About the Arts and Culture Program2007 Activities
The Arts and Culture Network Program worked in the Caucasus, Inner Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Balkans to develop, empower, and build the capacity of organizations and individuals that promoted cultural exchange, understanding, and tolerance through the arts.
The Arts and Culture Network Program continued its partnership with the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) in 2007 to support the exchange of artists and cultural managers between Europe and the Caucasus. The program also continued funding the ECF’s Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture to support collaborative artistic and cultural initiatives across Europe to help prepare the cultural ground for South Eastern European states acceding to the EU. In Central Asia, the program supported matching funds grants with the Dutch organization Hivos for museum and cinema development and for the second Central Asia Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, which featured young media artists presenting video works emphasizing the imagery and musicality of the Central Asian states.
As part of the International Human Rights Documentary Film festival, a program grantee, One World Kyrgyzstan, screened films about women, Islam, and children, followed by discussions, in Bishkek, Osh, and Jalalabad. The Central Asian School of Performing Arts provided training in acting, directing, dancing, and singing to talented young people from Central Asia, selected in an open competition. The Armenian Jewish Music & Poetry Festival introduced the public to the contemporary music and poetry of Jewish composers and authors to help create a respectful and tolerant view toward people from different nationalities and cultures residing in Armenia.
In Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the Arts and Culture Network Program carried out two major activities in 2007: the Roma Mentoring Project and the First Roma Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. The Roma Mentor Project brought Roma painters, musicians, media stars, and other cultural professionals together with ethnically mixed children and youth groups at schools and community centers to develop the children’s awareness and knowledge about Roma culture.
The First Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, a groundbreaking effort initiated by OSI with support from the ECF, the Allianz Kulturstiftung, and Pro Helvetia, marked the arrival of Roma contemporary culture on the international stage. The pavilion, featuring the works of 16 contemporary Roma artists, challenged the exotic "Gypsy" stereotype. While the pavilion was open, the program organized concerts by Roma musicians, roundtable discussions, and a video installation of racist, anti-Roma films and advertisements.
