15 culture news headlines from 6 countries in april

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

Armenia 

Yerevan hosts international Eurasian Economic Union youth conference. International Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) Youth Conference on cultural, scientific and historian aspects of EEU people unity is being conducted in Yerevan from 28 April to 1 May. Official participants of the event are representatives of youth organizations in the sphere of science, culture, tourism, education and youth policy from the EEU member states – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The conference aims at creating youth dialogue in the cultural, scientific and humanitarian spheres as a basis for economic cooperation between the EEU states. NewsArmenia

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14th International festival of solo performances “ARMMONO” takes place in Yerevan from 29 April to 3 May. The programme includes 26 plays from the UK, Swiss, France, Israel, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Georgia and Armenia. The festival is holding under patronage of Armenia’s first lady Rita Sargsyan and with the assistance of the country’s ministry of culture. Arminfo

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Azerbaijan

Culture minister: Azerbaijan is ready to assist in conducting global intercultural dialogue. Speaking at the 7th UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Global Forum in Baku, Abulfas Garayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of culture and tourism, underlined his country’s readiness to assist in conducting global intercultural dialogue. “I hope this meeting will answer the question of how to establish conditions for peaceful coexistence,” the minister said, adding that Azerbaijan on its own example promotes interfaith peace and fights radicalization. 1news.az

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Culture minister: 7th UNAOC Global Forum was successfully conducted. Baku hosted the Forum on 25-27 April with above 800 officials from all over the world were participating in the event, Abulfas Garayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of culture and tourism, said at a press conference following the event. At the high-level meeting of the UN Alliance of Civilization Global Forum the Baku Declaration was adopted, the minister added, Trend.az reported without providing details of the declaration. Trend.az

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Belarus

Belarus will allocate above BYR 1 tr. for archives by 2020. Belta quotes Belarus ministry of culture, informing about allocation of above BYR 1 within “Belarus archives” sub programme of the state programme “Belarus culture”. The money will be provided by 2020. The sub programme will target state, regional and city archives containing almost 15 million storage units, the ministry added. Belta

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British documentary filmmaker explained how Belarus could use creative industries’ potential. On 19 April George Carey, a British documentary filmmaker, gave a lecture in Minsk dedicated to potential of modern creative industries. Carey presented the audience how Belarus could use social and economic potential of culture. The lecture was conducted within the EaP Culture and Creativity programme. N-Europe.eu

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Deputy PM named topics to be reflected by “Listopad” international film festival. Chairing organization committee meeting of “Listopad” international film festival, Natalia Kochanova, Belarus’ Deputy Prime Minister, noted that the festival in 2016 should reflect the ongoing “culture year” in Belarus, the 30th anniversary of Chornobyl disaster and 75th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War outbreak. Interfax-Belarus

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Georgia

Georgia and Germany discussed culture cooperation. The 5th meeting of Georgia-Germany joint commission on culture cooperation took place in Tbilisi, Regnum reported. The sides – culture-related officials from both countries – discussed events of the next 2017 declared as the year of Georgia-Germany friendship. Besides, the meeting focused on Georgia’s participation at the Frankfurt International Book Fair as an honor guest. Regnum

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Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Tbilisi will gather fashion designers across the globe. Tbilisi will host Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week from 5 till 9 May. The founder of the French fashion house Herve Leger – Herve Leroux – will visit Tbilisi as an honor guest. Besides, the Week attracts fashion-related designers, critics, photographs, and media from all over the world. Georgia’s ministry of culture and the ministry of economy and sustainable development as well as National Administration of Tourism and Entrepreneurship Development Agency assist in holding the week. Sputnik-Georgia

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Moldova

Turkey proposed Moldova to jointly restore Bender fortress in Transnistria. Turkish ambassador to Moldova Mehmet Selim Kartal proposed Chisinau to jointly restore a fortress in Bender and to turn the building into a cultural center. The fortress was constructed by a Turkish architect in 1538 after the city became a part of Ottoman empire, the ambassador explained his initiative, adding that its close location near Odesa and Chisinau would make the fortress attractive for tourists. NR2

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Moldova proposed Romania to jointly perform at the Eurovision song contest after the European Broadcasting Union expelled Romania public service broadcaster from the contest following the non-payment of the debts totaling CHF 16 million. Lidia Isac, Moldova’s representative and the contest, offered her Romanian counterpart Ovidiu Anton to accompany her and sing “Falling Stars” together. The later, however, declined the proposal. Newsmaker

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Ukraine

Poroshenko signed law banning Russian films produced after 2014. According to the document signed by the President Petro Poroshenko, broadcasting of Russian films produced or published after 1 January 2014 is banned in Ukraine. Besides, the law also prohibits films glorifying or popularizing state bodies of the aggressor state produced after 1 August 1991 regardless of the country where they were filmed. Ukrainska Pravda

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Culture minister seeks strict protection of Ukrainian media and information space. Yevhen Nyschuk, Ukraine’s minister of culture, spoke against black and white lists of foreign culture workers. At the same time, he proposed to develop a strict system defining what artists may and may not cross Ukrainian border similarly to a model existed in the US. Speaking on the language quotas in Ukrainian TV and radio air, the minister backed gradual approach to define limits through negotiations with media owners. DT.ua

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Culture minister wants separate state agency to regulate concert and theater touring. In his interview to Hromadske.tv, Yevhen Nyschuk, Ukraine’s minister of culture, said that his ministry plans to set up a state agency for banning tours of artists with a pro-Russian position. The agency would develop legislation making tours and professional activities of pro-Russian culture workers impossible in Ukraine. Hromadske.tv

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Vice-President of Frankfurt International Book Fair called on Ukraine to increase its culture visibility abroad. In his interview to Espreso.tv, Tobias Foss, Vice-President of Frankfurt International Book Fair, stressed the importance of Ukrainian culture presence abroad especially in the current political situation. The world has already understand that Ukraine differs from Russia, he said, adding that now the time has come to explain how it is different. A foreigner associate Ukraine with the war in Donbas, but culture is a powerful instrument to promote better side of Ukraine. Espreso.tv

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