14 culture news headlines from 6 countries in February
Armenia
Culture ministry to realize 17 investment projects. Armenian culture ministry presented 17 investment programmes, majority of which are already underway and will be completed in the upcoming 1-2 months, Armen Amiryan, country’s culture minister, said, quoted by Armernpress. “It is difficult to give the overall amount of investments, because for some programmes the calculations have not been made yet, initial programmes are worth more than 3 million dollars,” Amiryan emphasized. Armernpress
Culture minister told about some reforms in culture sphere. During his interview with radio Sputnik, Armenian culture minister Armen Amiryan revealed some details behind the transformation process in culture sphere. As he argued, there is an intention to launch the new programme in the sphere of museums. One of the aims of this programme is to make art attractive, thus there is a need to set up for-profit museums. One more precondition to stimulate visitors to come to museums, according to the minister, is organization of exhibitions via use of international experience. Sputnik
Azerbaijan
Director of MGP Company explained how to develop creative industries in Azerbaijan. Murad Dadashev, director and founder of MGP Company, stressed in a conversation with the EU-EaP Culture and Creativity Programme that there are numerous obstacles for the development of creative industries in Azerbaijan. In his opinion, many of these come from traditions, mentality. Culture sphere is not yet considered to be suitable for business. Therefore, the solution heavily depends on social environment as well, Dadashev said. EU-EaP Culture and Creativity Programme
Azerbaijani culture projects have opportunity to cooperate with Creative Europe. Vesti.az described the terms of cooperation within Creative Europe Programme. Since 2015, cultural organizations from Azerbaijan have had an opportunity to receive financial support with the potential to travel, reach new audiences and encourage skill sharing and development. The programme also establishes networks helping the cultural and creative sector to operate competitively and transnationally, promotes emerging artists and stimulates European exchange for cultural and artistic works. Vesti.az
Belarus
Local edition of prominent culture expert’s book came out in Belarus. Belarusian edition of the famous book by international expert David Parrish “T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity” came out in Belarus, Citydog reports. As from now, Belarusian culture managers and entrepreneurs may take advantage of this book. The book was presented with the support of EU-EaP Culture and Creativity Programme Citydog
New edition of definition dictionary to be released in Belarus. The new dictionary of Belarusian language reflects the new state of lexicon and phraseology of Belarusian formal language, Charter 97 reports with reference to BelTa. The previous addition, on the contrary, was full of lexicon popular in Belarus in 1980-1990s. Meanwhile, experts say that the new one will be supplemented by words that have not been reflected in the previous addition. Charter 97, BelTa
Visa-free regime will contribute to the increase in number of Slavianski Bazaar festival guests. The recent establishment of visa-free travel regime for the citizens of 80 countries will facilitate the increase of number of guests that will come to Belarus to visit Sliavianki Bazaar festival, Aleksandr Sidorenko, the festival’s director, said. “Visa-free regime is a great opportunity to visit forum, watch the whole competition and visit a number of other festival projects,” Sidorenko stressed. According to the statistics, over the course of Slavianski Bazaar existence it has hosted representatives from over 80 countries. BelTa
Georgia
Top Georgian and German film festivals announce new partnership. The respective agreement was signed during Berlinale film festival in Germany. Specifically, the deal will see the Dresden festival screen two Georgian films and a program of Georgian animation to mark the Georgian-German Year 2017. On the Georgian side of the cooperation, the Nikozi festival will host programs of the German event within its 2017 edition, scheduled for September. Agenda.ge
Georgian movie among The Best Films at Berlinale 2017. Georgian film My Happy Family by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß has been included among the best films presented at Berlinale 2017. My Happy Family will also be released by Netflix. Georgianjournal.ge
Moldova
Moldovan representative took part in Council of culture ministers of South-East Europe. Andrei Chistol, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, attended the Council of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe “Enhancing Culture for Sustainable Development” (CoMoCoSEE). The event took place in Albania’s Tirana on 22 February. During his speech at the event, Chistol underlined the need to strengthen both bilateral and multilateral regional co-operation in the spheres of cultural heritage and creative industries development. Moldova’s Ministry of Culture
Artists from 11 countries to participate in music festival in Moldova. Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, Germany and other countries will be represented at the 51st issue of the International Music Festival “Martisor.” The festival will take place in Chisinau from 1 to 10 March. Monica Babuc, Moldova’s culture minister, noted that the festival will bring the famous national artistic collectives to public. Moldpres
Ukraine
PM pledges over UAH 3 billion from budget for Ukrainian culture in 2017. Volodymyr Groysman noted that these funds have been allocated for the development of cinematography, projects in different spheres for building Ukraine's image in the world, as well as for the launch of the Ukrainian Book Institute. Groysman also assured that a full-scale policy is being implemented to protect and develop the Ukrainian language and culture. UNIAN
Culture ministry discussed cooperation with Georgia, Slovakia, Romania. Yevhen Nyshchuk, Ukraine’s culture minister, held bilateral meetings with the ambassadors of Georgia, Slovakia and Romania to Ukraine. Current projects in culture sphere as well as the perspectives of future cooperation have been discussed. Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture
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Culture experts explained how to find one’s niche in culture sphere. Oksana Forostina, the co-founder of Yakaboo Publishing, noted that one should work within market trends, not against the market, so that the trust of audience would not be destroyed. On the other side, Yevhenia Stryzhevska, the organiser at Polyana Music Festival, noted that it is fairly easy to find a niche in festival industry. In her opinion, the only prerequisite is to find a soul of the planned festival and present it to public. The Ukrainians
