art diplomacy

The Canada Council for the Arts plans to create a separate granting stream for indigenous arts and artists and to use its programs and influence “to engender a new relationship between Canada’s indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.”

In a rural area of the Malaysian island of Borneo, a punk group gathers around a massive print of a Snakes and Ladders board game on the floor of their art studio. On his knees, Jerome Manjat presses an inked piece of Lino onto a blank square. Lifts it. Emblazoned in red ink is the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, depicted as a clown.

On Monday, legendary architect Frank Gehry received the 2016 Leonore and Walter Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts at a dinner hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, D.C. Presented by the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) [...] The award recognizes individuals who bring global audiences together through their contributions to the arts. 

Light and Shadow exhibition, which represents Belarus of the early 20th century, opened in Israel. [...] Belarusian exhibition Light and Shadow after Israel will be sent to Astana, then to a historical and cultural journey to other countries. And only at the end of the tour it will be officially opened in Belarus.

A surprise awaits beyond a black door adorned with a silver lotus flower at the end of a tangle of alleyways in Gaza's chaotic Old City. Through it and behind imposing stone walls sits a small, Levantine-style palace, some 430 years old and recently painstakingly restored. It is among the rare vestiges of Gaza City's architectural heritage, battered by war, time, population pressure and simple indifference.

Australia, which has accepted thousands of migrants from Afghanistan in recent years, [plans] to use a movie to persuade others from seeking refuge. Australia’s Immigration Department has commissioned a television movie that shows the hardships of Afghans attempting to reach Australia. The film aims to deter potential migrants by showing them difficulties they may experience during the journey.

Street artists are fighting back against Donald Trump. Various murals, stencils and posters depicting the GOP front-runner in assorted unflattering ways — comparing him to Adolf Hitler, Donald Duck and a piece of poop, among other things — have appeared on walls and sidewalks across the world in recent weeks.

President Xi Jinping proposed the cultural exchange year in 2014 when he attended the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Summit in Brasilia.

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