The Power of Culture

Each citizen must be able to decide for himself what language he speaks, what religion he practices, and how he dresses. That is the message of the Human Development Report 2004.

The African Union (AU) has recognized Kiswahili as an official language. Up to now the Union, with which 53 African countries are affiliated, has communicated in Arabic, French, English and Portuguese. Kiswahili is spoken by a hundred million people in eastern and southern Africa. It is the official language of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Hivos has taken the initiative to establish a film fund for Central American and Cuban film productions. The fund is called Cinergia and is directed by Fundacine in Costa Rica.

With reference to the Unesco World Cultural Diversity Day, the German Bertelsmann foundation and the Chinese International Culture Association organised a forum dealing with cultural similarities and differences.

The Culture Council has advised the Netherlands' Junior Minister for Culture to stop structural OCW (Education, Culture and Science) subsidy for Tropenmuseum Junior. Museum staff members are astounded.

From 11 to 14 March, the European cultural Foundation (ECF) organised the conference Almost Real in Utrecht. Some one hundred and fifty visitors from Europe and the rest of the world participated in workshops and debates about art and social changes. The high point of the conference was a presentation by Okwui Enwezor titled The Artist as Producer in Times of Crisis.

With the first gift from the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) fund, the reading room in the university library in Baghdad has been refurbished.

It appears that the obelisk that Mussolini took with him from Ethiopia in 1937 is finally returning home.

Press releases regarding the fourth World Social Forum (WSF) devoted only marginal attention to culture. Nevertheless, the organization had created much room for artistic expressions.