Cultural Diplomacy
The healing touch provided by the feel-good diplomacy for the return of Geeta from Pakistan has evaporated with the cancellation of the Delhi concert by Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali. While the Ministry of External Affairs refuses to acknowledge any setback to India-Pakistan people-to-people relationship, the Pakistani civil society figures think otherwise.
The collection, "Islamic Art Now," has built on from then, and will occupy most of the fourth floor of LACMA until January 2016 (a second Islamic Art exhibit will be put in place after its removal). With 200 pieces, it is the largest collection of modern Islamic art in the world.
From punk rock musicians to state-sponsored emojis, a look at the role of popular culture in PD communication.
Another eye-catching performer is Mixer. Formed in 2013, the rock group won Best Band at the Golden Melody Awards last year and has participated in ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs-backed cultural diplomacy tours of Japan and South Korea, with their energetic shows proving popular with both local and overseas audiences.
The cultural diplomacy of "Islamic Art Now" at LACMA.
When Armand Diangienda picks up an instrument that he has never played, he looks for its hidden rule. That skill [...] was crucial twenty years ago, when he started the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra, in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2014, they travelled to the U.K. to perform with several ensembles, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, in a tour of English cities.
Mario Gonzalez is from Pro Mexico, the Mexican government's trade and investment agency that organized [a Mexican Design pop-up showroom in central London]. "Tonight is our first ever showroom with Mexican designers," he says. "The idea is to position Mexican designers in the UK. They're very well known in the States or other areas, but not in Europe.
The play attempts to show how violence, especially as a result of war, shapes those characters. Raffo, an Iraqi-American who grew up in Michigan, links the stories to Iraq’s history and political forces, with commentary from characters who range from a child indifferent to the debris of war littering her neighborhood to an aging political exile, comfortably commenting from afar.