international cultural engagement task force report

8/12/2019 International Cultural Engagement Task Force Report

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INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT TASK FORCE MEMBERS

CO-CHAIRS

Honorable Frank Hodsoll Co-Chair | Principal, Hodsoll & Associates

Ambassador Cynthia Schneider Co-Chair | Distinguished Professor, Diplomacy,Georgetown University

MEMBERS

Alicia Adams Vice President, International Programming, Kennedy Center

Ambassador Nicholas Burns Professor Practice of Diplomacy & International Politics,

Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Adele Chatfield Taylor President & CEO, American Academy in Rome

Elizabeth Daley Dean School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

Sandra Gibson President and CEO, Association of Performing Arts Presenters

Howard Gordon Executive Producer and Show-Runner, 24

Richard Kurin Under Secretary for History, Art,and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

Mary Ellen Lane Executive Director, Council American Overseas Research Centers

Steven D. Lavine President, California Institute of the Arts

Wayne Lawson Director Emeritus, Ohio Arts Council

Ellen Lovell President Marlboro College

Robert Lynch President & CEO Americans for the Arts

Laurie Meadoff CEO Cancer Schmancer, Inc.; Founder Chat the Planet

Christopher Merrill Director International Writing Program University of Iowa

Azar Nafisi Writer; Executive Director, Cultural Conversations, Nitze School

of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

FEDERAL AGENCY LIAISONS

Lea Perez Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Smithsonian Institution

(on detail from the State Department)

Eva Caldera Senior Advisor to the Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

USCCD STAFF

Jessica Rowe Director of Programs & Initiatives, U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy

TASK FORCE HOST AT SUMMIT

Connie Wimer Chairman, Business Publications Corporation;

Member, Board of Directors, U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy


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From the time of the Founding Fathers, arts and culture have brought Americas ideas and ideals to life, contributing

to relationships of mutual understanding and respect around the world. The November 2010 U.S. Summit for Global

Citizen Diplomacy, convened by the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, in partnership with the Department of State

and in support of more than 1,100 U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations, recognizes the importance of the arts and

culture within the broad spectrum of activities that constitute citizen diplomacy.

This report focuses on Best Practices selected by our International Cultural Engagement Task Force

(membership listed opposite). One of the Summits 10 Task Forces, ours examined activities that included the fieldsof dance; design; folk arts; humanistic study and publication; film, television, and the digital arts; libraries; literature;

music; opera-music theater; preservation; theater; and the visual arts; and the presenters, exhibitors, and networks of

these endeavors.

Cultural diplomacy is the linchpin of public diplomacy; for it is in cultural activities that a nations idea of

itself is best represented.STATE DEPARTMENT 2005 ADVISORY COMMITTEE CULTURAL DIPLOMACY REPORT

Faced with the difficult task of selecting Best Practices from a field of 59 extraordinary proposals, our Task

Force eventually narrowed its selection to the 14 activities (described below). They have made a real dif ference

contributing to peace and security, stability, economic development, human rights, justice, and mutual understanding

and respect. To leverage the potential of this type of cultural diplomacy on a sustained basis, State, Defense and

cultural agency funding needs to be substantially increased in the area of cultural exchange, and the barriers to foreignartists and scholars entering the country reduced.

The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is granting National Awards to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic

Director Judith Jamison and Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford. Succeeding Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison built

on his international commitment, dazzling 23 million people in 71 countries with Aileys unique repertoire of African

American modern dance. Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute to support emerging filmmakers. Due to his

international commitment, 30 percent of Sundance artists come from abroad. From Caracas to Cairo to Chongqing, an

invitation to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival or a Film Workshop, is a coveted prize.

International cultural engagement activities also contribute to the economies, attractiveness, and social cohesion

of Americas communities, towns, cities, states, and the nation as a whole. This conclusion is supported by research

for government agencies, the Congress, the National Governors Association, the Conference of Mayors, and the

Conference Board, among others. Cultural Best Practices introduce the American public to people they need tounderstand, but have little information about. Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser has noted, for example, that

the Center presented the people of the Arab world at its Arabesque Festival, not just as political beings, but as human

beings.

Americas creative industries number among the countrys top three exports; over half of our film and television

revenues come from overseas distribution. Our creative products shape foreign publics views of America, often

positively. As a Zimbabwean audience member wrote William Harvey of Cultures in Harmony, You form the beautiful

face of America which the world is yearning for.

International Cultural Engagement

TASK FORCE OVERVIEW

Frank Hodsoll and Cynthia Schneider, Co-Chairs

You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But it is an enthusiasm of which I am not ashamed,as its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation, to reconcile to them

the respect of the world and procure them its praise.

THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JAMES MADISON, PARIS, SEPTEMBER 20, 1785


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT TASK FORCE

2010 NATIONAL AWARDS FOR CITIZEN DIPLOMACY AND BEST PRACTICE

1 Judith Jamison / Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater New York, NY

3 Robert Redford / Sundance Institute Beverly Hills, CA; Park City, UT

BEST PRACTICES

5 American Voices Houston, TX; Bangkok, Thailand

7 Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn, NY

9 Cultures in Harmony New York, NY; Kabul, Afghanistan

11 Iowa International Writing Program Iowa City, IA

13 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC

15 Sesame Workshop New York, NY

17 Silk Road Project Boston, MA

19 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Washington, DC

21 World Digital Library, Library of Congress Washington, DC

23 World Monuments Fund New York, NY

BEST PRACTICES AND SPECIAL RECOGNITION

25 Asia Society New York, NY

(Combining cultural engagement and foreign policy)

27 Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Washington, DC

(Engaging citizens of all ages and occupations in the art of dance)

Published in conjunction with the

U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacys U.S. Summit & Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy

November 1619, 2010, Washington DC.

Materials included in this document are the views of the

submitting organization and are meant to serve as a tool for discussion.


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Top: Nasha Thomas-Schmitt, Co-Director Ailey Arts in Education Program with Revelations Residency students from Londons Islington Green School (2007). (Photo by Belinda Lawley)

Bottom: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theaters Revelations. (Photo by Paul Kolnik)


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www.USCenterforCitizenDiplomacy.org

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

New York, NY | www.alvinailey.org

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: JUDITH JAMISONEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: SHARON GERSTEN LUCKMAN

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Ailey) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. Declared in

2008 Cultural Ambassador to the World by the U.S. Congress, Ailey is both a premier modern dance company

and one of the most popular ambassadors of American culture abroad. The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is

recognizing Aileys Artistic Director, Judith Jamison, with a National Award for her outstanding leadership in this area.

