It was just like the Peace Corps in reverse," she said. The Peace Corps sent Americans abroad to learn about other cultures, but my mother was sent to the U.S. as Sri Lanka's first cultural ambassador in 1971. "We were supposed to learn all about American culture.

Globalisation is a word that first slipped into its current usage during the 1960s; and the globalisation of English, and English literature, law, money and values, is the cultural revolution of my generation.

Thirty-two artists from eight SAARC countries and Myanmar showcased the soft power of art at a day-long exhibition titled "Puducherry Blues" here Saturday. The artists had met in a camp at the Dune Eco beach resort in Puducherry for a South Asian artists' camp in early March.

From the Sugar Plum Fairy to Musetta's Waltz, the former Soviet republics showed off some brilliant young talent performing Romantic Era greats: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Puccini.

Nearly 90 delegates from 20 countries have recently gathered in the northern province of Quang Ninh for an ASEM workshop on enhancing Asia-Europe cultural ties. The meeting was organised by the Vietnamese Government and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), with support from Italy and Hungary.

A German film show will open tonight at Ha Noi's National Cinema Centre kicking off a festival at five major Vietnamese cities. The festival is a first, celebrating the 35 years of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Germany.

Cheng Xindong knows people in high places... Following the last year's contemporary Chinese art exhibition in Havana, he is now working on the return leg, the Cuba Contemporary Art Exhibition in Beijing, to be launched on September 25.

For two hours, the packed theatre bridged the divide between India and Pakistan - torn by mutual distrust - with the strains of legendary ghazal singer Farida Khanum's mellifluous renditions of Urdu and Hindi nazams.