The Power of Culture

The JAFF film festival, that took place in Jogjakarta from 4 until 8 August, avoided commercial cinema and focused on social issues.

With simple means young villagers from Rampur -  in the politically insecure Indian state Assam - made a contemporary puppet show.

At the first Bayimba festival, poor attendance and failing sponsors inflicted huge financial losses on the organisation. But it managed to pull itself together and this year, against all expactations, it's back on its feet.

In the Arab region, attention for contemporary dance has rapidly grown in recent years. The time is ripe to set up a network with choreographers and dancers, was the outcome in Beirut in April 2009.

Will Ethiopia be taking over Mali's lead in terms of sparkling new talented musicians? That is unlikely for the time being, but the enormous revival of the country's music industry is striking.

Independent art spaces, funders, curators, artists, and networks from the Middle East, Africa and Europe were present at the Cairo Residency Symposium.

Representatives of cultural institutions and other experts from Europe, Africa and Asia travelled in March 2009 to three Latin American capitals. Aim of this trip was to stimulate professional internationalisation in the culture sector.