In 1980, American political scientists Joseph Nye and Milton Cummings proposed ‘Cultural Diplomacy’ as a soft power, the “exchange of ideas, information, art, language, and other aspects of culture among nations and people in order to foster mutual understanding.”
Culture, in general, is often referred to as ‘Art and literature’ being the most visible components; however, in the context of Cultural Diplomacy, it encompasses a more significant notion of distinctive, spiritual, materialistic, intellectual, and emotional features of a social group, along with the way of life, value system, traditions, and beliefs. (UNESCO, 2001) ‘Diplomacy’ is considered a tool or an instrument to implement foreign policies peacefully. Hence, ‘Cultural Diplomacy’ can be stated as a set of activities carried out directly in collaboration with the diplomats of a state to promote (nation’s) cultural achievements. (Erik) Any nation adapts two types of tools as a display of power: Hard power is when force is involved, and soft power is when the core understanding of the people is changed through mediums such as Cultural Diplomacy.
Travelers meandering from one land to another have been nothing but diplomats, taking their culture and traditions to the other and learning something that befits their own. The Chinese Pilgrims such as Fa Hein and Hsuan-Tsang procured the Buddhist doctrines and, learning directly from the guru, visited India around 600 AD and took upon the journey of spreading the knowledge back to his country. Other travelers like Al Beruni from Uzbekistan and Marco Polo, documented their cultural exchange in books like ‘Kitab fi tahqiq ma li’l-hind’ and ‘The Travels’ which included philosophical and astronomical understandings from the Gita, Upanishads, Patanjali Sutra, and monumental visits to ancient cities like Tanjore. (Singh & Kumar, 2016) However, in modern times, cultural diplomacy as a definitive concept arose during the Cold War in around 1945.
After the Nazi government surrendered, there unraveled two wartime alliances: the USA and Great Britain and USSR (the Soviet Union). This war to establish their system/regime was more than a simple military confrontation. It became a battle of two world-views between two superpowers. USSR, with their intention to preach communism, started to influence the Eastern part of Europe. In contrast, the US wanted to influence Western Europe by introducing capitalism and other Western concepts. The United States Information Agency would organize cultural events funded by the CIA to propagate its agenda of anti-communism, whereas the USSR tried to mobilize the art for the defeat of fascism and capitalism. Art, when it flourishes in a nation, it pushes people to think and express themselves, and hence, it becomes the first thing to be stamped down by a dictatorial regime.
For any such cultural exchange, art became a prime medium, being the core of culture. It fosters conversations and interaction between laypeople and professionals from various backgrounds and cultures. The target audience for such an exchange is people from all professions, social races, ages, and religious and cultural groups. This concept of contact aims to support openness and tolerance to strengthen our society and break prejudice. Art, a medium of expression, has shaped our identities and communities. Art as a form of cultural diplomacy has become a prominent tool in developing international relations. (Ambadatu, 2023) Various art forms, like music, literature and novels, photography, artworks exhibited in films, and monumental visits, become integral to such a dialogue. To be experienced, theater requires the spectators’ and the performers’ involvement and empathy. An actor puts himself into another character’s shoes, deceiving his personal ideology, to create an honest exchange of ideas and dialogue. Films like Casablanca, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Dr Strangelove, and Pochahontas explore the universal theme of war, love, and culture, which were to be viewed by the audiences to promote peace and spread awareness of situations in War Zones. Khaled Hosseini, a prolific Afghani writer, in his books The Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns, meticulously describes the lifestyles of the Afghanis before and after the takeover by the Taliban. Such art forms lead to understanding and appreciating other cultures, which is an excellent asset for political diplomacy since it directly links with an individual’s perception.
