The Power of Culture

"An active world of literature and poetry has developed in Libya over the past thirty years. Little is known about this in Europe because to the West, Libya did not exist on the world map until recently."

Lebanese author and journalist Hassan Daoud (1950) has noticed how interest in his work and that of his colleagues from the Islamic world has increased since 9/11. Arab literature received central focus during the Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2004 and will enjoy the same status during Winternachten in The Hague in January 2008. Daoud is pleased with all of the attention, but has a few critical comments.

Independent Thai cineaste Aditya Assarat (Bangkok, 1972), shot his first full-length film Wonderful Town in the village of Takua Pa in southern Thailand, where the tsunami spread death and destruction. The effects of the disaster are still visible everywhere; both the population and the economy are still struggling to overcome the events.

"Central in the policy of development cooperation is how people want to be helped. That takes creativity and awareness. Culture gives the power and the space to work on the millennium objectives. It is an intrinsic part of combating poverty." Never before has Bert Koenders, the Netherlands' Minister of Development Cooperation, been so outspoken about the role culture plays in development.

Film maker Josué Méndez (Peru, 1976) introduced his internationally acclaimed Días de Santiago in 2004 with support from the Hubert Bals Fund. The footage for his second film, Dioses, is currently being edited.

Wilson Pico (Ecuador, 1949) is considered one of the most important pioneers of contemporary dance in Ecuador. A conversation about experimental dance and the national cultural policies of Ecuador.

In his work the London-born Bengali mixes modern and traditional dance, sometimes described as 'contemporary kathak'. His style however has nothing to do with Indian folklore.

Half Moon, the successful film by Kurdish Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi, has been banned in his own homeland because of 'separatist elements'. The ban is already strongly affecting Ghobadi's career.

Videografías Invisibles is an itinerant exhibition of recent Latin-American video art. It visited Lima (Peru) in June 2007 where one of the curators, José-Carlos Mariátegui, took part in an interview.

Anwar Ibrahim, former minister and deputy prime minister of Malaysia, has travelled the world in a mission to bring about a dialogue between different religions. He visited the Netherlands in June 2007 at the invitation of the Society for International Development (SID).