The Power of Culture

It is an idea with great promise. Transforming children’s stories into animated books for television and digital media, using Same Language Subtitling (SLS), can change how millions read in India.

Since 2000, Dutch designer Arnout Visser has been working with local glass blowers in a glass factory in Kitengala, Kenya, on his Bushglass project. The consumer glasswork is exhibited and sold in Kenya and Europe.

For some time there have been warnings that national art subsidies are under pressure from agreements that countries make in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Because of free trade and the related consumer preferences, indigenous cultural products ultimately end up getting the short end of the stick.

Overseas cultural legacy is gaining significance in the Netherlands. But would developing countries not prefer to forget reminders of the Dutch slave trade and colonialism? Secretary of state Atzo Nicolaï: "Most Dutch people are completely unaware of the monuments that we have left in other parts of the world."

The international world of fashion has been turned upside down: no longer is it ruled from its strongholds in Paris, London and Milan – instead, nowadays the world of fashion is shaped by designs from all over the world. Thanks to TV and the Internet, designers can now reach an audience of millions.

New-style development cooperation: a contest for enterprising developers, who have to combine earning a profit with improving the living standards in developing countries.
Rag-Bag produces trendy bags from recycled plastic carrier bags in India.

Sawa Sawa! by Cheche, a band from Kenya, is the first release on the Fair Trade Music Label, established by Mundial Productions in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

Under the motto 'Trade, not aid', Dutch Design in Development (DDiD) was launched on 8 March 2005 in Amsterdam with a symposium. DDiD connects businesses in developing countries to designers in the Netherlands so that they can collectively arrive at a better product.