From the Focal Point

Congratulations, Nina!

We are happy to announce that Nina Obuljen Korzinek, Culturelink Team member and IRMO research fellow, has been appointed Minister of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. Her qualifications and professionalism, her education and experience, the knowledge and understanding of the cultural sector indicate that she will know how to respond to the expectations of Croatian artists, cultural practitioners, institutions and associations. Openness towards new phenomena, a comprehension that the most successful reforms in culture have always come "from the bottom", and a commitment to building confiance among partners in culture, all these values permeate both her scientific work and her cultural practice.

One of Nina's main research issues is concerned with the unequal and unbalanced exchange of cultural goods and services around the world. She was an active participant in the creation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Together with Dutch expert Joost Smiers, Nina edited an important book on this topic: UNESCO's Convention - Making It Work, published in the Culturelink Joint Publications Series (2006). In this book, she points out that the measure of success of the Convention down the road will depend on how effectively this tool will have been wielded by those favouring cultural diversity.

Nina has always stressed that it is important to build new partnerships between diverse civil society movements and governments, as well as to strongly continue the research and analysis of different developments in the field of culture. For Nina, it is essential to be able to respond appropriately to all challenges, including those arising from technological developments or political decisions, which might have a direct impact on culture, cultural policy and cultural diversity. During the gala dinner at the 7th World Summit on Arts and Culture, held in Malta between 18 and 21 October 2016, as Programme Director of the Summit Nina stated that two years ago, when the decision on the theme of the Summit on cultural leadership was made, she could not have anticipated that during the Summit she herself would actually become a cultural leader in her own right in her home country.

We expect Nina to work on new cultural partnerships and face challenges such as the remodelling of cultural policy, ever more visible cultural diversities, technological changes, etc. There are so many problems in culture, the cultural sector is in need of a reform - we wish Nina a lot of success on this road!

Culturelink Team

1.   ALA CONFERENCE 2017 - AFRICA AND THE WORLD

The African Literature Association (ALA) Conference 2017 - Africa and the World: Literature, Politics and Global Geographies will take place at Yale University, New Haven, USA, on 14 - 17 June 2017. The conference theme seeks to engage with and interrogate recent shifts in critical and theoretical frameworks from regional, national, and postcolonial models towards world literature as a framework for understanding the literatures of the Global South. The deadline for proposals is 15 November 2016. >>>

2.   CULTURE, SUSTAINABILITY AND PLACE - INNOVATIVE APPROACHES FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

The interdisciplinary conference Culture, Sustainability, and Place: Innovative Approaches for Tourism Development will take place in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal, on 11 - 13 October 2017. The conference will explore the place and roles of culture within sustainable tourism and local sustainable development. The deadline for proposals is 16 December 2016. >>>

3.   HERITAGE FORUM OF CENTRAL EUROPE: HERITAGE AND SOCIETY

The Heritage Forum of Central Europe is a cyclical, biennial event organized by the International Cultural Centre in Krakow. The aim of the fourth edition, to be held in Krakow, Poland on 1 - 3 June 2017, is to discuss and analyse the reciprocity between heritage and society, as well as their mutual engagement. The deadline for submitting a 150-word abstract is 8 January 2017. >>>

4.   VII LISBON SUMMER SCHOOL - GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS

The Lisbon Summer School for the Study of Culture is the annual meeting of the Lisbon Consortium's MA and PhD Programme in Culture Studies, bringing together leading scholars in the field of culture, doctoral students and researchers from all around the world. The VII Lisbon Summer School for the Study of Culture: Global Translations will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 26 June - 1 July 2017. The deadline for submissions is 30 January 2017. >>>

5.   CULTURE ACTION EUROPE IS HIRING A SECRETARY GENERAL

Culture Action Europe (CAE) is looking for a Secretary General. The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to Culture Action Europe values, a strategic vision of the role of arts and culture in political life and believe in the value of arts and culture for European citizens. Application deadline is 27 November 2016. >>>

