Foreign Affairs to promote the Spain USA Foundation. more >
Knelman: Culture’s weekend in the sun
In late September, for one weekend, Canadians across the country will get a chance to take part in the first of an annual event called Culture Days. It’s an imaginative and ambitious undertaking designed to inspire millions of ordinary citizens to savour the arts by becoming directly engaged in the creative process. more >
Irish music blogs under attack over royalties
Amateur websites face closure as Irish Music Rights Organisation demands annual licence fee. more >
UNESCO’s Director-General appoints her senior staff
Last week, the Director General announced the appointment of the new Senior team. The Culture Sector will be led by Francesco Bandarin. He has been directing UNESCO's World Heritage Centre for almost ten years, the 'classical flagship', and held positions at organisations such as the World Bank. more >
Cultivating culture
Nick Clegg claims the Liberal Democrats are serious about investing in the arts and sets out how his party plans to promote creativity in schools and support artistic endeavour across the board. more >
Why politicians fight shy of campaigning on the arts
Culture is peripheral to politics in Britain. MPs, who readily parade their favourite football team or pop group, will only support the arts in private. more >
ADACH announces public viewing for opera lovers
Abu Dhabi-The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is happy to announce the first public viewing of an opera in the UAE. more >
Arts Advocacy Day 2010 Tops Attendance and Tweets
A week after the largest Arts Advocacy Day in years, arts advocates from across the nation are looking to Congress to take the next step in supporting strong public policies for the arts and arts education. more >
Call for Regional Cooperation Projects in 2010
The Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans (SCP) supports regional cooperation projects in the fields of culture and arts in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. more >
Consultation on the Cultural Dimension of the European Union
The Euromedinculture 2010 Citizenship project, supported by the European Commission wants to promote an active involvement of citizens in a debate on the cultural dimension in the European Union. more >
EU appoints 'reflection group' to put euro culture online
The European Commission has appointed a Frenchman, a Belgian and a German to "reflect" on how best to drag Europe's cultural heritage online. The appointment of Publicis CEO Maurive Lecy, German national library boss Elisabeth Niggemann and writer Jacques de Drecker is the EU's latest move in its lightning campaign to keep Europe's cultural patrimony from ending up misfiled on a server in Mountain View. more >
Haití intenta normalizar la educación con ayuda del deporte y bellas artes
Los estudiantes haitianos intentan normalizar su vida escolar y superar el trauma del terremoto que asoló el país caribeño hace tres meses con ayuda del deporte y actividades artísticas, mientras se reconstruye el tejido educativo. more >
Haiti Tries to Take Education Back to Normal with the Aid of Sports and Arts
Haitian students are trying to take their school life back to normal and to overcome the trauma caused by the earthquake that that devastated this Caribbean country three months ago with the aid of sports and artistic activities. more >
Minister reaffirms reviving cultural cooperation with Cuba
The Angolan minister of Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva, Monday here reaffirmed her country’s interest to revive the cultural cooperation with Cuba, a country whose friendship ties date back to various years. more >
The EU 2020 strategy: analysis and perspectives
At the Spring summit, on 25 and 26 March 2010, EU Heads of State endorsed the European Commission’s proposal for a Europe 2020 economic strategy. Replacing the much-criticized Lisbon strategy, Europe 2020 is the centerpiece of EC president Barroso’s new mandate. Intended to correct the main failures of its predecessor, and aiming to bring together a comprehensive roadmap for the EU’s economic recovery and growth for the next ten years, the strategy has been praised by some but has also raised a number of doubts and criticisms. more >
The fat lady must learn to be a little thinner
We cannot justify subsidies for culture – the best will find a paying audience and the rest must go the wall. more >
A Fundamental Problem With Our Arts Ecology
It seems disingenuous for major funders to chastise or ignore organizations with poor management when these same funders have avoided funding programs to improve the quality of arts managers. We spend billions of dollars to train singers, dancers and actors, and insignificant amounts to train the people who employ them. more >
Investing in our cultural futures
The most radical review of funding yet is being undertaken by the Arts Council of Wales. As its chief executive Nick Capaldi prepares to share his thoughts during a series of roadshows, he explains why it’s essential that public money is spent wisely. more >
It's time to bring dance to the White House, and Obama should take the lead
Anger, distrust, apprehension: America is caught up in a angry swirl of operatic passions it hasn't experienced in years. As a nation, we're becoming ever more fragmented. Which means there's never been a better time for the White House to showcase the performing arts -- especially dance, which demonstrates what unity, harmony and perfection look like. more >
Peter Marks imagines a White House that encourages playwrights
It feels like such a farfetched notion, imagining a White House that pays more than lip service to the performing arts. more >
Reducing Pay for Cultural Executives in New York
For years chief executives at many major cultural organizations in New York City enjoyed salary growth that was buoyed by a booming economy and rivaled that seen in corporate America. Compensation increases of 25 percent to 50 percent over five years were not unusual, and in some cases packages nearly doubled. more >
Scottish government publishes report on national arts companies
The report details the income, performance levels and education outcomes for the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera and the two national orchestras the RSNO and the SCO in the two years after moving to direct funding from the Scottish Government in April 2007. more >
The Canada Council on trial
At the heart of the Canada Council's funding decisions is a peer jury, and it is this select group of individuals that determines who gets the money. The question is: Is it fair? more >
White House could help classical music by having fun with it
With its series of musical events last year, the White House has already started to send a signal that the arts are an important part of our nation's life. And it's wonderful that classical music was part of the mix. more >
Working for nothing: a lack of funding, or something more questionable?
