The Power of Culture

The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam is a work place and meeting place for young artists from all over the world. Fifty resident artists work for two years in their own workshop. Confrontation with various cultures and the advice from art professionals deepen the artistic skills.

Every third year the Danish Centre for Culture and Development organises a huge cultural festival focused on a specific region in the world. This year the festival reflects changes in space and identities, and presents dreams and visions from younger generations in the wider Middle East.

Bisi Silva, one of the six curators of the seventh Dak’Art Biennial, recently came to Amsterdam within the framework of the Mondriaan Foundation’s visitor’s programme. She talked with the Power of Culture, a site she regularly views.

Krisztina de Châtel, Salia Sanou en Seydou Boro prepare the Tando, a dance performance that can be seen for the first time on the international July Dance Festival in Amsterdam.

The cultural sector of the Netherlands is also gaining ground in India. However, attention for the Indian culture in the Netherlands is also steadily increasing.

From 21 to 23 March 2006, the Centre for African Literary Studies organized a conference entitled "The Changing Face of African Literature" at the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. This conference was held in conjunction with the "Time of the Writer" festival in Durban.

From 11 to 21 November 2005, Uruguay hosted the third international dance festival Montevideo Sitiada. This event includes both dance shows and discussions and workshops about cultural identity. The festival serves as a showcase for the talents of not just Latin-American dancers but also African and European ones too.

Tammy Ballentyne, who works for PANSA (Performing Arts Network of South Africa) in Johannesburg, spent six weeks in the Netherlands in the spring of 2005.

The United Nations and UNICEF adopted the Children's Rights in 1989. With their signatures, 191 countries agreed to protect children's rights.

Thanks to Kids at Iran, children from Amsterdam and Teheran learn about one another's living habits and ideas. The Tropenmuseum Junior's cultural exchange project runs over the Internet and will be concluded in December. Whether the children will truly meet one another is uncertain.