Representatives from eleven countries and special administrative regions attended the 11th meeting of the IFACCA Asian Chapter, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 23-27 May, co-hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia.
Meeting topics included: current strengths of, and opportunities for, arts councils and ministries of culture in the region; WorldCP-Asia; IFACCA’s cultural policy database; cultural cooperation and collaboration mechanisms; and engaging with the community, civil society and the private sector.
Participants also had the opportunity to hear three guest presenters: Vanessa Achilles, Programme Officer, Culture Unit, UNESCO, Regional Unit for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, who presented the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions; Ky-Anh Nguyen, Assistant Director, Culture and Information Division, ASEAN Secretariat, Indonesia, who presented ASEAN’s work on international collaboration and cultural diversity; and Preeti Gaonkar, Project Executive, Asia-Europe Foundation who presented on WorldCP-Asia and other ASEF projects.
Participants also met with Y.Bhg. Datuk Dr. Ong Hong Peng, Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, and participated in an extensive cultural programme including the Citrawarna festival and a visit to the historic town of Malacca, where they were hosted by local cultural organisations.
The IFACCA Asian Chapter was established in 2002, and has met regularly since then. Regional chapters comprise, in general, IFACCA’s national members. The purpose of regional chapters is to:
- build inter- and intra-regional networks between national and affiliate members of IFACCA, to promote understanding and enhance cooperation between arts councils, ministries of culture and other key cultural agencies
- promote a consolidated platform for the sharing and exchange of collective knowledge of arts councils and ministries of culture
- strengthen the capacity of arts councils and ministries of culture to meet the challenges and opportunities of policy-making and funding issues
- promote IFACCA at the regional level and assist in increasing membership
- undertake activities of interest to regional members that meet the objectives of the Federation.
For further information on IFACCA’s Asian Chapter (and other regional chapters) please visit: http://www.ifacca.org/membership/regional_chapters/
11th IFACCA Asian Chapter Meeting - Participants
- Cambodian Living Arts, Cambodia
- CFLAC - China Federation of Literary & Art Circles, China
- Hong Kong Arts Development Council, China, Hong Kong SAR
- ASEAN Secretariat, Indonesia
- Arts Council Tokyo, Japan
- National Department for Culture and Arts, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia
- Japan Foundation, Malaysia
- National Commission for Culture & the Arts, Philippines
- Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore
- National Arts Council of Singapore
- Arts Council Korea, South Korea
- UNESCO, Regional Unit for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Thailand
- IFACCA secretariat, Australia