Many people will work without pay in the arts. But are they being exploited? more >
World Intellectual Property Day 2010 – Innovation - Linking the World
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2010, which also marks WIPO’s 40th anniversary, focuses on how innovation technologies have created an interlinked and global society. more >
Scottish Opera tour for babies gets 'amazing' response
As well as entertaining and boosting the babies' IQ, Ms Davidson also hopes the 30-minute production will inspire a whole new audience for full-scale opera in the future. more >
Dinner parties help fund arts projects
Public funding for the arts has been hurt by the downturn, so local groups have turned to small-scale private donors to offer micro-grants for starving artists. more >
Hundreds rally to protest arts funding cuts
The Capitol steps erupted with activity Monday when musicians, actors and puppeteers gathered to protest arts funding cuts and the elimination of the Georgia Council for the Arts. more >
Contemporary Iranian poets have global potential: culture minister
Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini regards Iranian contemporary poets, the literati with great potential for global recognition. more >
Iranian minister of culture Mohammad Hoseini: “We have to extend bilateral relations with Azerbaijan in the field of culture and tourism”
Iran and Azerbaijan have historic cultural, commercial and social relations, Iranian minister of culture Mohammad Hoseini told foreign journalists in a press conference in Tehran. more >
Are Millions for the Arts Appropriate in These Tough Economic Times?
Congressional funding for the arts is almost always a subject of controversy in Washington, but proponents hope this time to tailor their message to show that such funding can help create jobs, and international goodwill. more >
Blog - Noises off: Theatre of the exploited
Are unpaid theatre internships an illegal anachronism, a career necessity or a sign of what's to come in cash-strapped times? more >
Cultural industry seeks financial support from banks
The Ministry of Culture held a teleconference with representatives of government, financial institutions and major creative enterprises on April 14 to encourage financial support for China’s emerging cultural industry. more >
D.I.Y. Culture
Far from succumbing to some devouring juggernaut, culture — and Europe, with its different communities and nations living cheek by jowl, is a Petri dish to prove the point — has only atomized lately as a consequence of the very same globalizing forces that purportedly threaten to homogenize everything. more >
Minister waxes lyrical about verse
NSW Arts Minister Virginia Judge , the only MP to have recited one of her own poems in a maiden speech, is planning to establish a ''culture club'' at Parliament House to bring politicians of all persuasions together over the shared love of poetry, books, dance and painting. more >
Myanmar, Vietnam promote cultural exchanges
Vietnam and Myanmar, who share a number of cultural features, have agreed to more cultural exchanges in performing arts and archaeology. more >
The role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in enhancing the cultural and information role abroad
Then the Minister of Culture and Information discussed with the Saudi ambassadors a number of issues relating to cultural and information aspects and the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in enhancing the cultural and information role abroad as well as cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Information. more >
“Invest!” says report as politicians plan ahead
With a UK general election looming, leading cultural institutions have joined together to try to stave off predicted government cuts to the arts. In Cultural Capital: a Manifesto for the Future, 17 key organisations—including Arts Council England, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Museums Association—argue that investing in culture will help bring the country out of recession. The report was launched at the British Museum on 25 March. more >
Mike Van Graan Industry Experts Lunch
On 19 March, Visiting Arts hosted Mike Van Graan, director of the Arterial Network and esteemed South African playwright, for an industry experts lunch where he presented the aims and aspirations of his work with the Arterial Network to a group of UK based cultural directors. more >
Artistas gráficos contra Google
Agrupaciones de ilustradores y fotógrafos de Estados Unidos, como la Sociedad Americana de Fotógrafos de Medios de Comunicación, el Gremio de Artistas Gráficos o Fotógrafos Profesionales de América se han querellado colectivamente contra Google por crear una biblioteca digital masiva que, en su opinión, vulnera los derechos de autor de los miembros de estos colectivos. more >
Arts Supporters Take to Washington for Arts Advocacy Day
Americans for the Arts, in conjunction with the Congressional Arts Caucus and 86 national
co-sponsors, celebrates Arts Advocacy Day 2010 today.
