The Kochi-Muziris Biennale-2014 stays clear of snob appeal, while its location is highly relevant and part of the success, according to Swiss Ambassador to India Dr Linus von Castelmur, who said that the 108-day festival was a perfect forum to foster cultural exchange between the two nations. Simultaneously, Norwegian Ambassador Eivind S Homme said, “the Biennale could be the beginning of another beginning. Spread across eight venues in the city, the event inspires us to think in new ways. We feel challenged,” he noted.

The acting president of Brazil, minister Ricardo Lewandowski, has enacted a cultural cooperation agreement with Kuwait in Brasília. The action takes place one day after Lewandowski, the president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) met with the Kuwaiti ambassador in Brazil, Ayadah Alsaidi. According to the STF, the agreement enacted Wednesday was signed in 2010 with Kuwait and lays the legal groundwork for cooperation and cultural exchange in fields like literature, cinema, performing arts, visual arts, music, libraries and museums.

Criticising cuts to arts budgets in Britain, Karl Jenkins said increased public funding was needed to invest in the “cultural future” of a country. Describing Government cuts to the creative sector as “tragic”, the 69-year-old Welsh composer, whose works include Adiemus and The Armed Man, said: "In Germany it's just the opposite - increasing funding.”