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Globosaurus
Globosaurus is a resource for cultural and community workers who are responding to the impact of global development. It links people around the world, encouraging collaboration and information sharing on a practical level. It also provides a forum for discussion and debate about both the threats and opportunities posed by globalisation, bringing the expertise of other disciplines into a dialogue with the cultural and community sectors.
The idea for Globosaurus developed from a conference hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation which brought together 25 community cultural development workers from around the world. The week long conference focused on the cultural and community impacts of globalisation, exploring the role of the cultural and community sectors in sparking and coordinating local responses. In essence, Globosaurus aims to generate a greater involvement in these vital and challenging discussions. The launch of Globosaurus in October 2002 coincides with the release of the Rockefeller Foundation's book Community, Culture and Globalisation - an anthology with chapters from each of the conference delegates. Globosaurus uses the ideas and questions raised in this unique publication to begin a dialogue within the Forums section of the web site. (More about this publication in this issue of Culturelink, pp. 89-90.)
Globosaurus is an initiative of the Australian community cultural development group Feral Arts. The first stage is a collaboration between Feral Arts and Adams and Goldbard - Seattle-based community cultural development consultants and editors of Community, Culture and Globalisation. Globosaurus is jointly funded by Arts Queensland and the Community Cultural Development Fund of the Australia Council for the Arts, the federal government's arts funding and advisory body.
Log onto the Globosaurus site and join the discussion at: http://www.globosaurus.net
Search for Common Ground
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) was founded in Washington in 1982. They started with only two employees and a handful of supporters; today they have 360 staff members and a direct outreach, through media programmes, to millions of beneficiaries. They sponsor activities on four continents and have offices in fourteen countries.
Search for Common Ground functions as social entrepreneurs who design and implement innovative ways to reframe issues and solve problems. Over the years they have developed projects mostly related to conflict prevention. They have developed 24 operational methods which include well-known conflict resolution techniques, such as mediation and facilitation, and less traditional ones, like TV production, radio soap opera and community organizing.
Search for Common Ground has been working a lot to incorporate the arts into conflict resolution. In 2001, they established the Arts & Culture Division, thus recognizing the importance of the arts in their work. Some projects in this field include the annual Common Ground Film Festival in Washington DC, the art exchange programmes with Iran, support for drama troupes in Africa, a cultural festival in Burundi, a children's television programme in Macedonia and several others.
For additional information, please contact: SFCG, Arts and Culture, 1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20009, USA; tel.: +1 202 265 4300; fax: +1 202 232 6718; e-mail: search@sfcg.org; http://www.sfcg.org
Institute for African Development (INADEV)
The Institute for African Development (INADEV) is a non-profit organisation based in Accra, Ghana and represented in several other countries in the sub-Saharan. The Institute works in several different fields. INADEV's Center for Indigenous Knowledge Systems, works to draw the attention of the international community to problems caused by the unauthorized commercial exploitation of African traditional knowledge.
The goal of INADEV's training programs on traditional knowledge is to reverse the process of exploitation and loss by providing African countries with the knowledge and skills necessary to leverage indigenous resources for their benefit through such methods as (i) ensuring conservation and sustainable use of the resources; (ii) protecting rights and access to resources for indigenous communities; (iii) negotiating equitable agreements that share benefits fairly among all stakeholders; (iv) raising awareness of key international treaties and agreements in legal and intellectual property areas; (v) building capacity to develop value-added industries in Africa in art and crafts, music, dance, pharmaceutical research and agricultural biotechnology among others; and (vi) developing appropriate legal, regulatory and policy frameworks to enhance the enabling environment for the pursuit of these goals.
In addition, INADEV maintains its strong and active presence at international meetings where traditional knowledge and biodiversity rights of indigenous communities are discussed. For example, it has permanent accreditation before the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). -INADEV has also been a consultant to UNESCO regarding the safeguarding of traditional knowledge. It represented the African region in a Committee of Experts established by the Director General of UNESCO to produce a preliminary instrument on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage which has now been presented to Member States.
INADEV's Center for Law, Trade and Technology Management assists in building a regulatory reform by providing advice on general policy reforms regarding African legal and economic policy and practice. Its current priority is the development of a regional policy on intellectual property law relevant to Africa's needs.
