Cultural Diplomacy
The United Arab Emirates is participating in this year’s Venice Biennale, which kicked off earlier this month with a solo exhibition Walking on Water by contemporary Emirati artist Mohamed Kazem. Curated by Palestinian Reem Fadda, the UAE's third consecutive national pavilion introduces the Venice Biennale audience to home-grown art from the country.
The implementation of the Public Diplomacy Mission is assisted by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. During six days about 40 events are intended to be hild in Yerevan, Gyumri, Tsakhadzor, Tatev, and Etchmaidzin.
Rawalpindi Arts Council in collaboration with Saraiki Students Federation, Federal Urdu University, Islamabad organized a Saraiki Cultural Program featuring the promotion and introduction of regional cultural with each other. Waqar Ahmed, Resident Director from Rawalpindi Arts Council and Ahmed Ali Dhareshak from federation were the guests of honor at the ceremony.
Describing cultural appreciation as the key to lasting relations between nations, an eminent Pakistani scholar has called for initiatives in various fields of arts to help Pakistanis and Americans better understand each other. Dr. Zulfiqar Kazmi told a gathering on the Capitol Hill that the best way to promote friendly and cooperative relationship between the United States and Pakistan would be to build bridges through encouragement of more and more cultural exchange programs.
Online games featuring Chinese culture have become an important force for cultural exchange and cooperation as it spread through global markets, head of a leading Chinese online game maker told Xinhua. "We insist on creating game products of pure national originality, and take the online game industry as a new cultural carrier and a new cultural communication, " said Perfect World CEO Xiao Hong, who was attending a conference of Chinese and Mexican entrepreneurs here.
A first step is to resist the convention to distinguish “art” from “culture,” which has served to cut off domestic arts policy in the U.S. and elsewhere from broader appreciation of the cultural challenges that cross cut international affairs. Especially for applied arts NGOs working with international counterparts. A second step is to recognize and interrogate our own assumptions about the purpose and value of “art.” A third is to re-inscribe “art” back into its encompassing local and transnational settings of social engagement and meaning.
Georgia has invented a new kind of public diplomacy - "cycle diplomacy." "The project goal: to discover a new Georgia for the Azerbaijani society, strengthen friendly ties, promote a healthy lifestyle, classical, folk and extreme sports, advertise companies, attract business partners, tourists in Georgia, etc. It is planned a reception by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Baku, meetings with the population in 26 large cities and regions," it was reported.
The long queues in front of Angola's pavilion at the Venice Biennale bear witness to the extraordinary success that Africa has just had at the "Olympics of the art world". Ever since it was announced that, out of 88 contenders, Angola had won the Golden Lion award for the best national participation, art lovers and journalists from all over the world have been flocking across the Accademia bridge - from the distant main exhibition areas, the Giardini and the Arsenale - to try to see the show.