A first step is to resist the convention to distinguish “art” from “culture,” which has served to cut off domestic arts policy in the U.S. and elsewhere from broader appreciation of the cultural challenges that cross cut international affairs. Especially for applied arts NGOs working with international counterparts. A second step is to recognize and interrogate our own assumptions about the purpose and value of “art.” A third is to re-inscribe “art” back into its encompassing local and transnational settings of social engagement and meaning.

Once again the debate about the arts and their relationship to the economy has been enjoined, this time in the UK. The terms are by now entirely familiar, and certainly loom in any discussion of the “value” of the arts in the U.S. as well. This is particularly true for the U.S. during recessions and periods of fiscal austerity.

Qatar Museums Authority chairperson HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said: “We believe that culture is a powerful tool, and the Qatar-UK Year of Culture 2013, as part of the QMA Cultural Diplomacy Programme, is giving us the opportunity to further promote cultural dialogue and build bridges between societies and communities in both countries.”

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his German counterpart Angela Merkel held talks to map out future mutual cooperation and reached an important consensus on deepening the strategic partnership between the two nations.