Billed as “portraying a positive image of Pakistan”, the conference in Lahore leaned on the side of propaganda — to drum beat the need of promoting the soft image of the country. In the past many years, since the full-blown terrorist activity started in the country, there has been a parallel drive launched especially from the government or the establishment for stressing upon a softer image of the country.

Fashion designers blended influences from the Arabian Desert, the Middle Eastern lifestyle and European trends at a catwalk show in Amman on Thursday, marking the 25th anniversary of Ukrainian independence. [...] fashion week aimed to broaden Jordanians’ understanding of the Ukrainian people and strengthen the connection between the two countries. 

The British Council has unveiled a series of cultural and educational programs aimed at promoting its 'Year of Culture' to be observed across India and UK in 2017. These will include student scholarships, partnerships between Indian and British universities and a roadshow on Shakespeare - the most enduring literary and cultural icon that unites the two countries.

Aug. 26-28, Bhutan will celebrate its seventh Mountain Echoes Literary Festival. The three-day festival is uniquely set against the backdrop of the verdant Himalayas in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. Mountain Echoes is a confluence of art, music, literature and new media, serving as the ideal platform for debate, discussion, and cultural exchange.

The Hà Nội Ensemble is a group of young artists and lecturers from the Việt Nam National Academy of Music, which was established in 2010. Members of the group have studied in Việt Nam and other prestigious conservatories of music around the world. They have won many reputable music awards, as well as participated in concerts, music festivals and cultural exchange programmes both domestically and internationally.
 

The fete is a celebration of life in the two continents that blends tradition with modernity, marking the youth's contribution to the common pool of the world's culture. [...] Themulti-faceted fete incorporated lively celebration of the richness of African and Asian cultures through a range of activities from Kung Fu martial arts, comedy, cuisine, dance, exhibitions, literature, music, theatre and sports.

An event will take place this week to help students from South Korea and Japan better understand each other's culture through dancing. The organizers -- the Soorim Cultural Foundation and the Japan Global Cultural Exchange Foundation -- on Sunday said they will hold a cultural exchange program titled "Seoul-de Dance, Dance, Dance" from Thursday to Monday.

A filmmaker has teamed up with a friend she met in high school in Brooklyn Heights to produce a portrait of a girls’ school in Anupshahr, India, a community that doesn’t believe in educating women. “Break the Branch,” by director Samantha Cornwell, filmed in conjunction with music and theatre teacher Melanie Closs, is described as a “lyrical, ethereal portrait of a rural Indian girls’ school in lush, sensuous color.”