[...] Public diplomacy has been embraced as a key tool for boosting Korea’s national image as a relevant international actor. [...] Korea is ever more focused on winning the hearts and minds of citizens across regions through the active showcasing of its cultural products, with “hallyu” as the crucial piece of the puzzle.

Valcourt and Attis are touring the United States as part of Lakou Mizik, an accomplished roots-revival collective that traces its origins in part to that moment. The nine-member band [...] released its debut album, Wa Di Yo, on the U.S. global-music label Cumbancha — and on May 6 the band plays Brooklyn's BRIC House as a highlight of Selebrasyon, a two-month arts biennial in New York that kicked off its second edition last weekend.

When organizers announced Havana’s Musicabana festival at the beginning of this year, they called it an event that would “usher in a new era of cultural diplomacy” between Cuba and the United States, “offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience with an extraordinary multi-genre bill boasting over 25 artists, bands and global DJs.” [...] So what happened? Festival organizer Fabien Pisani blames bureaucracy.

Washington, DC 30 April ' The fifth annual International Jazz Day celebration came to a thrilling close on Saturday night with the worldwide broadcast and streaming of the International Jazz Day 2016 All-Star Global Concert from the White House.

Two months of film screenings, performances, pop-up sales and exhibits celebrating Haitian arts and culture kicks off this weekend in the city, according to organizers from the Crown Heights-based non-profit Haiti Cultural Exchange.

To expand cultural exchange with other countries, the festival has started designating a guest of honor nation since 2013. South Korea has become the fourth such nation, following Russia in 2013, the U.S. in 2014, and China in 2015.

In a rural area of the Malaysian island of Borneo, a punk group gathers around a massive print of a Snakes and Ladders board game on the floor of their art studio. On his knees, Jerome Manjat presses an inked piece of Lino onto a blank square. Lifts it. Emblazoned in red ink is the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, depicted as a clown.