For more information, please contact: Professor Paul Kuruk, Institute for African Development (INADEV), Private Mail Bag, Accra Central Post Office Accra, Ghana; tel.: +233 24 376569; e-mail: pkuruk@inadev.org; http://www.inadev.org
Routes to the Textile-Industrial Heritage in Europe
From June 2002 to June 2003, the Hanover based publishing house Textil-Forum-Service will receive support from the EU Commission to create 11 model routes in 11 European countries under the Culture 2000 programme. The Textile Museum of Prato/Tuscany and the Museum of Science and Technology of Terrassa/Catalonia will act as co-organizers. Among the other partners are museums and institutions from nine Central and Eastern European countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Georgia. Another important partner is the European Textile Network (ETN), located in Strasbourg.
Textile routes can be visited, both virtual and as real travelling routes, by tourists interested in textiles; professionals interested in textiles; professionals searching for contacts with colleagues from the field of textiles; professional and amateur textile artists, designers or craft people planning their participation in European events.
There are 270 already existing stations at the routes and the 100 new stations include industrial and cultural monuments from textile history; venues where important textile events are organised; museums or places of collections, care and presentation of textile cultural heritage; remarkable places of production; institutes of education and research.
Further route stations are welcome (e.g., museums, academies/colleges, associations) for such countries where there are already routes installed. In other countries the aim is to start with a new route of at least five stations.
For all those interested in textiles, the route network in Europe is offering reliable first-hand information with all necessary details for getting in contact in English, French and German. The advantage for the route stations is more than a promotional one; the stations become connected to similar institutions in their own and other European regions while the region itself is put on the map in the cultural context.
For more information, please contact: Beatrijs Sterk, Routes coordinator, Textil-Forum Service, ETN Secretariat, P.O. Box 59 44, D-30059 Hanover, Germany, e-mail: ETN@ETN-net.org; http://www.ETN-net.org
European Music Office (EMO)
The European Music Office (EMO) is an international not-for-profit association gathering professional organisations, associations and federations from the music sector in the European Union. It represents more than 600,000 people from all types of music and disciplines (authors, composers, performers, publishers, producers, managers; those involved in live music, education and training).
EMO's mission is to defend the interests of the entire music sector. It specifically seeks to gain support from European institutions. Its main objective within the European Union is to conceive and implement a common music policy - a specific and necessary support for the European music industry.
Goals of the European Music Office are as follows:
- to facilitate the circulation of works, artists and products,
- to facilitate exchanges, co-operation and the mobility of music professionals,
- to facilitate public access to music and music practice,
- to encourage the development of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the music sector.
The EMO action plan includes: lobbying for activities; implementing informational seminars and meetings; developing a network of all those involved in the music sector; creating an Internet web site to enable better access to information linked to music.
EMO's priorities are:
- The adaptation of the existing European legal, fiscal and social framework for the development of artistic creation, artistic life and the activities of music companies. Legal requirements would include intellectual property legislation and anti-piracy regulations.
- The adaptation of the existing European cultural programme for the needs of traditionally recognised cultural activities, such as classical music, opera, modern genres as well as amateur music.
- The implementation of a Music Industry Programme, which would support the initiatives of cultural entrepreneurs within the European market.
It is important to consider these actions and the Music Industry Programme not only as a means of support for the music industry, but also as the first steps toward a new EU policy concerning all cultural industries in the Member States. Indeed, most of the problems encountered by the music industry are also encountered by the book and film industries. These three sectors represent a significant part of the European economy and of the European labour market.
For more information, please contact: The European Music Office, Rue du Trône 51, B - 1050 Brussels, Belgium, tel.: +32 2 213 14 00; fax: +32 2 213 14 01; e-mail: emo@emo.skynet.be; http://www.musicineurope.org
Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture
The Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture (HKICC) is a non-profit, non-governmental community-initiated organisation founded in 1996. Its aim is to promote cultural development by initiating cultural exchange, creative education and cultural research programmes and activities. Since its inception, the institute has actively strived to expand the sphere and scope of cultural cooperation and exchange between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
All programmes planned and implemented by the HKICC have their central aim in promoting contemporary culture, nurturing creativity of the young and sustaining cultural dialogues among cities. A city-to-city approach is emphasized as the basic programming direction, while disciplinary (different social sectors) interactions are advocated in other creative and educational programmes.
HKICC projects support and are active in cultural forums and seminars, creative education, research, international networking and international festivals.
For more information, please contact: Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture, 23/F Admiralty Centre Tower II, 18 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong, Unit 15, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon; tel.: (852) 2867 1306; fax: (852) 2810 6398; e-mail: hkicc@hotmail.com
Ecopeace Network for Northeast Asia
The Ecopeace Network for Northeast Asia is a cross-institutional forum, one of the first of its kind in the region, that was established in 2001 to strengthen domestic and foreign cooperation among non-governmental and governmental actors, international organizations and the private sector. Its main aims are to reverse negative environmental trends and promote peace in the region-based on the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle, cultural diversity and the equal participation of all.