The Companys tours combine inspiring performances with innovative community engagement, resulting in

greater appreciation of American modern dance and the African-American cultural tradition all over the world. Over its

52-year history, Ailey has performed in 71 countries on six continents for an estimated 23 million people.

Ailey has a rich history of wide-reaching and groundbreaking tours. In 1962, it was selected by President

Kennedy to tour Asia and Australia. The company performed across Africa in 1967, and in 1970 became the first

modern dance company to tour the former Soviet Union in more than 40 years. In 1985, Ailey became the first

modern dance company to tour the Peoples Republic of China following the normalization of Sino-American relations,

and in 1997 it embarked on an historic residency in South Africa following the lifting of the international cultural

boycott. In recent years, the Company has performed in Denmark, France, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Romania,

Russia, Israel, Greece, Italy, and throughout the United Kingdom, among other countries, reaching approximately

50,000 audience members internationally each year.

International fans number in the thousands on Alvin Aileys Facebook page and You Tube channel, and citizens

from 193 different countries visit its website each year. AileyConnect allows audience members to call in and then

select options that allow them to listen to choreographer notes or hear a message from a dancer or Artistic Director

Judith Jamison. With assistance from local cell-phone carriers, this program can be enabled in tour countries,

allowing communities around the world to engage with Ailey outside the theater.

International performances include special premieres and new productions from a repertory of over 200 ballets.

They also include pre- and post-performance discussions with Ailey dancers. The repertory features many works by

women and artists of color and reflects a broad spectrum of American culture. The international tours also include

community outreach and arts education that build cultural bridges and foster mutual understanding and respect

between the Company and local communities. Engagement activities are conducted in collaboration with community

organizations and local schools. Teaching artists work directly with students and their teachers, linking dance with

students academic subjects.

The Ailey organization relies on grants and other contributions in order to support its international touring

programs. Those interested in helping Aileys international programming should contact Amanda Nelson, at

[email protected].


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Sundance Institute

Beverly Hills, CA & Park City, UT | www.sundance.org

FOUNDER: ROBERT REDFORDEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: KERI PUTNAM

Sundance Institute is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is

recognizing the Institutes founder, Robert Redford, with a National Award for his outstanding leadership in this area.

The Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and

to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. For nearly three decades, the Institute has promoted

independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences.

In 1981, Mr. Redford gathered friends in the Utah mountains to discuss ways to support emerging filmmakers

telling personal, independent stories. The result was the Sundance Institute. What began as a retreat for a handful of

artists has today expanded to serve composers, directors, editors, playwrights, and screenwriters worldwide. Each

year, the Institute brings international artists to the United States to develop their work in uniquely creative labsalongside U.S. artists and under the guidance of acclaimed advisors, all experts in their fields. The Institute has also

adapted this model for use in other countries, working with local partners to engage artists on their home soil.

Thirty percent of the artists supported through Sundance Institute labs and the Sundance Film Festival come

from abroad. Early international programs a multi-faceted Latin American Initiative; screenwriters workshops in

Mexico, Chile and France, and pilot film festivals in Tokyo and Beijing have grown into Institute support for a range

of international projects, workshops, pitch sessions, work-in-progress readings, screenings and seminars across each

of the Institutes seven creative programs. Notably, to name a few: the RAWI (Storyteller) Screenplay Development

Lab in association with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan; the Sundance Documentary Fund, the preeminent

global funder of cinematic feature films from around the world committed to human rights, justice, civil l iberties and

related contemporary social issues; an East African Theatre Lab supporting theatre artists from Ethiopia, Kenya,

Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda; labs for film composers in Mexico and Poland; Native American and indigenous artistdevelopment in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand; a partnership with The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC),

dedicated to supporting contemporary nonfiction films targeting the audience in the Arab world; and the International

Filmmakers Award provided to filmmakers from Europe, Latin America, the United States and Japan.

Ever in search of unique storytellers, Institute staff travel the globe to conduct labs, lend expert ise as artistic

advisors and curators, scout for talent, advocate for the arts, connect with the local creative communities, and provide

a continuum of support for artists.

The annual Sundance Film Festival is one of the most significant film festivals in the world, a vital platform to

expand opportunities for American artists and to engage audiences worldwide. The 10-day, multi-venue celebration

of film, art, conversation, ideas and entertainment brings together filmmakers, students, visual artists, government

officials, cultural influencers, and journalists from over 110 countries, providing exposure for artists as well as for an

array of cultural, political and social issues. The State Departments International Visitor Leadership Program annuallybrings to the Festival international filmmakers, and The Open World Cultural Leaders Program uses the Festival to

promote cross-cultural understanding through professional exchange.

Sundance Institute is committed to creative collaboration and works closely with relevant government agencies,

arts councils, museums and similar cultural organizations. For 2010-2011, the Institute is partnering with the Presidents

Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the

Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services on an international cultural exchange program designed to

travel 10 independent filmmakers from the United States and around the world to 12 sites, here and abroad.

Those interested in supporting Sundance Institute should contact Keri Putnam at [email protected]


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4 INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT TASK FORCE

American Voices

Executive Director: John Ferguson

Houston, Texas | Bangkok, Thailand

www.americanvoices.org | www.yesacademy.info

American Voices represents an international cultural engagement Best Practice. For the past 17 years, it has provided

concerts, workshops, master classes and interactive performance projects to over 200,000 live audience members

in 110 countries on five continents. Under the direction of John Ferguson, the Jazz Bridges, Broadway, Hiplomacy and

Yes Academy programs further accessibility and understanding of American performing arts and culture in areas of the

world emerging from conflict and isolation or lacking opportunities for exchange and dialogue with the United States

American Voices has enabled mutual understanding and capacity building by supporting the next generation

of cultural leaders, teachers, and community arts activists through youth development, and teacher and arts

administration training, coupled with donations of artistic supplies, musical scores and instruments. American Voices

concerts with the Iraq National Symphony Orchestra (the first concert in Iraq by Americans in over a dozen years) and a

Kabuls Foundation for Culture and Civil Society in Afghanistan with the Jazz Bridges program have been groundbreakinAmerican Voices also created the first ever Jazz festivals and Broadway productions featuring local performers in

Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Moldova, Kosovo, Egypt, and

Lebanon.

