The Power of Culture

Could an annually rotating African Cultural Capital contribute to development on the continent? That question came up during the World Conference over Art and Culture that was held in Johannesburg at the end of September 2009.

Local administrators are scarcely assigned a role in strategies for obtaining the Millennium Goals. Culture has also failed to be included as a permanent point on the development agenda. A recently-published report – Culture, Local Governments and the Millennium Development Goals – by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) advocates changes and provides city governments and cities with relevant instruments.

The International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies organizes a conference on the role of art in preventing conflicts.

The exposition African Terra Cotta: a Millenary Heritage, on display until 15 September 2009 in the Barbier-Mueller-museum in Geneva, has been targeted in a campaign against art theft.

The cultural sector has long been ignored in international trade agreements established between the European Union (EU) and developing countries. For the first time ever, The Caribbean Region agreement offers culture significant commercial opportunities.

The celebration of Jerusalem as the 'Capital of Arab Culture' has turned into a political fencing match. Both the aftermath of the war in Gaza and internal tensions among the Palestinians threaten to spoil the festivities.

The delegations that met in Paris from 8 to 12 December 2008 were faced with an important task: agreeing on the Operational Guideline determining the details of the 2005 Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions.