The Power of Culture

In order to ensure that the network in the field of cultural heritage will be able to maintain contact and exchange project knowledge and expertise, there now is an Internet platform.

Malinese master bricklayers created a business for the preservation of the loam architecture in Djenné. In addition they promote local employment.

How can museums from the South prevent putting more energy in contacts with western museums than with their own environment? Young museum professionals from Africa, Asia and Latin-America on May 15 and 16, 2008 joined their Dutch counterparts in order to discuss this issue and others.

Sufism, the mystical school within Islam, is being practised worldwide and is gaining popularity for years. In the Maroccan city of Fes the Festival de Fès de la Culture Soufie was therefore created in 2006.

Art made by South African artists is so popular at foreign auctions that the country's own museums can no longer afford to purchase the work. As a result, paintings by the national masters, which often have great cultural-historical meaning, are disappearing to other countries.

In one of the poorest regions of Senegal a locally driven artisan initiative, known as Maam Samba, provides work for over 350 employees and revitalizes a West African tradition of craftsmanship.

The story of the evolution of the Hidden Afghanistan exposition in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk reads like a boy's adventure. Seven staff members of Kabul's National Museum risked their lives in 1998 to bring the collection to safety.