In 2007, American Voices launched the Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academies to inspire and motivate youth

artistically and personally, while providing an alternative perspective to widely held and often negative views towards

the United States. The YES Academy programs provide high quality professional training and performances in some of

Americas great cultural genres (including Broadway, Jazz, and Hip Hop, childrens theater, and classical orchestra) to

youth and young adults ages 725. Between 2007 and 2010, these youth academies will have engaged over 3,250

youth in places that include Afghanistan, Belarus, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Syria and Thailand. American

Voices has also reached tens of millions through global live television and radio broadcasts amplified by virtual,

interactive tools such as Facebook, YouTube (youtube.com/Americanvoices), Twitter, Skype, and SMS texting.In 2009, American Voices hosted six youth academies for over 2,000 students on an operating budget of

$296,000. The majority of its programming is offered on a scholarship basis to participants through a limited amount o

earned income and a diverse base of funders/partners that include: national ministries of culture, U.S. Embassies and

military bands in their regions of operation, individuals, private foundations, and in-kind donations of time and resources

by artists, teachers and administrators, partners and universities.

Positive measurements of success are based on quantitative and qualitative indicators including participant

evaluations, audience attendance and outreach, the quality and breadth of artistic outputs, diversity of student bodies,

and the ability annually to sustain programming in multiple regions. Fundraising is a perennial challenge and in recent

years sources of support have been more forthcoming from stakeholders located outside of the United States. The

American Voices baseline-operating budget is $300,000. Those interested in helping American Voices should contact

[email protected].


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Top: Dr. Gene Aitken works with Brass students at new Afghan National Institute of Music.

Bottom: Hiplomacy in Kyrgyzstan: HaviKoro Break Dancers warm up aspiring young dancers in Jalalabad.


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Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)

President: Karne Brooks Hopkins

Executive Producer: Joseph Melillo

Brooklyn, NY | www.bam.org

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. BAM is a globally focused institution

that is committed to producing large-scale cultural exchange initiatives that connect people from across the worldfrom

artists and performers, to cultural entrepreneurs, policy makers, and scholarsto share ideas and learn from one another.

Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas and DanceMotion USASM epitomize BAMs commitment: both used the dynamic power of the arts

to enable audiences and participants alike to identify their shared values and build common understanding.

Producing Large-Scale Models of Cultural Engagement.In June 2009, BAM, Asia Society, and the New York

University Center for Dialogues produced Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas, a ten-day festival and two-day policy conference in New

York City. The goal: to showcase the richness of Islamic art and culture for U.S. audiences and foster cross-cultural dialogue.

Muslim Voices was the largest, multi-venue celebration of Islamic culture ever presented in the United States, reaching

audiences of over 23,000. Nine other New York-based organizations joined in the festival. Media partners WNET/THIRTEENand The New York Times further extended the initiatives reach. BAM will participate in another international festival of this

nature showcasing Cuban arts and culture in 2011.

An ambitious project unprecedented in the United States, Muslim Voices presented over 300 artists, performers, cultural

entrepreneurs, policy makers, and scholars from over 20 countries. The two-day academic and policy conference at the NYU

Center for Dialogues brought together 44 performers, writers, cultural entrepreneurs, government officials, commentators,

religious leaders, and scholars from across the globe to debate the role of culture in advancing understanding between the

Muslim and Western worlds. It also sought to identify practical steps for improving U.S.-Muslim relations through cultural

exchange. According to a local Brooklyn business owner who participated in the festival, Its good for this country. This is a

way to just talk together.1(www.muslimvoicesfestival.org)

Sharing American Dance Around the Globe. In August 2008, BAM was selected by the U.S. Department of State

to produce the 2010 pilot DanceMotion USASM. This was the first international tour of American dance of this size and rangesupported by the State Department in over 20 years. The tour brought three American dance companies to sixteen cities in

nine countries in three regions: Southeast Asia (Burma, Indonesia, and Thailand), Africa (Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa),

and South America (Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela). The three dance companies were OCD/Dance from San Francisco,

CA (to Southeast Asia); Evidence, A Dance Company (to Africa); and Urban Bush Women (to South America), both from

Brooklyn, NY. The program offered multiple opportunities for exchange between artists, audiences, and cultures through

21 performances and 104 cultural exchange activities. Several host embassies reported that DanceMotion USASMwas their

biggest cultural event of the year, and in many cases, the 2010 tours were the first by any American dance company in years.

In addition, BAM shipped 846 books and DVDs on American dance to 20 cities in all nine countries. The program reached

audiences of over 15,000 globally.

DanceMotion USASMreached a large number of youth, from young female Muslim participants in Indonesia to schoolchildren in

Colombia. As a 9th grader from South Africa said, It was my first time to see a danceThe dancers were strong and powerfullike birds flying in the sky and kudus running fast.2 (www.dancemotionusa.org)

Programs of this scale and scope require years of advance planning and substantial funding (Muslim Voices $1.9 million;

DanceMotion USASM$1.4 million). Those interested in helping BAMs international programming should contact Karen Brooks

Hopkins, President, at [email protected].

1 Issa Odtallah, Brooklyn business owner, as quoted in Festival for New York, That Muslim City by Felicia R. Lee,The New York Times,6/4/102 9th grade student from Grahamstown, South Africa as quoted in Evidence: A first time experience for many,Upstart, 3/9/10


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Top: DanceMotion USA (2010) ODC/Dance Workshop at the Mary

Above: Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas (2009) New Orleanss

Craig Adams in concert with Pakistans Qawwali Gospel Creation. (Photo by Scott Smith)

Right: Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas (2009): Community Souk. (Photo by Seon Gomez)


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Cultures in Harmony

Executive Director: William Harvey

New York, NY | Kabul, Afghanistan | www.culturesinharmony.org

Cultures in Harmony (CiH) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. A Pakistani music student once

asked its Director, William Harvey, When are you coming back? Having just played at Karachis National Academy

of Performing Arts, Mr. Harvey replied that they would do their best to come back the following year. The Pakistani

music student wasnt satisfied. He responded: Dont just make a link. Build a relationship. You are feeding an

entire nation.

Mr. Harvey and CiH are in the business of building relationships and have already returned to Karachi.

CiH has since 2005 conducted 19 projects in 11 countries all on a shoestring. The projects have created

50 American musical diplomats, the majority of whom are women. In Zimbabwe, CiH has taught AIDS orphans how

to write music inspired by water, highlighting water access issues at their school. In the Philippines, CiH and the

Cartwheel Foundation worked with different indigenous groups to develop compositions celebrating their heritage.

In Papua New Guinea, CiH helped the Yoro tribe create compositions about the environment, HIV/AIDS, and culturalpreservation. In Egypt, CiH helped underprivileged girls from Alexandria compose music about their lives. CiHs

project in Cameroon has catalyzed the largest increase in membership ever seen by the Cameroon Nigeria

Youth Movement.

In Konya, Turkey, where the whirling dervish ceremony originated 700 years ago, CiH musicians became

the first female musicians to join male musicians in accompanying the ceremony. CiH partnered with UNICEF in

Moldova for a benefit concert that collected 7,000 books for their childhood literacy program. In Zimbabwe, CiHs

benefit concert for Eyes for Africa raised funds to restore sight to 145 people. CiH master classes for classical

musicians have benefited thousands in Qatar, Egypt, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Mexico, and Tunisia.

CiH has been profiled in newspapers, radio stations, websites, and TV channels, everywhere from Zimbabwe to

Pakistan to the Dominican Republic. CiH projects have changed the perceptions of those with whom they connect.

Amal, a young Tunisian violinist, typifies the response: Youve changed the image that I had about Americansbecause youre completely different. Youre nice, kind, friendly, generous, awesome, beautiful. CiH sustains its

relationships through Facebook (over 1,000 members from over a dozen countries). The CiH YouTube channel

includes over 30 videos; its Flickr page features well over 100 photos. CiH also has an extensive presence on

Twitter, MySpace, and in the blogosphere.

The majority of CiHs budget is international travel. Since partners in the host countries arrange

accommodations and ground transportation, CiH can send five musicians to Tunisia for a week for $10,000. CiH

currently aims to transition towards engaging its Operations Manager on a full-time basis. It has received extensive

support from the U.S. State Department, the Samuels Foundation, the Copland Fund, the McGraw-Hill Companies,

and numerous private individuals.

Mr. Harvey lives and works in Afghanistan as the Violin and V iola Teacher of the Afghanistan National Institute

of Music, founded by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast. He teaches violin to boys who went without proper instruction for yearsand to impoverished girls who were selling chewing gum on the street. Through CiH, music continues to remind

people of the shared humanity from which they may draw the strength to understand one another.

CiHs international work has made a real difference. In 2009, CiH spent $60,000 on six projects. Those

interested in helping William Harvey and CiH should contact [email protected].


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Top left: Emily Holden lets children at school in Pakistan try her violin (2009) Top right: leTrumpeter Peter Evans improvises with woman from ancient

Aeta indigenous community in the Philippines (2008). Bottom: William Harvey shakes hands after outreach concert at primary school in Essos

neighborhood of Yaound, Cameroon (2009).


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International Writing Program, University of Iowa

Director Christopher Merrill

Iowa City, IA | http://iwp.uiowa.edu

The International Writing Program (IWP) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. Founded in 1967, IWPs

annual Fall Residency program has brought to campus over 1,200 authors from more than 120 countries. In the last

eight years, IWP has increased its focus on important literary voices in the Middle East and Muslim world. When Israeli

and Palestinian writers speak to local audiences about their conflict; when a radio interviewer asks an Iraqi editor about

the situation in his country; when Muslim writers from countries as disparate as The Netherlands, Kenya, Indonesia,

the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan give joint public readings more than perceptions are changed. Mutual

understanding, respect, and trust are advanced.

IWPs annual ten-week residency at the University of Iowa is, first and foremost, a space in which writers of all

nations are regarded, and feel themselves regarded, as equally valuable artists. Yet, the program also ensures that the

writers almost all first-time visitors to the U.S. can experience the complexity of American l ife while community

members explore and refine their own perspectives on those from abroad. The writers are a regular presence in UIclassrooms, in local schools, in community forums, and on local television. They likewise travel to academic and

cultural institutions around the country.

Recognizing that international cultural engagement thrives on reciprocity, IWP in 2006 developed overseas

programs to bring established American writers abroad. Reading Tours have taken Americans to Syria, Jordan,

Jerusalem, the Palestinian Territories, Turkey, Cyprus, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Morocco (with potential

tours upcoming to Pakistan, Indonesia, Bosnia, and Ethiopia). Annual symposia in Paros, Greece, and Fes, Morocco,

have united American and international writers in discussions of common issues. And, two installments of the Life of

Discovery exchange have explored collaborations between emerging American writers and ethnic minority writers from

China, with sessions in both countries.

IWPs traditional online presence (a website, a journal, an archive) has evolved to include Web 2.0 hosting, regular

chats, blogs, tweeting, and the posting of videos to a YouTube channel. IWP videoconferences have provided forumsfor American and Irish students to talk with Irish poet Eavan Boland and for Bosnian writers to contribute to discussions

on the City. A recent online class joined American women students and young Saudi women writers in the study

of important American and Saudi texts. Technologys classroom impact has inspired IWP to initiate distance-learning

projects where American writers are training a writing-as-therapy instructor in Haiti and teaching writers from all

religious confessions in Lebanon. They will soon work with womens groups in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

To reach the next generation of cultural diplomats, IWP has also created Between the Lines, an annual two-week

summer writing camp for 12 high-school Arabic-language writers from the Levant, Maghreb, and Gulf states, who live

alongside and share programming and class time with American students in the Iowa Young Writers Studio. These

students (six boys, six girls) participate in writing workshops, visit local sights, and deepen their understanding of

America.

IWP requires $1.5 million each year to sustain its programs. Those interested in helping IWP should contact IWPDirector Christopher Merrill ([email protected]).


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1www.USCenterforCitizenDiplomacy.org

Top: Tom Sleigh (USA) teaches students at Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya (2009). Bottom left: Between the Lines Class of 2009 in Iowa City: Faculty and students from Austria, Israel,

Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, and Syria. Bottom right: Daniel Alarcon (USA) interviews Birzeit University Student, Birzeit, Palestinian Authority (2006).


