Cultural Diplomacy

November 15, 2010

Following British Prime Minister David Cameron and his country's biggest-ever delegation to China last week, Vernon Ellis, chair of the British Council, shared his vision towards cooperation with China in terms of culture and education with the Global Times Thursday in Beijing.

When Pakistani Americans Mahnaz Fancy and Zeyba Rahman launched Pakistani Peace Builders (PPB) in May, they did so to bring Pakistani music and heritage to American audiences. An independent cultural diplomacy campaign, PPB aimed to counteract stereotypes and misperceptions of Pakistanis that Fancy and Rahman saw becoming more prominent.

Iraq is back in the news, making headlines for the horrific attack on a Baghdad Catholic church that left 58 dead. It is yet another event that has widened the gap in American-Iraqi understanding and one that, for me, only reinforces the need for more opportunities for exchange and interaction between our two countries.

On the twenty first anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the respected Institute for Cultural Diplomacy invited the Chairman of Iman, the global counter-extremism foundation, to deliver a keynote speech on pluralism and the Middle East.

Can film festivals help the countries of the South Caucasus make art, not war? Some local cultural figures and advocacy groups contend that the language of cinematography can overcome ethnic feuds and geopolitical jousting, but, so far, realizing that goal has proven to be a daunting task.

“Abu Dhabi Art is part of a greater vision to build transnational cultural institutions to ensure that the Arab world is not isolated,” said Rita Aoun Abdo, director of the cultural department of Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Co., or T.D.I.C., which co-organized the fair and is the agency behind the development of Saadiyat Island.

For many, Shakespeare is synonymous for all things English, yet Germany has a history of claiming the bard as "ganz unser" - their "very own." This season, the Globe Theatre pays homage to this special relationship.

November 10, 2010

India's soft power has failed to use contemporary art or its living artists as a tool for cultural diplomacy. In all the euphoria of the Obama visit and the ramifications for everything from bilateral business deals, odes to Indian culinary excellence and Michelle's bazaar-style shopping, the one thing that was oddly missing was any reference to art.

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