The BMW Guggenheim Lab is part think tank, part open-air forum, part community center. New York will be the first stop for the lab on a worldwide tour that will also include Berlin and Mumbai. In each city curators will invite leaders in fields including architecture, art, design, technology, education and science to participate in programs: lectures, workshops, games, performances and film screenings.

For the past seven years, Canadian street artist Kaid Ashton has been traveling to some of the world's most dangerous slums documenting the people he meets with his camera. He then posts his work on walls around the cities he visits. Ashton's street art is not political. It is about crossing cultures and getting to know people in the process.

Actually, the temple can enhance China's 'soft power' diplomacy and provides a more intriguing picture of the nation.....Although Abbot Shi Yongxin faces a great deal of criticism for commercializing the temple, he's bringing global attention to Chinese culture. Many famous Hollywood actors and American superstar athletes have visited the Shaolin Temple to learn from the kung fu monks.

Culture as an underlying force that shapes global public diplomacy remains curiously unexplored. Yet, every aspect of an entity’s public diplomacy...is touched by culture. Intercultural scholars have cautioned that to overlook culture’s influence is to remain vulnerable to its power. Conversely, with the benefit of cultural knowledge, one can more effectively harness that power.

Polio has all but been eradicated from the Earth, but not quite. So Bill Gates and the soccer club FC Barcelona are joining forces to push the effort past the goal line. They're calling it the "More than a Goal. End Polio" campaign...Barcelona plans to spread the message through in-stadium advertisements, announcements during matches, and via social media to the millions of followers worldwide.

A version of Spain’s famous La Tomatina festival has arrived in the Indian capital city of New Delhi. The festival, which is celebrated every year at the end of August in Buñol, Spain, involves people throwing squashed tomatoes at each other. The tomato festival has however, led to a war of words on Facebook and Twitter between Tomatina enthusiasts and others who question the tastefulness of the event.

Historically, the modern Zionist movement has sought to transform the term “Jewish” into a distinctly national category. But it has not fully succeeded. The debate inside Israel over these issues...prevents Israel from articulating a coherent definition of its own identity, let alone one that is accepted and recognized by the majority of its citizens, most of whom are secular and liberal by any Western standard.

As a supporter of the 100,000 Strong Initiative and to highlight the overall importance of educational and cultural ties between the United States and China, will.i.am will direct a concert in Beijing later this year to benefit the Initiative. The Beijing concert will celebrate U.S.-China educational and cultural exchanges and will include performances by will.i.am and other American and Chinese pop stars.