The Network maintains a website that provides a wealth of information on peace, culture and environmental issues in Northeast Asia. The site includes topical news items of regional interest, extensive regional and country-specific research, networking links and detailed information about the Network member news and projects. Please visit www.ecopeacenet.org for more information.
The Network also periodically publishes a Newsletter and organises conferences. Recent member projects of particular note include efforts to set up a Sino-Russian-North Korea Trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve and UNDP sponsored eco-tourism projects in the Tumen River Basin.
This year's Ecopeace Network for Northeast Asia Annual Conference will be held in December 2002 in Seoul, S. Korea.
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO and other institutional donors provide primary financial support for the Network. Other fundraising activities such as grant competitions, public-private partnerships, grass-roots mobilization, and other ventures will be carried out by the Network.
The Network invites organisations and individuals with an interest in Northeast Asian environmental issues to contact: Ms. Shim Suk-kyung, Sciences & Communication Team, Korean National Commission for UNESCO, P. O. Box Central 64, Seoul, Korea; tel.: 82 2 755 3015, 82 2 755 1105 (ext. 320); fax: 82 2 755 7477; e-mail: skshim@unesco.or.kr
Arts Development Association of Taiwan (ADAT)
The Arts Development Association of Taiwan (ADAT) is a non-profit arts development strategy organisation and interagency for cultural policy and resource connection, established in 2002. ADAT aims to connect existing artistic resources and to promote administration management through the Internet; to integrate new technologies with the Taiwanese artistic environment and to build a new arts network in Taiwan.
ADAT promotes arts education and is developing a professional 'Think Tank on Culture Policy'. ADAT combines academic research and information gained from cultural practice to educate cultural workers about existing art policies and regulations and to create a new way of art management and strategies. ADAT plans to create 'Art Resources on the Internet', a network of related information and resources.
ADAT is organising an international symposium on NGO and Cultural Policy that will take place in Taipei, Taiwan, 14-16 March 2003. (See pp. 59-60 in this issue.)
For further information, please contact: ADAT, 2F, No. 9-1, Lane77, Sec1, Hangjou South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan; tel.: 886 2 23578818; fax: 886 2 23211739; e-mail: adat@ms61.hinet.net; http://www.adat.org.tw
Art Works
Artistic Services in the Third Sector
The development partnership of 12 organisations entitled Art Works - Artistic Services in the Third Sector (September 2002 - February 2005) is organised and financed by the European Initiative EQUAL (ESF) and with the support of the Austrian Ministry of Economy and Labour. From September 2002 - February 2005 Art Works will work to improve both the conditions in the employment market and the unstable working conditions of artists in various specializations. The main focus will be on the development of new working fields for artists in the Third Sector.
The aim of Art Works is to increase public awareness of artistic work as a social and economic service; to analyse and present new areas of activity for artists in the field of social economics and to actively promote this market sector; to implement long-term support and advice structures for artists who want to establish businesses (e.g., start-up support for artists) and to set-up a network of organisations and players involved in this area.
The Art Works development partnership (DP) pursues a strategy of networking among various players and organisations involved in employment market policy, in the Third Sector (art/culture, as well as the health and social sector), (artistic) education and training, business consultancy and start-up support as well as research and science and making synergies available.
The DP is involved, in various modules, with installing an Internet-based platform culture & employment, with accompanying studies analysing demand and the market, with qualifying strategies for artists from different specializations (development of artistic services and cultural entrepreneurship), as well as with the long-term implementation of consultancy structures.
Target groups include artists from various specializations who cannot live of their work in the purely artistic/cultural field alone (92% of all artists according to conducted studies); artists who are unemployed for a length of time or experience repeated periods of unemployment; as well as older artists who are finding it difficult to continue practising their profession (especially dancers and actors) and artists from rural areas outside centres of cultural industry (key comparison Vienna - rural areas) or artists who deliberately place their work in a social context.
The partner ÖKS Österreichischer Kultur-Service is in charge of coordination while international project partners include Economia Sociale e Nuova Imprenditorialita (DP), Italy; Ad Cultur Civitas (DP), Spain and Saber & Arte (DP), Portugal.
For more information, please contact: ÖKS Österreichischer Kultur-Service, Ulrike Giessner, Projectmanagement, Art Works, Stiftgasse 6, A - 1070 Vienna, Austria, tel.: +43 (0)1 523 57 81 - 30; fax: +43 (0)1 523 89 33
e-mail: ulrike.giessner@OKS.at; http://www.OKS.at
From December 2002, please visit the web site: www.equal-artworks.at
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