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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Michael Kaiser: President, Vice President, International Programming

Alicia Adams: Vice President, Education

Washington, D.C. | www.kennedy-center.org

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) is a Best Practice of international cultural

engagement. For nearly four decades, the Kennedy Centers numerous international cultural engagement activities

have created in-depth relationships and collaborations which increase mutual understanding, respect, and trust.

The Kennedy Center has provided a common space where men and women of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures

come together to share, explore, and appreciate their similarities and differences.

Performances and International Festivals Over the last 10 years, the Kennedy Center has presented more

than 5,000 artists from around the world. Individual presentations have ranged from the iconic Colombian pop

artist, Juanes, to the distinguished Bolshoi Opera and Ballet, to throat singers from Nunavut. Since 1997, the

Center has produced comprehensive international festivals exploring the contemporary cultures of the worlds

regions through music, dance, theater, film, fashion, food, and the visual arts. The festivals include African

Odyssey(19972000), AmericArtes(20012004), The Festival of China(2005), JAPAN! culture + hyperculture

(2008), ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World(2009), and, forthcoming, maximumINDIA(2011). In addition, New

Visions, New Voices, an international festival that creates new theatrical work for young audiences, has been

presented every other year since 1992. And, the Centers Performing Arts for Everyone department produces the

Millennium Stage series, working closely with the diplomatic community to present daily, free performances, which

feature artists from over 50 countries (cybercast daily across the globe).

EducationThe Kennedy Center produces print and online materials for teachers use in classrooms

via ARTSEDGE, the Centers educational website. Online interactives, podcasts, and lesson plans related to

international presentations and festivals support engagement and understanding of other cultures for students and

teachers. The Centers education programs also enable person-to-person cultural interaction by taking companies

and individual artists from various disciplines and countries to students and teachers in local area schools.

During the festival, ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World, young dancers from Los Angeles, CA, Washington,

D.C., and Muscat, Oman were brought together to work with renowned director, choreographer, and author, Debbie

Allen, who created a new production for young audiences, OMAN... 0 Man! Performances in D.C. and Los Angeles

gave U.S. audiences insights into the richness, similarities and differences between Omani and U.S. culture. And,

the 37 participating young people gained new friendships, learning first-hand about each others lives through

visiting one anothers countries.

Career Development for Young Artists. Young performers from all over the world come to the Kennedy

Center through the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, through study of composition and

ensemble skills with leading U.S. jazz musicians (including Dr. Billy Taylor, Wynard Harper, Terence Blanchard,

and Carmen Lundy), and through study with former principal New York City Ballet ballerina Suzanne Farrell. Music

and dance students come to the Center from China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Japan, and Mexico. The

Kennedy Center has also worked with the U.S. Department of State to tour American musicians internationally, as

well as international artists and arts managers across the U.S.

Arts Management. Over the last 10 years, the Kennedy Center has provided instruction in arts management

to arts leaders in 60 countries. Young arts managers come to the Center to study strategic planning, marketing,

fundraising, artistic planning, and board development. And, the relationships continue as these managers return to

their own communities throughout the world.


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Top: ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World OMANO Man! (2009). Lower left: ARABESQUE Student Workshop with Oriental Music Ensemble; Yousef Hbeisch demonstrating the

tablah (2009). Lower right: Festival of China Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibition (2005).


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Top: Chamki in India. Lower left: Anything Muppet in Indonesia. Lower right: Khokha in Egypt


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Silk Road Project, Inc.

Artistic Director: Yo-Yo Ma CEO

Executive Director: Laura Freid

www.silkroadproject.org

The Silk Road Project is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement, dedicated to connecting the worlds

neighborhoods through the arts. Founded in 1998 by Artistic Director and internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma,

and led by Laura Freid, CEO and Executive Director, the Project is a catalyst for innovation and learning through cross-

cultural exploration and interdisciplinary partnerships.

At the core of the Project is the Silk Road Ensemble, a collective of internationally renowned performers and

composers from more than 20 countries (including Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Hong Kong,

India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Korea, Mongolia, Spain, Syria, Tajikistan, the United

Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan). Ensemble members collaborate on a diverse range of musical and

multimedia performances that spring from Eastern and Western traditions and contemporary musical crossroads.

The Ensemble has recorded five albums and performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America.The Projects commissioning program has resulted in more than 60 new works by composers from 18 countries.

The Project is equally committed to educational programs that foster cross-cultural understanding and a passion

for learning. Highlights of its educational work include Silk Road Chicago, a yearlong, city-wide 20062007 artistic and

cultural celebration that brought together the City of Chicago, Chicago public schools, the Chicago Symphony, the Art

Institute of Chicago and other cultural/educational institutions; Along the Silk Road, a comprehensive social studies

curriculum developed in partnership with the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education; and a

series of residencies in museums and universities around the world. The Project also regularly visits local schools and

arts organizations, and conducts workshops in conjunction with its performances worldwide.

The Projects current educational focus is Silk Road Connect (SRC), a middle school pilot program (with

450 students and 50 teachers in its initial year) that uses cross-disciplinary content, hands-on experiences, and the

transformative power of the arts to spark a lifelong passion for learning. SRC was developed at the invitation of theNew York City Department of Education as part of its Campaign for Middle School Success, to address a nationwide

crisis in middle schools with students failing to become engaged in learning. SRC schools are located in underserved

inner-city communities with high percentages of African-Americans, Dominicans, Southeast Asians, and Yemenis. The

program is designed to establish the sixth grade as a platform for future academic success; promote the integral

role of the arts in learning; support an inquiry-based classroom culture; and help students discover new identities as

citizens of a global community. SRC complements middle school world history curricula and opens pathways to cross-

disciplinary exploration in language arts, math, science, art, and music.

The Projects long-term goal is to develop SRC as a flexible, sustainable, and transferable model for passion-driven

learning that can be adapted to a wide range of educational settings. Toward this end, the Project is working with the

Harvard Graduate School of Education to assess SRC and develop an SRC laboratory to train educators from across

the U.S. and around the world.In July 2010, the Project renewed a five-year affiliation with Harvard University that brought its headquarters

to the Harvard campus to enrich ongoing explorations of the Silk Road as a metaphor for cultural exchange and

interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Silk Road Project is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and seeks support from individuals, foundations

and corporations for all of its activities, including performances, commissioning of new music, community outreach

and educational programs. For more information about supporting the Silk Road Project, please contact Christopher

Marrion, Development Director, at [email protected].


