The Top-20 News of the Month – July 2015

The latest arts and culture news from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

Armenia

Armenian genocide-related exhibition is to be held in European Parliament. Genocide after Genocide” exhibition will be conducted in the European Parliament in autumn, PanArmenian.net reports. The exhibition’s 32 posters are aimed at showcasing monuments of Western Armenia that have been destroyed or are being destroyed by Turkish authorities, the source says.

More information: http://bit.ly/1KkB8cV; http://bit.ly/1g4EtTA

Ancient Armenian city could become UNESCO world heritage site. There is a certain work being made to award the ancient ruins of the city of Ani with UNESCO world heritage site status, News.am writes with reference to the newspaper Hürriyet Daily News. In the Middle Ages, according to the source, the city of Ani, which is nowadays situated on the territory of modern Turkey very close to Armenia, was the capital of Armenian kingdom.

More information: http://bit.ly/1Iedpr0 

Armenian culture ministry reports about international culture-related conference. Armenian culture ministry reports about the “Culture Policy: Policy for Culture” international conference, which took place in Yerevan on 11-13 July. The event was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of UNESCO. It became a platform to bring together delegates from more than 45 countries and international organisations, among which were many culture ministers and deputy ministers of UNESCO, EU and other countries, heads of diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited in Armenia, representatives of cultural centers and NGOs in other countries and concerned departments and experts of the sphere, the ministry says.

More information: http://bit.ly/1Kkmt4c 

[Although this news dates back to 15 July, we believe it is important to be included in this issue]


Founder of Golden Apricot proposed to hold film festival in Armenian regions. News Armenia quotes Harutyun Khachataryan, the founder and director of the film festival Golden Apricot, proposing to hold the festival in Armenian regions. He made this statement during the closing of this year film festival that traditionally was held in Yerevan.

More information: http://bit.ly/1MBMXOY; http://bit.ly/1MXsyRG 

Armenian government to allocate funds for excavations of Arshakuni dynasty sepulcher. Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan visited on July 28 Aghzk community (former Dzorap) in Aragatsotn province to familiarize himself with the process of archeological excavations in the village. The government press office said that previously excavations were left unfinished. After the PM visited Aghzk last year, he promised to allocate funds and gave instructions about the resumption of archeological work.

More information: http://bit.ly/1IxOZNA

Syria’s minister of culture proposed to hold Armenian culture days in Damascus. During his meeting with Armenia’s ambassador to Syria, Issam Khalil, Syria’s minister of culture, proposed Yerevan to hold Armenian culture days in his country, Hayastan News reported.

More information: http://bit.ly/1LULnq5 

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Culture Days will be held in Cannes. On 14-31 July, the Azerbaijani Culture Days will be held [originally, they are now being held as the news dates back to 13 July] in Cannes, France, Azertag.az writes. The source specifies that the Days will feature various programmes aimed at promoting Azerbaijani culture, music, modern and traditional arts, etc. Azertag.az

More information: http://bit.ly/1Dxu6fN 

[Although this news was posted on the website on 13 July, the event (Azerbaijani Culture Days) is being held now, during the reporting period]

International multiculturalism-related summer school kicks-off in Azerbaijan. On 21 July – 1 August, “Multiculturalism as a lifestyle in Azerbaijan: learn, explore, share” the international summer school will be held in Azerbaijan, 1news.az writes. Students from Azerbaijani and foreign universities, including Belarusian, Russia, Lithuanian, Italian ones, etc., are welcomed to take part in school’s activities, the source says, adding that the training session is designed to allow students to exploit their potential and practically apply knowledge gained while studying “Azerbaijani multiculturalism” topic during their classis. 1news.az

More information: http://bit.ly/1LwGrci 

France to host cultural events dedicated to Azerbaijan. The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS), in co-operation with the Mayor’s Office in Colmar (France) will organize a series of cultural events in Colmar on September 7-12, 2015, TEAS told Trend. A charter of friendship and cooperation was signed between the town of Colmar and the Azerbaijani town of Sheki May 19, 2015.

More information: http://bit.ly/1Dek6xq

Heydar Aliyev Foundation organized “Azerbaijani Music night” in Cannes. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has organized another "Azerbaijani Music night" in the France`s city of Cannes within the Days of Azerbaijani Culture, Trend reported. In the framework of the event, President of the Friends of Azerbaijan Association in France Jean-Francois Mansel spoke about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict noting that Armenia has occupied the territories of Azerbaijan.

