A dancer, choreographer, art administrator, organiser of Delhi Art International Festival and a writer with a mission, Pratibha Prahlad, was honoured with Padma Shri this year. In conversation with Geeta Sahai, she talks about the importance of cultural diplomacy, managing cultural scenario and encouraging the promotion of arts and art forms. 

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts announced the return of its Lincoln Center Global Exchange, a seminal gathering of world leaders and influencers devoted to exploring the power of art and culture to address the world's most daunting problems.[...] the second annual Global Exchange will focus on two themes: Art and Conflict and Art and the Environment.

Art is the centre of human life and it plays multiple functions in any given society (religious, economic, social etcetera). This means that its role in this period of rebranding is significant. Therefore, in all the sectors of the nation which are to receive serious attention from the rebranding project, culture is one of them. 

Lehrer Dance, based in Buffalo, is known for its strong, inspiring, choreography. Internationally known. The eight-person troupe is just back from a European tour, and they’ll spend the next two weeks in Russia. [...] This is the fourth time Lehrer has led his dancers on a Russian cultural diplomacy trip.  The tradition started in 2012, when the United States Consulate in the port city of Vladivostock invited them.

Nigeria's vast and rich cultural heritage should be strategically repositioned to partner tourism as its driver to lift the Nigerian economy. Tourism cannot effectively flourish without the cultural components. The desire to position culture and tourism as the lever of Nigeria's economic growth and development rests with the Ministry of Information and Culture as it must plan to mainstream both sectors into a monolithic entity to galvanize national economic development. 

As far as awards ceremonies go, the Sugoi Japan Awards were a fairly flashy affair. Held on March 22, the prizes recognized recent titles in anime, manga and fiction that an online poll of Japanese fans wanted to do well overseas. Winners included “One Punch Man” and “Your Lie in April,” and the guest list to the event included pop culture critics, studio executives and, of course, the artists themselves.

In April 1966, legendary jazz musician Duke Ellington travelled to Dakar, Senegal, with his orchestra to play at the first World Festival of Negro Arts. Organised against the backdrop of African decolonisation and the push for civil rights in the US, the festival was hailed as the inaugural cultural gathering of the black world.

They came, they jammed, they danced to Cuban hip-hop, but did they conquer? A group of American cultural officials and a dozen entertainers and other artists returned Thursday from a four-day cultural diplomacy mission to Cuba that was sponsored by the U.S. government and billed as the first of its kind since the thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba.