Cultural Diplomacy
The first edition of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Television Dance Festival is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad; the city with royal patronage for arts, literature and architecture, on January 15. Prasar Bharati is hosting the event. The Dance Festival is conceptualised so as to bring the cultural diversities from across the world into limelight, by breaking cultural barriers.
Heather Humphreys launched a new cultural initiative called Creative Ireland at the Irish Consulate in New York on Friday. [...] Creative Ireland is the government’s Legacy Program for Ireland 2016. It is a five-year all-of-government initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which at its core is a strategy which aims to improve access to cultural and creative activity in every county across the country and among the diaspora.
The Korean Culinary Arts & Science High School, Seoul South Korea led by Dr. Lee, Senior Lecturer and Jhang, Ethnic Korean Cuisine Chef along with 10 students had a food and cultural exchange programme with the students and faculty of Mount Mary Higher Secondary School & College (MMHSSC), Chumukedima, Nagaland on January 13. This was stated in a press note issued by the organiser.
It was the opening ceremony of ‘2017 as the year of Japan-India friendly exchanges’ when renowned Indian film director-writer, Imtiaz Ali announced the production of his new film, ‘Love in Tokyo’ in collaboration with a major Japanese film studio, Shochiku. This Indo-Japanese collaboration is a part of the friendly exchanges the two countries are looking at by means of cultural exchanges.
As China-Switzerland relations gain new momentum, their people-to-people and cultural ties have yielded fruitful results, said Jiang Jianguo, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), here during a visit in Switzerland earlier this week.

A sailboat race to Cuba and an international art exhibit are highlighted in this week's roundup.
Cuba's Roberto Gomez had a single night free on his first trip to San Francisco, part of a short performance visit in his role as lead guitarist for singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, often referred to as "The Bob Dylan of Cuba," and "The Poet of Havana." Gomez might have chosen to head to any number of clubs, restaurants or other social gathering places in one of the most vibrant and culturally rich cities in the U.S.
A joint exhibition between Iran and Austria is currently open to the public in Isfahan at the Isfahan Museum of Contemporary Art. [...] A total of 15 Iranian and 17 Austrian artists have come together in the event with the common goal of enhancing cultural exchanges between the two countries through the universal language of visual arts. The 32 exhibited works include paintings, drawings, photos and video arts created on different subjects