Cultural Diplomacy
From a ‘cultural ambassador’, the Vietnamese tourism sector is making efforts to make the Ao Dai into a ‘tourism ambassador’. The image of Ao Dai has been used to promote the beauty of Vietnamese culture. In addition, the long dress has become a tourism product.
Halloween has become inexorably defined by and linked to America, making it a soft power export.
The Korea-Indonesia Film Festival 2016 kicked off on Wednesday (26/10) with a screening of Korean flick "The Age of Shadows." Organizers hope the festival can foster more cultural exchange between the two countries.
It is precisely the syncretism of Halloween that represents the best of America. Despite the anxieties present in society and amplified in the media—ranging from community polarization to violent crime to the erosion of traditional ways—Americans will still take their children door-to-door for neighbors to dole out treats in a sign of trust.
Germany's Goethe Institut has opened a temporary space for German-Syrian cultural exchange in Berlin: "Damascus in exile." The ambitious project is squeezed into all of 70 square meters in the heart of the capital.
A group of Polish musicians and artists has held an exhibition in Beijing as part of a cultural exchange. The tour is part of a national-level initiative between China and Poland, that stretches from 2016 to 2019. The group will visit 6 cities in China.
Highlights of their bilateral ties can be seen in politics, trade and education, she added, noting that joint education programmes have produced positive outcomes. The event is part of a series of cultural and academic exchanges between Vietnam and the Philippines in celebration of 40 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Wushu's global sporting popularity pales before karate, judo and taekwondo, but state media reported this month that a "Wushu Cultural Industry Investment Fund" worth $7 billion has been set up to run tournaments and promote it at home and abroad. [...] The Chinese government's development plan for the sport from 2016-2020 says that its aims include "increasing national confidence and boosting national cultural soft power".