Seven years later, Jankowski’s vision of a collaborative cultural exchange between the sister cities is finally about to become a reality, as the Jakarta-Berlin Arts Festival kicks off in Germany on Saturday.

One of the nation's most prolific art collectors is the U.S. space agency. For nearly a half-century, NASA has commissioned artists to document its missions and projects. Seventy of the 3,000 works in its collection are in a traveling exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The Aspen Institute Global Initiative on Culture and Society and the newly built state-of-the-art Royal Opera House Muscat (ROH Muscat) of the Sultanate of Oman have announced their strategic partnership and the planning of an unprecedented ROH Muscat - Aspen Creative Arts World Summit to be held in Muscat, Oman, November 28-30, 2011.

Named after the country's national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the center aims to promote the Philippine heritage across the world in the same way the France, Spain and Germany did with Alliance Francaise, Spain with Instituto Cervantes and Goethe-Institut respectively.

FRAME’s mission is to promote cultural diplomacy within the context of museum exchanges of collections, exhibitions, professional staff, education and the web. Its projects have tremendous variety in scope and in subject matter.

One of India’s most famous painters, M.F. Husain, passed away Thursday in London in self-imposed exile, having left India after intimidation by Hindu groups offended by his work. His art and exile highlight recent challenges to freedom of expression that worry democracy activists here.

The ubiquitous Housing Board flat, home to the majority of the population in Singapore, has become part of the art of a contemporary Japanese artist. In Akira Yamaguchi's book, Singa-planet, HDB blocks are seen as historical monuments sprouting out of their green natural setting.

Governor Bob McDonnell today signed an historic cultural exchange agreement to bring “Treasures from the Forbidden City,” a showcase of approximately 200 objects from Beijing’s Palace Museum to Virginia in the summer of 2014.