The Power of Culture

Two films to which the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) has contributed won first and second prize at the 56th Locarno Film Festival.

The Images of Asia festival will be held in Denmark from 8 August through 26 September. About 450 Asiatic artists and intellectuals are participating in the event.

Reading materials must appear in indigenous languages. That is the conclusion of the Annual Congress of the International Association of School Librarianship in Durban, South Africa.

The Commission for World heritage held its 27th meeting this month. Azerbaijan, Ivory Coast and Nepal were all reprimanded for failing to properly care for world heritage sites in their countries.

An extraordinary version of the TV show Big Brother has started in South Africa. Each of the twelve participants comes from another African country.

Indian children won the 2003 One World Media Award in the category Special Achievements with mini-documentaries about their daily problems. 

In the United States educational materials are subjected to strict censorship. Diane Ravitch, former Secretary of Education and renowned researcher, describes how this works in her book The Language Police.

Enfants de Nuit, a piece presented by Senegalese street children, has made quite an impression during the annual Holland Festival in Amsterdam.

India has let it be known that it no longer wishes to receive development funds from the Dutch government.

Unesco is doing everything possible to limit the damage the war has inflicted on Iraq’s cultural artefacts.