more >
Blog: Music funding: what the three main parties say
None of them said they would ring-fence the arts budget, even if they all optimistically thought that a combination of encouraging private-sector philanthropy and National Lottery reform would make up the shortfall when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's budget is almost inevitably cut. more >
Blog: N.E.A Chairman Testifies on Capitol Hill
The chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, delivered his first budget testimony before a House subcommittee on Tuesday, arguing for the arts as a source of jobs and an economic stimulus. more >
Bulgaria to Create National Museum Complex in Sofia’s Centre
The Bulgarian government launched the first phase of the creation and contruction of a new museum complex, covering 23,000 square metres and including exhibition, restoration and conservation spaces, in the centre of Sofia. more >
Graphic Artists Against Google
Associations of illustrators and photographers in the USA, like the American Society of Media Photographers, the Graphic Arts Association or Professional Photographers of America have taken legal action against Google for creating a massive digital library that, in their opinion, violates their rights as authors. more >
Labour's manifesto steals the arts policy spotlight
What's new for the arts in Labour's manifesto? The most surprising thing is their prominence, unprecedented in any recent Labour election manifesto. While there isn't what you'd call an avalanche of revolutionary ideas, there are some fresh policies to be found amid the recycled material – and an acknowledgement that the arts contribute to Britain's common good as well as to its economy. more >
Virtual Worlds, Real Money: Can Social Games Solve Music’s Woes?
Conduit Labs passes on a percentage of revenue to labels, which then pass some of that along to artists and publishers. Is it possible that little furry cartoon characters from Tamagotchi-land will succeed where industry heavyweights have failed: in convincing kids to pay for music? more >
32 nations of Latam and the Caribbean meet in Ecuador for culture
The 17th Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Ministers of Culture began in the Ecuadorian capital on Monday, with representatives of 32 nations. The meeting will be opened by the Ecuadorian Minister of Culture, Ramiro Noriega, and the speech of the director of UNESCO’s Culture Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. more >
Meeting of European Agencies working in Culture in Africa
The British Council initiated a meeting of European agencies working in the field of culture in Africa in Brussels on 22 March 2010. Mulenga Kapwepwe, Chairperson of the Arterial Network, represented the organisation at this historic meeting which aimed to synergise and complement the activities of the respective agencies. more >
The EU 2020 strategy: analysis and perspectives
The European Union has adopted its new economic strategy entitled ‘Europe 2020’. A major EU policy framework, it will form the basis of the direction for the European integration project in the 10 years to come. How will it work, and what political and policy environment does it set for arts and culture in the EU? Culture Action Europe has put its thinking hat on to open the debate. more >
GUAM countries’ tourism and culture ministers to discuss cooperation
GUAM member states' tourism and culture ministers are going to discuss cooperation in the sphere of tourism and culture in June in Baku, the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM told Trend. more >
Labor leaves arts sector crying poor
Joy at a change of government has turned to disillusionment at a perceived lack of support from the Rudd cabinet. more >
Mr. Broadway Storms Capitol Hill
Friends thought Rocco Landesman was joking when he volunteered to take on leadership of the National Endowment for the Arts. He wasn't. more >
Seminar highlights growing role of culture for younger generations
The shift from the notion of the diffusion of culture to that of democratization and decentralization of cultural activities, by involving citizens and adopting a proactive approach to address the accelerating pace of cognitive, social and economic change, is a “fundamental choice” in the policies of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the cultural sector, said Mr. Abderraouf El Basti, Minister of Culture and Heritage Preservation on Wednesday in Monastir at the national seminar of Directors of cultural centers. more >
Tarim - The 2010 Capital of Islamic Culture
Along with two other cities, Tarim was recognized as the 2010 Capitals of Islamic Culture (CIC). Since 2004, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) annually selects three cities to be named as the CIC. ISESCO chooses one Islamic African country, another from an Islamic Asian country and the third from an Arabian country. more >
Indianapolis relaxes climate controls
Leading directors have been questioning the scientific validity—and cost—of running air conditioning to the current standard specification. more >
EU keen to enshrine culture in economic planning
Europe should invest more in its creative industries as a source of future growth the European Commission has said, while EU ministers have called for culture to be put at the "heart" of the bloc's new economic plan, the Europe 2020 strategy. more >
United Kingdom Arts Institutions to Government: Don't Ax Funds
Britain's arts and culture sector has been a shining success amid the country's recession — and artists are pressing the government to make sure it stays that way. more >
Latam Caribbean Culture Ministers to Meet in Quito
Culture ministers and 20 youths from Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in the second week of April to define and update State agendas regarding public cultural policies. more >
National Arts Advocacy Day – April 12–13
Coordinated by Americans for the Arts, the 23rd Annual National Arts Advocacy Day brings together arts, education, entertainment, and policy leaders to develop strong public policies and support for increased public funding for the arts. more >
Trustees Find Board Seats Are Still Luxury Items
Like Prada handbags and Hermès scarves, a spot on one of New York City’s most prestigious cultural boards never goes on sale, even in a recession. more >
Wanted: a policy for art
Indian artists may be fetching astronomical prices at auctions around the world but what does our art industry look like? more >
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >