Armenia
Armenia and Italy discussed cooperation in preservation of cultural heritage. Edward Nalbandian, Armenia’s foreign minister, and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni signed a joint statement on establishing a regional centre for cultural heritage preservation in Armenia. The establishment of this centre will be a continuation of the “Cultural Heritage Preservation in Armenia” programme, which is co-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy and Polytechnic University of Milan. Ministry of Culture of Armenia
Armenia 2017 State Budget will allocate 26.2 billion AMD to culture. Atom Janjughazyan, Armenia’s first deputy finance minister, noted this at National Assembly committees’ hearings on the draft state budget for next year. The means have been reduced as compared to 26.9 billion in 2016. News.am
Azerbaijan
A film produced by The European Azerbaijan Society highlighted the history of jazz. Azerbaijani violinist Sabina Rakcheyeva, Director of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) France Marie-Laetitia Gourdin and French composer Pierre Thilloy outlined the reasons why this western music genre became so popular in Azerbaijan and described how TEAS is supporting the new generation of Azerbaijani jazz musicians. Azertac
Diplomats: European Film Festival set to be a cultural bridge between Azerbaijan, EU. French Embassy in Baku hosted on 10 November an event dedicated to the presentation of the film “Terra” as part of the European Film Festival. Aurelia Bouchez, France’s ambassador, and Denis Daniilidis, the Head of Political, Economics and Press & Information Section at the EU Delegation, addressed the event and highlighted that the Festival is a cultural bridge between Azerbaijan and the European Union. Azernews
Belarus
Museum’s director spoke about the lack of dialogue with visitors. Oleg Ryzhkov, the Director of the National History Museum of Belarus, stressed in a conversation with Culture and Creativity Programme that the museum should not be a one-time visit kind of place. In his opinion, Exhibitions, museum projects should work in way that a person would want to go further, learn more independently, to plunge and explore the theme by oneself, and in the process turn to the museum for information. Culture and Creativity Programme
Austrian Cultural Season may become a regular event in Belarus. The event will start in 2016 and will continue into the next year. Boris Svetlov, Belarus’ culture minister, noted that parties are discussing a possibility of arranging the Belarusian Cultural Season in Austria. Austrian Cultural Season is the largest cultural project that Austria has ever carried out in Belarus. Ministry of Culture of Belarus
Georgia
Georgian director’s film awarded with Golden Pigeon at Leipzig Festival. Mariam Chachia’s documentary “Listen to Silence” was selected by judges among 11 nominees. DOK Leipzig is one of the oldest and most prestigious documentary festivals in the world. Georgian Journal
Contemporary school for aspiring filmmakers opens in Tbilisi. The Caucasus School of New Cinema features a team of internationally recognised directors and focuses on contemporary technical and creative methods for filmmaking. The school is partnered with CinemadaMare Film Festival in Italy, Moscow School of New Cinema in Russia and the Georgian Film Fund. Agenda.ge
Moldova
A Launching Event to the National Cultural Forum of Moldova took place in Moldova. The aim of the Launching Event was to initiate public discussion on creative cities and the ways of encouraging the urban development through culture and creativity in Moldova. The Seminar was co-organised by the European Union-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova. Culture and Creativity
An exhibition of Polish war-related posters was opened in Chisinau. The exhibition titled “War in Polish Posters. Krzysztof Dydo Collection” will be held at the National History Museum of Moldova until 30 November. It was organised in partnership with the Bucharest-based Polish Institute. National History Museum of Moldova
Swedish film festival takes place in Moldova for the fourth time. It was organised by the Swedish Embassy in Moldova in cooperation with the Swedish Institute and the Film Institute of Sweden. Screenings were held in Chisinau and in Tiraspol. Moldpres
Ukraine
Cultural managers tried to formulate a roadmap for the development of creative Ukraine. Under the leadership of cultural experts, they participated at the discussion organised by the Culture and Creativity Programme. Activists agreed that communities should be organised, to unite all stakeholders in culture and creative industries. Then problems should be determined and analysed, and search for solutions to them with the help of international experience, involving foreign experts. Culture and Creativity Programme
Platfor.ma jointly with Culture and Creativity Programme studied Poland’s experience in reforming the cultural sphere in the framework of Culture Matters series of case studies. Polish cultural managers and experts noted that cultural transformations in Poland began in 1989, but for a long time cultural institutions were not ready for the new challenges like communications and marketing. However, systematic reforms and financial aid from the EU enabled the state support for cultural organisations. All the players worked together on the development of new strategies in cultural sphere. Platfor.ma
Ukraine imposed language quotas for radio playlists. At least a quarter of a radio station's daily playlist will have to be in Ukrainian from now on, rising to 30% in 12 months' time and 35% a year after that. The law also requires TV and radio broadcasters to ensure 60% of programmes such as news and analysis are in Ukrainian. Ukrayinska Pravda
