ARTS AND CULTURE PROGRAM

The objectives of the OSIAF-Armenia Arts & Culture Program are fostering an independent and sustainable art sector in Armenia, facilitating art-related information flow, promoting cultural diversity through dialogue and networking on national and international levels.

In 2006, Arts and Culture Program continued to encourage establishment of cultural links and exchange of information, both on national and international levels. OSIAF-Armenia supported initiatives which helped to revive the cultural life of regions in Armenia and to establish links among them.  To accomplish this, an annual festival of puppet theatres and troupes entitled “Tale Day” was organized in 10 regions of Armenia and Yerevan. Other initiatives towards this end included continuation of the existing tradition of holding the “Theatrical Lori” festival and strengthening the principles of civic initiations through increasing the creative activeness of Armenian young people.

OSIAF-Armenia in cooperation with Arts and Culture Network Program also encouraged initiatives which promote cultural exchange between Armenia and other countries of the region. In this respect, a project was supported to create possibilities for real creative, socio-cultural open interaction among representatives of different countries by creating regularly functioning "Art-a-Nish" Artists' residency network, which would enable intercultural dialogue. Other initiatives were supported to organize "Kin" International Festival in collaboration with representatives from Georgia, Mongolia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran at the beginning of December, 2006; to promote documentary (anthropological) film festival "Enter to Open World" of Margaret Mead Festival in Armenia among local filmmakers and cinema community; to invite 6-8 participants from Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Georgia and Russia to work at Yerevan universities and other educational institutions for a two-month period; to promote -New Writing/New Drama in Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan within the framework of HIGH FEST International Theatre Festival. The “Golden Apricot” Fund for Cinema Development was supported to organize Documentary Film Festival under the title “Directors across Borders”. The selected documentaries included films screened at the “GOLDEN APRICOT” International Film Festival.  Documentaries from three countries – Turkey, Russia and Iran, depicting various aspects of reality were presented.

Among the goals of OSIAF-Armenia is to enhance and promote the Cultural Policy development in Armenia.  During 2006 Arts and Culture Program contributed to this initiative through supporting a project aimed at facilitating the development of legislation on cultural rights and that of cultural policy as well as the protection of cultural rights.

In 2006, Arts and Culture Program of OSIAF-Armenia strived to address the needs of vulnerable and marginalized through supporting activities that promoted the integration of such groups through art. This was achieved through raising the cultural intellect of the disabled people by Art therapy; activating the cultural life and activities of national minorities residing in Armenia by organizing cultural events for them.