6.   THE MARC DE MONTALEMBERT PRIZE 2017 FOR MEDITERRANEAN RESEARCH PROJECTS

The Marc de Montalembert Foundation in association with the French Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA) awards the annual Marc de Montalembert Prize for a research in the history of arts in the Mediterranean. The deadline for applications is 30 November 2016. >>>

7.   MIT PROGRAMME IN ART, CULTURE AND TECHOLOGY (ACT)

The Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a rigorous two-year programme for artists-thinkers advancing their critical and production practices. Research, pedagogy and MIT's culture of scientific inquiry and technological advancement inform current explorations: cinema and its migrations; art in the public sphere; performance, video, photography and related media; and spatial and sonic experimentation. Application deadline is 31 December 2016. >>>

8.   MFA IN DIGITAL ARTS

MFA in Digital Arts is accepting applications for fall 2017 at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Within the context of new media and networked culture, students in the 60-credit-hour, two-year MFA in Digital Arts produce work that is conceptually and technically sophisticated and positioned within a contemporary art discourse. Application deadline is 5 January 2017. >>>

9.   EUROPEAN DIPLOMA IN CULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2017/2018

The European Diploma in Cultural Project Management 2017/2018 is the 27th edition of this pan-European training programme for project-oriented European cultural managers organized by the Association Marcel Hicter and supported by the Council of Europe. Application deadline is 15 January 2017. >>>

10.   CULTURAL HERITAGE: REUSE, REMAKE, REIMAGINE

Cultural Heritage: Reuse, Remake, Reimagine, the third conference of the Europeana Space project, will take place in Berlin, Germany on 21 - 22 November 2016. The conference will showcase the myriad ways that cultural heritage can be used and enriched through new technologies, innovation and the ingenuity of the creative industries. >>>

11.   HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND POLICIES IN SOUTHERN MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES

Med Culture, a 4-year regional programme funded by the European Union to accompany partner countries in the south of the Mediterranean in the development and improvement of policies related to the culture sector, commissioned this thematic study on Higher Education and Training in Cultural Management and Cultural Policies in Southern Mediterranean Countries by Milena Dragicevic Sesic and Nina Mihaljinac with the contribution of Mohamed Amine Moumine. >>>

12.   GUIDELINES FOR CITIES ON THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN THE INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES, MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

The Guidelines, prepared by EUROCITIES, highlight the possibilities offered by local cultural policies for the integration of newcomers and all residents of a migrant background, irrespective of their formal status. They also provide recommendations to cities on developing a long-term strategy on culture for the integration of migrants. >>>

13.   INDIGENOUS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: A HANDBOOK OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book considers the international struggle to provide for proper and just protection of indigenous intellectual property. The collection examines national developments in indigenous intellectual property from around the world. >>>

14.   CONCEPTS OF MUSIC AND COPYRIGHT: HOW MUSIC PERCEIVES ITSELF AND HOW COPYRIGHT PERCEIVES MUSIC

Edited by Andreas Rahmatian, School of Law, University of Glasgow, UK, the book Concepts of Music and Copyright compares and contrasts the concepts of copyright law with those of music and musical performance. It brings together specialists in music, musicology and copyright law, providing a genuinely interdisciplinary research approach. >>>

15.   CRITICAL ARTS: SOUTH-NORTH CULTURAL AND MEDIA STUDIES

Critical Arts is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing articles which examine how disciplines represented by cultural and media studies think about themselves in terms of critical dialogues generated within the South - North relationship, with special reference to Africa. The second issue of the journal brings an interesting research article about celebrity culture, media and the Nigerian youth in a globalised world. >>>

16.   DIVERSITY AND THE FILM INDUSTRY

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) recently released an analysis of its 2014 Feature Film Statistics. The report, based on data from 2012 and 2013 for 97 countries, emphasizes the relationship between cultural diversity and the functioning of the film industry. >>>

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