Museums and exhibition galleries are major forms of cultural exchange. They help reach a larger audience in a short span of time and are often quite interactive for any cross-cultural dialogue. Two kinds of exchanges are made: to promote the culture merely or to influence the target audience as a subtle imposition of their respective ideologies. Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame, an exhibit, is a seemingly apolitical exchange designed to promote local art while rebuilding the tainted bilateral relations between Australia and Japan. The success of the cultural exchange certainly proved the absence of any negative political agendas of diplomacy. The artist Emily Kame belonged to the Utopia community in a deserted area near the Northern Territory of Australia. By preserving her culture through art forms such as ceremonies, dance, and painting, she paid tribute to her ancestors. She’s made about 3000 paintings tracing the village lifestyle, its connection with her birth country, and ancestral history. (Mazin, 2022) Curated as an export exhibition that took around three years to collaborate with agencies in Japan and Australia, the exhibition became one of the most attended in Osaka, being the first stop of the launch with 140,000 visitors. It is now highlighted as one of the significant achievements of cultural diplomacy on a global scale. (Mazin, 2022)
Cultural Diplomacy has been an essential part of Indian politics since independence. The Indian diaspora, the ones who were sent as laborers by the colonizers and the ones who opted to depart post-1947, have been actively engaged in shaping India’s cultural presence overseas. A governmental agency known as ICCR (The Indian Council for Cultural Relations) was established to strengthen cultural relations internationally and implement foreign policies promoting an essential asset of the nation: our unique culture. In the 1980s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched a series of ‘Festivals of India’ in foreign nations, starting from the USA and later in the UK and USSR. (Isar, 2017) This intimate dialogue between both nations ran 18 long months across 599 cities.
The two spectacular exhibitions that exemplified the agenda were Aditi – Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and ‘Mela! An Indian Fair’, where more than one hundred educational kits were sold, an award-winning documentary was produced and benefitted the Indian Diaspora with their local business. The largest ever manifestation of ‘Festivals of India‘ was seen in the USSR, which included 20 exhibitions, 80 feature films, and 1700 performing artists. The primary aim to transform India’s image abroad was successfully achieved. Indian Tourism Ministry, in the later years, also launched Incredible !ndia. (Isar, 2017)
Art and Culture break down language and other human barriers to communication; hence, it becomes the simplest and easiest way to promote cultural exchange and create intellectual dialogues. These ways of expression reach individuals’ minds, enabling the nation to share its values and traditions. ‘Cultural Diplomacy,’ as the soft power, plays a crucial role in establishing a nation’s relationship internationally, artistic collaboration, building cross-cultural friendships, earning worldwide respect, and making others aware of its land’s unique identity and culture.
References:
Ambadatu, D.J. (2023) Exploring art as cultural diplomacy: Bridging nations through creativity, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@dpjuan45/exploring-art-as-cultural-diplomacy-bridging-nations-through-creativity-513e39e10c51 (Accessed: 08 November 2023).
Academy for Cultural Diplomacy (no date) Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Available at: https://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/index.php?en_historical-acts-of-cd (Accessed: 07 November 2023).
Cutting Edge | From standing out to reaching out: cultural diplomacy for sustainable development (no date) UNESCO. Available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/cutting-edge-standing-out-reaching-out-cultural-diplomacy-sustainable-development#:~:text=Building%20on%20the%20notion%20of,order%20to%20foster%20mutual%20understanding%E2%80%9D. (Accessed: 07 November 2023).
Cold War (2023) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Cold-War (Accessed: 09 November 2023).
Isar, Y.R. (2017) ‘Cultural diplomacy: India does it differently’, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 23(6), pp. 705–716. doi:10.1080/10286632.2017.1343310.
Mazin, A. (2022) Art Exhibitions: A Tool of Cultural Diplomacy. thesis. Available at: https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/31046/Mazin_Thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y#:~:text=It%20argues%20that%20art%20exhibitions,the%20day%2C%20politics%20and%20investment.&text=Art%20exhibitions%20are%20the%20medium%20through%20which%20most%20art%20becomes%20known. (Accessed: 08 November 2023).
Pajtinka, E. (2014) Cultural Diplomacy in Theory and Practice of Contemporary International Relations [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269763112_Cultural_Diplomacy_in_Theory_and_Practice_of_Contemporary_International_Relations (Accessed: 07 November 2023).
Singh, B. and Kumar, M. (2016) ‘Important foreign travellers in Indian history’, International Research Journal Commerce arts science [Preprint]. Available at: http://www.casirj.com (Accessed: 08 November 2023).
The Arts as Cultural Diplomacy (no date) Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Available at: https://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/culturaldiplomacynews/content/pdf/Cultural_Diplomacy_Outlook_Report_2011_-_08-01.pdf (Accessed: 08 November 2023).
