The Power of Culture

During Heritage Day Brazil, which took place in Rotterdam early October, a fresh, broad perspective on international cooperation in heritage preservation was promoted.

The Arna-Jharna desert museum of Rajasthan shows the social, cultural and economic importance of the - at first sight - humble broom.

The South African Ministry of Culture launched a contest for the design of a memorial centre focusing on Sarah - Saartjie - Bartmann and her people, the Khoi San in March 2009.

The exposition African Terra Cotta: a Millenary Heritage, on display until 15 September 2009 in the Barbier-Mueller-museum in Geneva, has been targeted in a campaign against art theft.

The Museo del Caribe was opened in Barranquilla, Colombia, at the end of April 2009. Modern media are used to visualize the unique mixed culture of the Caribbean.

For centuries, Tanzania's coast was East Africa's most powerful trade centre. Ruins on Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara are now silent witnesses of the coast's golden age. These sites are now endangered and have therefore been included on the Unesco List of World Heritage in Danger. The Netherlands Centre for International Hertiage Activities has been asked to assist in mapping and protecting the sites that are located underwater.

Lebanese video artist, curator and photographer Akram Zaatari is also an 'archive artist', since he claims that collecting is an art form. The old photographs he showes differ significantly from the images we normally see from the Middle East. Recently he was a guest at The Human Body Special, as part of  the Café Mediterranée programme in Amsterdam.