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Top left: Sixth Grade Students in Silk Road Connect Live Program: June 2010 at American Museum of Natural History in New York City. (Photo by Jennifer Taylor)

Top right: Yo-Yo Ma joins JHS 185 student orchestra to culminate first year Silk Road Connect program in New York City. (Photo by Jennifer Taylor)

Lower: The Silk Road Ensemble performing Layla and Majnun with Azerbaijani mugham vocalists. (Photo by David OConnor)


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Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Dr. Daniel Sheehy

Washington, DC | www.festival.si.edu

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival (Festival) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. It was founded in

1967 to provide a venue on the National Mall for ordinary, culturally diverse citizens from across the United States and

other nations to highlight and share their profound, creative, and expressive community-based traditions.

Now in its 44th year, the Festival attracts more than one million visitors annually and reaches another

40 million through national and international media. Having featured more than 20,000 musicians, artists, performers,

craftspeople, workers, storytellers, and others who demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and aesthetics from 90 nations

and every region of the United States, the Festival is a model of research-based presentation of contemporary living

cultural traditions.

The Festival is conceptualized and executed with community-based tradition-bearers. It draws upon the research

and presentational skills of more than 800 folklorists, cultural anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and numerous othe

academic and lay scholars, and hundreds of technical staff, heads of state and government officials, and the businesscommunity in the United States and around the world all in collaboration with local tradition-bearers.

The Festival has had a strong impact. Many states and several nations have remounted Festival programs and

used them to generate laws, institutions, educational programs, books, documentary films, recordings, and museum

and traveling exhibitions that fully reflect and engage citizens from diverse ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds. The

Festival has energized tradition-bearers and their communities, and thus helped to conserve and create cultural and

economic resources.

The Festival has influenced Smithsonian collaboration with UNESCO and development of the Al Ain Centre for

Music in the World of Islam (a project of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage). It has also been involved

with the work of the Aga Khans Trust for Culture and Music Initiative for Central Asia, the International Library of African

Music in South Africa, and the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology in India.

The Festivals most distinctive and enduring contribution has been the development of a multilogue on the NationalMall with and among the diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic communities, organizations, institutions,

and the people whose traditions and aspirations are studied and represented there. The 1997 Festival program,

Sacred Sounds: Belief and Society, brought together Palestinians and Jews in Israel musical tradition-bearers,

cultural scholars, and policymakers who otherwise did not associate or communicate. This program was exemplary

of the power of carriers of tradit ional culture to bridge deep, often bitter, historical divides.

The Festival has also been successful in engaging young visitors through games, storytelling, verbal arts, dance,

and toy making that are passed on generationally in families and communities, and it has been successful in reaching a

larger international audience online.

The Festivals annual budget is approximately $4 million ($1.5 million from the Smithsonian and $2.5 from funders

and revenue generating activities). Those interested in helping the Smithsonian Folklife Festival should contact Daniel

Sheehy, at [email protected].


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Top: 2002 Festival Opening Ceremony: Mark van Tongeren teaches throat singing to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Sam

Brownback, and Smithsonian Secretary Larry Small. (Photo by Jeff Tinsley) Lower: Palestinian and Israeli musicians perform together as part of the Musics of Struggle program (1990)


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World Digital Library, Library of Congress

Librarian of Congress: James H. Billington

Director: John Van Oudenaren

Washington, D.C. | www.wdl.org

The World Digital Library (WDL) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement. WDL was initiated in late 2005

through a proposal sent to UNESCO by the Library of Congress to establish a free-access, multilingual digital library

to showcase the cultures and historical achievements of all the worlds countries. WDL objectives are to promote

international and intercultural understanding and awareness, expand multilingual and culturally diverse content on the

Internet, provide resources to educators and contribute to scholarly research, and build knowledge and capacity in

the developing world. The guiding philosophy is that people can come to understand each other better by learning to

appreciate and share with the rest of the world what is best in their own cultures.

WDLs initial effort involved technical development, outreach to potential partners, and capacity building in selected

countries. The WDL website was launched in April 2009. As of August 2010, WDL had 99 partners from 62 countries,

including cultural institutions in the Arab world and in Israel, China and Taiwan, and Russia and countries of the formerSoviet Union. The WDL interface functions in seven languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese,

Russian, and Spanish; and the sites content is available in more than 40 languages.

More than 11 million users have now visited WDL from every country in the world. Eighty-nine percent of the traffic

comes from outside the United States. The heaviest use to date is in Spain, the United States, China, Brazil, Mexico,

France, Argentina, Russia, Portugal, and Colombia. Iran and Venezuela rank in the top 20 countries for 2010. Spanish

is the most heavily used interface, followed by English, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.

The WDL web site has won numerous awards. Key features include multilingualism, high-quality content of cultural

and historical importance; consistent, high-quality metadata that allow for searching and browsing across cultures

and time periods; item-level descriptions; curator videos; advanced zoom features to enhance user understanding of

content; Web 2.0 features (content can be shared, downloaded, and re-purposed); and a heavy emphasis on speed and

performance.WDL standing committees bring together curators, scholars, and technical staff. The result is a network of

cooperative relationships. In March 2010, WDL partners adopted a charter to establish a governance structure. The

Library of Congress will be WDL Project Manager for the first five years.

WDL has established digital conversion centers in Cairo at the National Library and Archives of Egypt (NLAE)

and in Baghdad at the Iraqi National Library and Archives (INLA). INLA has begun to digitize its copies of the earliest

periodicals published in Iraq, a rare, at-risk collection dating from 1860 to 1930. With assistance from the Carnegie

Corporation of New York, a digital conversion center was established in early 2010 in Kampala at the National Library

of Uganda (NLU). Each of these projects involved the purchase of high-end digitization equipment, and installation and

training by five-person teams from the Library of Congress.

WDL plans in the next several years to expand its website and use; further develop its production network; and

provide for additional capacity building in developing countries.

The World Digital Library costs on the order of $3.5 mill ion a year. Those interested in helping the Library of

Congress in this respect should contact John Van Oudenaren, at [email protected].


