Cultural ministers from 17 Asian countries vowed to step up efforts to boost cultural development during a global economic downturn, at the ongoing 11th Asian Arts Festival in northern China.

Ministers also signed Tuesday an initiative on cultural cooperation.

According to the initiative, these countries will carry out "far-ranging and substantial cooperation" on cultural development and human resources as contributions to restoring the confidence of the society and promoting the economic revival.

JAPAN: MODERN AS GOOD AS TRADITIONAL

"The economic crisis has caused us to more seriously emphasize soft power as a breakthrough measure," said Hideo Tamai, commissioner of Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Hideo Tamai revealed that Japan's supplementary budget for the current fiscal year has greater allocations for areas such as the enhancement of national art galleries, museums, and theaters, as well as comprehensive centers and preservation, experimentation, and diffusion of new culture and arts.

"Asian countries are endowed with a diverse range of rich cultures. To such countries, maintaining their cultural integrity while achieving new cultural breakthroughs based on the foundations of traditional culture, through cross-cultural interaction with other cultures, is one of the more urgent and important issues they face," he said.

According to Hideo Tamai, Japan has been organizing the "World Cultural Forum" to promote understanding of Asian culture and making it a tradition to set up "exchange years" with other Asian countries.

For 2009, the agency is supporting the "Mekong-Japan Exchange Year," which includes exchange projects ranging from traditional culture to modern media arts in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos.

Another effort is the "Cool Japan" project to promote internationally popular media arts and other contemporary cultural properties, along with traditional aspects of Japanese culture.

"We have high hopes that these efforts will yield further cultural advancements even under the difficult economic times currently faced by all," he said.

PHILIPPINES: WEAPONS TO FIGHT SOCIAL ISSUES

"Four hundred years of colonization never robbed the Philippines of its cultural identity ... The colonial power and influence only comprised part and parcel of what we are to create a more concrete national identity," said Chairwoman Vilma L. Labrador of the Philippines' National Commission for Culture and the Arts, referring to local people modifying English language into Filipino English with more pronounced emphasis on the letters "t" and "p".

The chairwoman also cited that local people usually say "Kumusta Ka?" as a greeting the same way the Spanish greets with "Como estas?" and in the streets, Filipino children play jack enpoy the same way as the Japanese do with jankenpon, or "rock-paper-scissors" in English.

"The hunger for change is universal, and at the outset of the present global financial crisis, the call for a revolution echoes more strongly," said the chairwoman, adding that culture and the arts had become "weapons" in the country to fight social problems such as poverty, drugs and terrorism.

According to her, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyohas added a whole chapter in the country's "Medium Term Development Plan", recognizing culture and the arts as a major force for education and catalyst for social transformation.

Labrador revealed this year the NCCA launched an experimental program titled "Artists for Crisis," which aimed to invite Lumad, Moro, and Christian artist groups to set up creative arts workshops for children and women, a special group vulnerable to social and familial problems amid the crisis.

Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands where more than a hundred indigenous peoples inhabit.

"The Artists for Crisis program has established the healing aspect of Art, that while beauty cannot be forsaken, this form of expression also provides an outlet for people in pain," he said.

CHINA: LIPSTICK EFFECT

China's cultural minister Cai Wu said many cultural projects in Asian countries had to be cancelled or suspended due to shortage of funds as a great deal of social funding had been diverted to bolster the economic sector to weather the financial crisis. Companies and organizations were reluctant to commit to cultural investments.

He said the downturn had also caused a drop in demand for culture and associated activities.

"Resources and money are limited, but creativity is not," said Cai. "After the breakout of the financial crisis, China's process manufacturing industry experienced severe strike, but our cultural industry witnessed surprising increase," he said.

Statistics show that in China the sales of online games in 2008reached 18.3 billion yuan (2.68 billion U.S. dollars), up 22.9 percent year-on-year. The box office sale for 2008 also hit 4.2 billion yuan, entering the world top 10 for the first time.

In addition, latest figures show that in the first quarter of 2009, China's cultural industry market saw an average increase of 17 percent, with consumption in films, books and dramas all rising by more than 20 percent.

"Culture can meet the inner demand of individuals and relieve their anxiety. To shake off the downturn shadow, people will rather watch a film to relax and parents would more than ever bring their children to a theme park," he said.

The 11th Asia Arts Festival, sponsored by China's Ministry of Culture, runs from Aug. 18 to 26. It is the first time it has been held in China's western region.

The festival will also feature art exhibitions and performances of troupes from 18 Asian nations.

Source:Xinhua