Six international artists in North Carolina this week demonstrate that international diplomacy can come in many different forms. While many may imagine diplomats wearing business suits and sitting in conference rooms, these artists paint a drastically different picture.

Unlike Yo-Yo Ma’s ongoing Silk Road Project, which since 1998 has celebrated the Silk Road’s melange of cultures and history of exchange through chamber music and educational programs, the China Philharmonic’s tour takes a traditional approach to cultural diplomacy. The orchestra is playing Chinese and Western repertory and effectively showcasing its strengths to China’s not-so-distant geographical neighbors.

Cuba’s Los Van Van are a force in their home country. And the ensemble is prepping for its fifth tour in the United States. [...] In addition to the Los Van Van concert, a Cuban film series has been airing at the NHCC.

A celebration of 130 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France launches next year. A host of cultural programs will be held in both Korea and France for a year from Sept. this year to the end of next year. It is being called “The Year of France in Korea” and “The Year of Korea in France” events.

It began a quarter of a century ago with two men and one lofty goal: to unite the region through music and to create an all-Asian youth orchestra. Today, the award-winning Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) is one of the biggest success stories on the local cultural scene and will be celebrating its many achievements over the weekend.

This month’s concerts have been made possible thanks to organizer Morten Traavik, a trusted figure in the area of cultural exchange as far as Pyongyang is concerned. He told local news agency Yonhap that the band can draw on the division of their homeland Yugoslavia in understanding sentiment towards the separation of the Koreas at the close of Tokyo’s colonial rule.