20 culture news headlines from 6 countries in May
Armenia
Prime Minister stresses the need to promote cultural wealth in Armenia. "We need to work consistently to promote the cultural wealth of Armenia," – Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said at the meeting with culture ministry officials. The representatives of the culture ministry reported on the creation of virtual museums and audio guides in Armenia. The issues of creation of bookstores and libraries in the theaters as well as formation of infrastructures in historical and cultural reserves were also discussed. The participants underlined the need to develop the programs on the formation of legal basis for the production of films and the programs of mobile cinemas in the regions. NEWS.am
Armenia signed CoE Convention on cultural property. Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian participated in a session of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe on 19 May. Armenia signed the Council of Europe Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property at the session. The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe highly appreciated the willingness of Armenia to fight against the offences related to cultural property. Panorama.am
Most important cultural sites are being showcased via virtual tour. The images of cultural monuments of Western Armenia and Armenian kingdom of Cilicia are presented at the National Gallery of Armenia on 16 May -16 June. Within the Ucom project "Great Armenia: 360°", the most important monuments of historical, cultural and natural resources of Western Armenia were photographed. 360° images were used for the project. "This is a simple way to see in a virtual way how the monuments and fortresses look like, and how their number has declined over the past 100 years," – director of Ucom Hayk Yesayan noted. NEWS.am
State Drama Theatre will install solar power panels; saved costs will be directed to cultural goals. The program on the introduction of solar panels was presented at Gyumri State Drama Theatre on 22 May. The presentation was held within the project "Renewable energy as an instrument of technological development", which is aimed at promoting the use of solar energy in order to reduce energy costs. This, according to the culture ministry, will help to redirect the saved costs to the development of education and culture.. Ministry of Culture of Armenia
Azerbaijan
Source: Music festivals expand cultural horizons. Concerts and music festivals generate more than third of the world's revenues from performing arts, The First News reports. In addition to its direct contribution to GDP, cultural and creative industries have a concomitant influence on other sectors of the economy, such as tourism; they also fuel the field of information and communication technologies. Festivals become an integral part of the country's economy and influence the process of regeneration of its cities. A big festival creates alternative sources of income for cities and is one of the most powerful tools for their renewal through culture, the source says. The First News
Online course for cultural managers was presented. An online course "Communication" was presented for the representatives of the culture and creativity industries within the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme. The online course covers the work with media, while providing information on the elements of the communication strategy, rules for selection of target audience, relevant messages and channels. Azerbaijan State News Agency
Project to promote Azerbaijani artists was launched in Baku. Azerbaijani National Art Museum has hosted presentation of the ART Rising project. The new art project is aimed at promoting the Azerbaijani artists, as well as ensuring copyright protection and legal support. A new online platform for ideas and art works was also presented at the meeting. Azernews
Museum Day was celebrated in Azerbaijan. The museums of Azerbaijan celebrated the "International Museum Day" on 18 May. The country became the first state among the former Soviet republics, where the National Committee of the International Council of Museums was founded. Among Committee’s activities is cooperation of museums at the national and international levels with the aim of preserving the cultural heritage.Ministry Of Culture of Azerbaijan
BelarusConference for business and culture representatives was held in Minsk. The co-organizer of the conference was the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme. The event brought together IT entrepreneurs and cultural figures. The event saw discussion of issues related to possibilities of co-operation between IT professionals and the cultural and creative sectors. Belarussians and market
National award in the field of fine arts was founded in Belarus. For the first time since Belarus gained independence, Belarussian authors in the field of fine arts have been honored at the national level. The jury evaluated 310 applications and defined winners in the following award categories - "Innovation", "Creative debut", "Artistic photography", "Design", "Painting", "Graphics", among others. СТВ
Georgia
