Standing just a couple of blocks from the U.S. Capitol, a group of Peruvian highlanders hold a traditional blessing ceremony, performed since before Columbus discovered the New World and re-created at the national mall last Friday for the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Iraq celebrated on Wednesday the return of hundreds of historical artefacts, from an ancient Assyrian statue to a 20th century presidential tea set, which were looted, lost or loaned abroad over recent decades to universities and auction houses in the United States, Italy and Jordan. 

When Rafidah Abd Rahim traveled to Japan from Singapore last year, the recent college graduate was relieved to find a goodly number of lifestyle offerings for Muslim travelers, such as halal food—that is, fare that complies with Islamic dietary guidelines—and easily available prayer rooms.

As one of its new initiatives, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the cultural diplomacy wing of the Ministry of External Affairs, is organising an International Conference about Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya, who is believed to have married a Korean King.

For more than two thousand years, from circa 550 BC to 1700 AD, Persian high cuisine was as important to the politics of Eurasian states as French gastronomy would become to international diplomacy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

From 'cultural desert' to a city with 66 arts performances a day, Singapore has come a long way. A week of half-price tickets for local shows sponsored by companies could help bring the arts closer to average families.

Singapore has progressed from merlions and orchids to street food and star violinists parachuted onto international stages. But the latest attempt by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to conquer hearts and minds in Beijing, London and New York is taking a more subtle turn. Singapore Inside Out, the three-city tour of Singapore art and design, wrapped up its five-day gig in London yesterday. Strategically opening in London's hip (and some say hi