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World Monuments Fund

President and CEO: Bonnie Burnham

New York, NY | www.wmf.org

World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement, with 45 years of experience

and over 600 projects in more than 90 countries. WMF has long been a pioneer in the conservation field. It has an

established record of building connections among the broad range of professionals engaged in the management of

the built environment around the world. Beginning in the early 1990s, WMF furthered efforts to forge stronger working

relationships between the fields of historic preservation and environmental conservation. Now, it plans to develop a

formal long-term collaborative program with other institutions concerned with sustainability of the built and natural

environments.

Sustainability InitiativeWMF is undertaking a Sustainability Initiative to build stronger ties in the U.S. and

internationally between the nature and culture establishments and between the construction and preservation arms of

the architecture community. The purpose is to bridge the traditional divide between the built environment and natural

environment establishments and develop an integrated strategy to achieve sustainability in both areas. Buildingsaccount for up to 40 percent of worldwide energy consumption and approximately 50 percent of all the raw materials

that humans take from nature. The debris caused by construction, rehabilitation, and demolition constitutes nearly half

of all the waste generated in higher income countries. The built environment thus contributes significantly to climate

change, consumes vast amounts of resources, and generates considerable landfill waste.

Among the most substantive contributions the heritage field can make to sustainability is its work with

communities. By focusing on cultural contexts and social relationships, the heritage field has developed effective

tools for engaging stakeholders in planning processes that help to shape collective visions for communities and their

environments, recognizing both cultural and natural values. These processes help to foster civic participation, identify

shared views about quality of life, and ensure long-term sustainability of conservation efforts by responding to local

conditions.

WMF is planning a multi-phase program launched over a period of three years: an invitational colloquium (spring 2011) to bring together scholars and professionals from a range of disciplines

to focus specifically on the intersection of historic preservation and global sustainability; a working group of institutions (beginning 2012) interested in potential partnership through project collaboration

and/or funding; and collaborative research and field conservation projects (201314), developing the themes and objectives

identified by the working group.

WMF has a history of successful thematic initiatives, including its Jewish Heritage Initiative, the World Monuments

Watch, and Modernism at Risk. Each initiative has created a grassroots response to the issues identified by WMF as

areas of major concern.

The budget for Phases 1 and 2 of the program is $225,000. Partial funding is in hand. Phase 3 will address

specific field projects and will be financed through fundraising as key projects are identified. Those interested in helpingWMF with its Sustainability Initiative should contact Hedy Roma at [email protected].


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Top: Angkor, Cambodia, 9th 13th century

capital Khmer Empire and World Heritage

site, the subject of a World Monuments Fu

20 plus year program of conservation and

restoration.

Bottom: Angkor roof stone removal (2008


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Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

Founding Artistic Director: Liz Lerman

Managing Director & CEO: Jane Hirshberg

Washington, D.C. | www.danceexchange.org

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (Dance Exchange) is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement (recognized

specially for engaging citizens of all ages and occupations in the art of dance). Dance Exchange is a professional

company of dance artists that creates, performs, teaches, and engages people in making art.

Within a decade of its founding in 1976, Dance Exchange introduced its distinctive artistry and unique approach

to community engagement in international residencies in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. Since 1993,

it has engaged in community projects and collaborations with partners in Poland and Lithuania. In addition, through

ArtsLink, artist/administrators from Siberia, Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania spent time at Dance Exchanges Maryland

headquarters to observe/participate with the company on the road in the U.S. Other international partnerships have

taken Dance Exchange to Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Mexico, England, Guyana and Japan. Upcoming partnerships will

take Dance Exchange to Belgium, Sierra Leone, and China.Last year, Dance Exchange made two visits to Japan. The first visit started in Fukuoka where the company

worked with performers of varied ages and abilities to create a site-specific performance in a school. From Fukuoka,

the company traveled to Beppu for several workshops with artists. It then went to Sapporo to develop work that was

performed on the return visit in March. Tamami Yamada, a choreographer who has worked on several projects with

Dance Exchange, was a primary collaborator and led follow-up rehearsals with the participant groups in February. The

host organizations in Sapporo targeted older community members. During the second visit to Sapporo, the company

worked with community participants to complete a new piece that was featured in its concert performance with

additional pieces from Dance Exchanges repertory.

In each city, Dance Exchange conducted a series of workshops focused on dancing with senior adults, text and

movement composition, and Liz Lermans Critical Response Process (which advances the development of artistic

works-in-progress through a multistep, facilitated dialogue between artists, peers, and audiences). Concurrently,company members worked with local dancers and community members to develop a new section of Dance Exchanges

community-based work, 613 Radical Acts of Prayer. Dance Exchange explored elements that were integrated into a

work then in development entitled Drift, which looks at the impact of human activity on the way our landscape changes

over time.

Dance Exchanges primary partner for its work in Japan is the Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) an

organization that has been instrumental in securing resources for the companys work there. In addition to the support

provided by the Festival and by JCDN, Dance Exchange received funding from the Boeing Corporation to support its

ongoing work in three Boeing cities: Washington DC area, Houston, and Tokyo. During its March visit, Dance Exchange

extended invitations to Boeing employees in Tokyo to participate in workshops it was leading in the community.

Dance Exchange is committed to dance as a multi-disciplinary art form and consistently seeks to create works

addressing concrete subjects vital to contemporary life. Dance Exchange also engages community participants notjust to bring the benefits of dance into diverse communities and individual lives, but also to deepen the content of

contemporary dance with the authentic voices, movements, and presence of the people encountered.

Dance Exchange spends $80,000 each year on its international activities. Those interested in helping Dance

Exchange with these efforts should contact Jane Hirshberg at [email protected].


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Top: Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (2010) Ami Dowden-Fant, Benjamin Wegman, and Sarah Levitt in Blueprints of Relentless Nature, choreographed by Keith Thompson.

(Photo by John Machtig)

Lower Liz Lerman and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (2009) Workshop with multi-generational cast of dancers and community members in Sapporo, Japan. (Photo courtesy of JCDN)


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Asia Society

President: Vishakha N. Desai

Director, Cutural Programs and Performing Arts: Rachel Cooper, New York, NY

www.asiasociety.org

The Asia Society is a Best Practice of international cultural engagement, specifically for its leadership in combining cultural

engagement with broad international relations. The Society helps provide a broad-based understanding of all aspects of

Asia and the Pacific. By placing creative expression at the center of a more comprehensive understanding of cultures, the

Society provides a depth and breadth that are crucial to an understanding of the world we share.