A book on contemporary cultural spaces was presented in Georgia. A presentation of the book "Manual for Cultural Centers Design" was held in Tbilisi on 19 May. The author of the book is Peter Len, an architect from Slovakia. The book informs about modern cultural spaces, where festivals, exhibitions and other events from the sphere of contemporary art take place. The manual for cultural projects development was translated into Georgian and presented in Tbilisi under the auspices of EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme. Novosti-Gruziya
Belarusian art was presented in Tbilisi. The exhibition of works of Belarusian artists named "Diffusion Space" was opened in Tbilisi on 17 May. The culture ministry organized the exhibition within the project "Gallery of Modern Art". The project contributes to the development of modern Georgian art at local, regional, and international level. Ministry of Culture of Georgia
850th anniversary of Shota Rustaveli was celebrated in Georgia. The slogan of this year’s Independence Day was “I come from the country of Rustaveli” as the Independence Day date coincided with the 850th anniversary of Shota Rustaveli. Shota Rustaveli is a Georgian poet, who wrote a poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”. An exhibition dedicated to famous poet was opened on 26 May at the Georgian National Museum. Agenda.ge
Moldova
Case study: project helps to develop creative culture in Orhei city. Orhei is one of the cities cooperating with the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme in order to develop cultural and creative sector. Due to the project, a roadmap and an action plan on creative development of the Orhei city will be written, taking into account the recommendations of the international experts. During the National Cultural Forum, Orhei experts emphasized that the key problem of the city is creative youth outflow. Therefore one of the tasks on the agenda is to create a social space where the local population can communicate with creative people. Diez
Moldovan cabinet supports national cinematography. A regulation on financing cinematography approved at a cabinet meeting on 17 May.The document establishes the ways and conditions of use and distribution of state financing of the cinematography, film festivals and cinematographic heritage. The financing of the cinematographic activity from the state budget is made through the National Cinematography Centre, based on selection of offers, which will be organized not less than once a year and cannot exceed the quota of 50 per cent of the project’s budget. MOLDPRES
Culture minister met Head of French Institute. Culture minister Monika Babuk held a meeting with Bruno Foucher, Head of French Institute, on 18 May. The officials discussed the opportunities of bilateral co-operation, economic aspects of culture in Moldova and extension of French language programs within Moldovan-French cultural co-operation. Ministry of Culture of Moldova
Slavic Writing and Culture Days were celebrated in Moldova. The celebrations of Slavic Writing and Culture Days were held in 60 settlements of Moldova during last week of May. According to the latest census, almost 18% of Moldovan citizens are Slavs. At the same time, the organizers stressed that the Slavic Writing and Culture Days are a holiday of unity of all cultures of the country. Point.md
Festival of Sciences was opened in Moldova. Francophone University Association, together with Moldovan universities, presented new project, Festival of Sciences, on 15-19 May. The festival is designed to foster teaching skills of French language in Moldova and inform the public about the sciences taught in Moldova in French. Vesti.md
Ukraine
Head of EU Delegation stresses the need for Ukraine to create its own brand. “Ukraine should create its own brand to become famous in Europe,” Head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli said at the public discussion "Cultural diplomacy: roads to mutual understanding", which was held in Kyiv within Europe Day celebrations. The diplomat also stressed that the state should develop a set of measures to promote Ukraine abroad and support joint initiatives of Ukrainian and European cultural figures. UNIAN
Outcomes of the study on cultural heritage of Ukraine was presented in Kyiv. The museum experts Linda Norris and Vaiva Lankelienė presented the results of the research on the cultural heritage of Ukraine. The Ukrainian legislation and problems in the museum sector were discussed during the meeting with the representatives of Ukrainian art institutions and culture ministry. “Museums should become the bridges between science and people. That is why the collections of art objects and cultural heritage are so important for the society”, Lankelienė emphasized. PLATFOR.MA
Forum of cultural and creative industries was held in Lviv. The experts from different countries spoke about the prospects of Ukrainian cities in the context of world practices. A coordinator of the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme Nataliya Shostak presented a lecture on the culture and creative industries. The lecturer emphasized that culture cannot be only considered only as a structure of the culture ministry, which is subsidized by the state; culture, on the other hand, should also be considered as an important sector of the economy. Shostak explained how the creative industries are changing modern cities, providing the examples of European experience. ZAXID.NET
