UNESCO

Performance on
11 December at
the dance festival
organized in Beirut
by the UNESCO
ASPnet schools
in Lebanon, the
Lebanese National
Commission and the
UNESCO Office in
Beirut to celebrate
the 70 years of the
Organization.
Arab Region
Visual arts, dance and poetry
in Lebanon
The Lebanese National Commission,
the UNESCO Office in Beirut and UNESCO
ASPnet schools in the country joined
efforts on 11 December to celebrate the
70 years of the Organization. Events were
held at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut and
under the patronage of Mr Raymond
Araygi, Minister of Culture of Lebanon.
These included: a seminar on ‘Culture in
the Face of Violence and Discrimination
in a Changing World’ in the presence of
academics, politicians and the media;
a visual arts symposium on UNESCO’s
values conducted by the Lebanese painter
Bernard Renno; a festival illustrating
the diversity of the Lebanese culinary
heritage; a dance festival organized by
the ASPnet schools featuring artistic
expressions from UNESCO’s five regions;
and an Al-Zajal (recited or sung poetry)
contest, which has been inscribed on
the UNESCO Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
since 2014.
Schools come to the Kuwait National
Museum to celebrate UNESCO
The Kuwait National Commission for
UNESCO, in cooperation with the Kuwait
ASPnet, hosted the 70th anniversary of
the Organization at the Kuwait National
Museum, with the patronage of the
Minister of Education, Mr Bader Al-Essa.
The event was attended by many official
authorities and embassies in Kuwait,
and included a variety of activities and
performances presented by schools
highlighting UNESCO’s main fields of
competence and achievements over
the last 70 years.
Europe and North America
The Batumi music festival celebrates
UNESCO’s anniversary in Georgia
Local and international musicians and
ensembles gathered in Georgia’s seaside
city of Batumi to perform in a classical
and folk music festival celebrating
the 70th anniversary of UNESCO. From
September 10 –15, three venues in Batumi
hosted the Batumi Music Fest and a raft
of world leading artists including French
composer Laurent Petitgirard, Japanese
violinist Michi Sugiura, and local pianist
and newly-designated UNESCO Artist
for Peace Elisso Bolkvadze, who founded
the festival in 2012. Other artists who
performed in the festival are the Tbilisi
Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestra and
the Georgian Voices Folk Ensemble.
© Commission nationale libanaise pour l’UNESCO
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