In its 2nd year of implementation, the Asia-Europe Dialogue on Cultural Policies continued to support bi-regional dialogue and research on cultural policies and trends in the ASEM region, while developing a publicly accessible online database to be made available on culture360.org, one of ASEF’s online platforms. To this end, the programme combines the information from the existing ‘Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe’, with the compilation of country profiles from Asia. In 2012, this programme supported the compilation of five additional Asian country profiles, namely India, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.

The resulting cultural profiles of ASEM countries will also be part of an international database (www.worldcp.org), managed by the International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies (IFACCA).

Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) promotes collaborations between museums focusing on Asian collections across Asia and Europe. To this end, the network supports dialogue and opportunities to exchange ideas among its members.

In 2012, ASEF continued to work in consultation with the ASEMUS Secretariat (National Heritage Board of Singapore) and the ASEMUS Chair (National Museum of Korea) to increase the relevance, impact and visibility of the network. As a result, ASEMUS ’ membership grew during the year from 82 to 97 members, including 11 new countries from Asia and Europe.

The 5th ASEMUS General Conference from 13- 15 September 2012 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, focused on the topic of new and sustainable museum education.

Creative Encounters promotes exchanges in any artistic discipline by supporting new opportunities for people-to- people encounters, networking and innovative collaborations. In line with this purpose, the programme encourages the submission of collaborative projects between arts and cultural organisations from Asia and Europe through regular open calls. In 2012, the 2nd edition of Creative Encounters supported 5 artistic projects, selected from over 270 submissions, which were multilateral in scope and promoted culturally diverse and cross-disciplinary practices.

culture360.org is a platform for both information exchange and online collaboration among the cultural communities of Asia and Europe. The community members include artists, cultural practitioners and policy makers. The portal provides information on news, events and opportunities relating to culture and the arts in ASEM countries and features a special magazine with commissioned articles and research. With the help of social media tools, culture360.org also enables online networking between individuals and organisations across the two regions.

Among other projects in 2012, culture360.org commissioned a research study on funding opportunities for international cultural exchange in Asia. It also organised an online competition in conjunction with an international photography festival.

The Asia-Europe Short Films Contest provided a platform for young filmmakers, film enthusiasts and students to demonstrate their creativity and express views on the topic of Asia-Europe connections. The project was organised in partnership with the New York Tisch School of the Arts Asia based in Singapore and the National Library Board Singapore.

During a period of four months, over 100 submitted short films from 30 countries covered Asia-Europe connections from the angles of arts, culture, education, environment and individual relationships. Five winners were chosen by professional jury members and via online public voting. The Award Ceremony was held at Singapore’s National Library Building, which saw the winners walking away with a two-day filmmaking workshop at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia.

As part of ASEF’s 15th Anniversary celebrations, a wide-ranging cultural programme was organised in Singapore in collaboration with Singapore-based entities interested in promoting cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe. This programme included a series of film screenings entitled ‘When Strangers Meet: Visions of Asia and Europe in Film’ at the National Museum of Singapore. About 300 guests attended the opening ceremony, including members of ASEF’s Board of Governors and numerous representatives of ASEM Embassies.

An ASEF delegation led by the Director of Cultural Exchange attended the 5th ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM CMM 5) and presented the outcome of the Experts’ Meeting on ‘Managing Heritage Cities in Asia and Europe: the Role of Public-Private Partnerships’ (July 2012, Yogyakarta, Indonesia). The team also showcased a compilation of good practices based on over 40 case studies from the two regions with regards to managing heritage cities.