Asia Society has introduced American audiences to the work of Asian artists in the visual, performing and media

arts. Contemporary visual artists have included Dinh Q. Le from Vietnam, Montien Boonma from Thailand, and Zhang Huan

from China. The first performance of sitar maestro, Ravi Shankar from India, began a legacy of Asian performing arts

presentations and tours that have crossed the United States over the 54 year history of the Society from traditional

music and dance from Burma, Indonesia, Iran and Korea to contemporary companies such as Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

of Taiwan, Chorus Repertory Theater of Manipur, and Iranian singers Hafez and Shahram Nazeri. The Asia Societyscommissioning of new work involving Asian and Asian American artists such as Chen Shi Zheng, Rudresh Mahanthappa

and Yin Mei has fostered vibrant exchanges leading to new productions. Large-scale initiatives have included Dance the

Spirit of Cambodia(where 30 Cambodian artists toured to 12 American cities, with a full panoply of educational activities)

andMuslim Voices: Arts and Ideas(a New York city-wide 10-day festival and two day symposium which the Society

organized with BAM and NYU). Muslim Voicesmajor web site was created by the Asia Society,

www.muslimvoicesfestival.org.

The Societys three-year Creative Voices of Islam in Asiaprogram includes:Performing arts festivals and national tours (accompanied by a web site, lectures, and people to people

exchanges) Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas, the Pakistani Qawwali U.S. tour, and the Carnegie Hall performances

of Iranian singers Shahram Nazeri and Hafez Nazeri.

Museum Exhibitions such as Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art of Pakistan.Educational exchanges such as those connecting students in Indonesia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan with American

high school students.Original research such as Making a Difference through the Arts: Strengthening Americas Connections with Asian

Muslim Communities, and original research and recommendations on arts and culture in Muslim majority countries

in South, Southeast, and Central Asia.Network creation among leading American performing arts presenters, managers and funders and Indonesian

artists, managers and cultural leaders.

For many Americans, the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath still cast an ominous shadow over

regions

of Asia where more than half of the worlds 1.6 billion Muslims live. Dismantling cultural stereotypes requires building

knowledge cross-culturally through dialogue and exchange in a range of fields and domains. Creative Voices of Islam in

Asiachallenges pervasive American misperceptions of Islam by fostering an understanding and appreciation of creative

voices within the multicultural societies of contemporary Asia.

Asia Society staff members also use their substantive knowledge, language ability and contacts in Asia to present a

multidimensional picture that includes the historical, religious, political, social, and economic aspects of various projects.

Performances, lectures, demonstrations, artist panels, and written materials provide the larger context for each performance

The web and YouTube and other social media have become a crucial and dynamic aspect of the Societys work.

The Asia Society spends $3.8 million each year to support its international cultural engagement activities.

Those interested in helping the Society with these efforts should contact Shayne Doty | Vice President External Affairs

([email protected])


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Top: Fakir of Pakistan as part of Sufi Music Festival at Asia Society, July 2010. (Photo by Nadler)

Bottom: Eiko and Koma (New York based modern dancers) with Cambodian dancer at Peace Asia Society (2007).


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The work of the nine Task Forces began in the fall of 2009, each one representing a specific area of internationalactivity and citizen diplomacy. Each Task Force is led by two co-chairs and made up of members selected by the

chairs themselves.

These nine groups met periodically throughout the year to determine guidelines for selecting proposals from

organizations vying for a top ten best practices slot, the format and content of their presentation at the Summit,

and drafting three measurable outcomes that will allow the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy to monitor each Task

Forces progress during the ten-year Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy which aims to double the number of

American citizens engaging in international activity and address the global challenges of the

21st Century.

The co-chairs were given complete control over the Task Force, including decisions that needed to be maderegarding the process to solicit, accept and select the top ten proposals from organizations in their field.

(*Note: If a Task Force members organization submitted a proposal, that member was removed from the selection

process to avoid conflict of interest.) The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy has not and will not receive any

compensation, monetary or in-kind, from the organizations or individuals on the Task Forces or organizations or

individuals whose proposals were selected for the top ten. The selection of these top ten proposals was solely on

merit and is the result of work completed by the individual Task Forces, not the U.S. Center for

Citizen Diplomacy.

The top ten list for each Task Force was selected from a pool of applicants that submitted a two-page proposal with

the intention of being considered in the top ten. If an organization did not submit a proposal, they were not under

consideration for the top ten..

TASK FORCE PROCESS


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Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (2010) Benjamin Wegman and Stephanie Miracle in Drift, choreographed by Cassie Meador. (Photo by John Machtig)


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The International Cultural Engagement Task Forces measurable outcomessupport of the Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacys goal of doubling the

number of American citizen diplomats in the next 10 years.

OUTCOMES

Summit showcase of on the order of 10 exemplary existing and proposed new

international cultural engagements that demonstrate the importance and effectiveness

of these activities in enhancing mutual understanding, respect, and trust so as to

strengthen peace, stability, and social equity, and reduce risks of conflict.

Increased recognition and support for international cultural engagements that strengthen

understanding between people in different parts of the world.

Measured through media coverage and financial support data.

International and/or national annual awards for best practices under the auspices

of the President, Secretary of State, or a council of notables.

Measures will need to be developed for judging best practices.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICE


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The U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy was made possible by the following

generous sponsors and contributors. We celebrate these gifts and express our gratitude

for the impact theyve had, now and long into the future.

IN KIND CONTRIBUTORS

The Honorable Charles T. Manatt

Saturation Productions

PRESIDENTIAL SPONSORS

In support of the USCCD Web site and the

2010 National Awards for Citizen Diplomacy program

CORPORATE DIPLOMAT SPONSOR

Anonymous Family Foundation

GLOBAL CITIZEN DIPLOMAT SPONSORS

CITIZEN DIPLOMAT SPONSOR

DIPLOMAT SPONSORS

In support of International

Cultural Engagement Task Force

In support of International Cultural

Engagement Task Force in partnership with

the National Endowment for the Arts

In support of K-12 Education Task Force

FRIEND OF THE SUMMIT | NON-PROFIT SPONSOR


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international cultural engagement task force report

Documents