More information: http://bit.ly/1OSMZAt

Belarus

Online source reveals the details of new EaP-related project’s call for experts. The Culture Coding EaP project has published a call for experts to participate in the project for the development of concepts and road maps for national cultural policy in Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, Eurobelarus.info writes. In this regard, the project is looking for two experts each from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, and one from Belarus, with experience in cultural policy research, the source says, revealing more call-related necessary details for interested applicants. Eurobelarus.info

More information: http://bit.ly/1GGjCuv 


Minsk hosted cinema week on human trafficking. Starting from 27 July, Minsk hosted cinema week dedicated to the problem of human trafficking, S-TV reported. The programme of the cinema week was developed by International Organization for Migration (IOM) and comprised films made in Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, the US, and Sweden.

More information: http://bit.ly/1OFb9h7  

Georgia

Tbilisi hosts European Youth Olympic Festival. A six-day summer European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) kicked off in Tbilisi on 26 July, marking the launch of the largest sporting event ever hosted by Georgia, Civil.ge reports. Over 3,200 athletes from 50 countries participate in the EYOF. The opening ceremony was attended by Irakli Garibashvili, Georgia’s Prime Minister, Hovik Abrahamyan, Armenia’s Prime Minister, and Rovnag Abdullayev, President of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR. Giorgi Margvelashvili, Georgia’s President, however, was absent.

More information: http://bit.ly/1MBHFmB 

Georgia National Museum opened museum education center in Mestia. On July 29, in Mestia, the capital of the mountainous Svaneti region of Georgia, an education center, museum and media library was opened by the Georgian National Museum and the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography, Georgia Todayreported. The grand opening was hosted by the General Director of the Georgian National Museum, Davit Lordkipanidze. Among the distinguished guests were the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, Mikheil Giorgadze, and the leader of Mestia Municipality, Kapiton Jorjoliani. Davit Lordkipanidze, General Director of the Georgian National Museum, commented shortly before the opening: “Svaneti Museum surpasses the mere conception of a museum. It has always been a cultural, educational and scientific center. Now it will also offer a number of programs to children, as well as an exhibition hall for temporary events.

More information: http://bit.ly/1OF58RC 

Moldova

The days of Belarusian culture will be held in Moldova this autumn. News source Point.md quotes Belarusian deputy rime minister Mikhail Rusiy saying that Belarus’ leadership is preparing for conducting this autumn national culture days in Moldova. “We agreed [with Moldovans] that the days of national culture of Belarus in Moldova will be held in late September – early October,” Rusiy emphasised, adding that the days of Moldovan culture, in turn, will be held in Belarus in 2016. Point.md

More information: http://bit.ly/1OokgTd; http://bit.ly/1CWSlsL 

[We believe this news may constitute interest as it shows up the inter-cultural relations between the countries which are the members of the EU-funded Eastern Partnership initiative]

Moldova’s culture minister had a meeting with MEP. Moldova’s culture ministry reports about the meeting between country’s culture minister Monica Babuc with MEP, representative of the European People’s Party from Poland Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski. During the meeting, the issues related, among others, to the development of culture were discussed. Moldova’s culture ministry

More information: http://bit.ly/1Oolwpq  

Moldova’s media regulator seeks prevention of Russian TV channels free broadcasting. Moldova’s Coordination Council of TV and Radio broadcasting proposed to remove from a document regulating cooperation between the governments of Moldova and Russia for 2015-2016 provisions allowing free broadcast of Russian TV channels in Moldova, Newsmaker.md reported. According to the regulator, the main reason for its decision is Russian propaganda.

More information: http://bit.ly/1haBI3h 

Ukraine

Parliament’s committee on culture held hearings on “Culture 2025” platform. On 15 July, Rada’s committee of culture and spirituality held a hearing on preliminary results of platform “Culture 2025” that comprises state authorities and civil society organization working together of reforms in the field of culture. The working group of “Culture 2025” presented three documents: scenarios of non-interference, vision framework and priority vectors of development.

More information http://culture2025.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Culture2025.July_.2015.engl_.pdf 

Ministry of culture developed “white” and “black” lists of foreign artists. Ukraine’s ministry of culture published a “white list” of foreign citizens who supported Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia, Korrespondent.net reported. By publishing this list, the ministry expressed its gratitude to foreign artists. The list includes a number of Russian artists who, however, has criticized this initiative. Besides the “white list” the ministry has also developed a “black list” of foreign artists who are considered by the ministry as a threat to Ukraine’s security and territorial integrity. Artists from the black list may be declared by Ukraine’s security service as persona non grata.

More information: http://bit.ly/1OSQrLy; http://bit.ly/1IxXIiT; http://bit.ly/1OSQC9B 

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Top 100 culture people in Ukraine. Leading Ukrainian weekly Novoe Vremya named TOP 100 artists and culture managers in Ukraine.

More information: http://m.nv.ua/project/culture-2015.html 

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