ASEF celebrates 15 years of connections between Asia and Europe

The year 2012 marks the 15^th anniversary of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), a unique organisation promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe.

ASEF15 logo

Asia and Europe have a long history of political and economic cooperation, and it was to strengthen the social and cultural bonds between the two regions that the Asia Europe Foundation was initiated in 1997, with the backing of the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission. Playing an instrumental role in deepening connections, sharing ideas and broadening the horizons between 46 countries of Asia and Europe, the Foundation is celebrating its 15^th anniversary with a series of activities and events in the foundation’s home city of Singapore.

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From movies to music, lectures to exhibitions, the events will showcase the diversity of cultural and intellectual output from Europe and Asia, but also the similarities between the discourses across different continents. As a whole, ASEF15 demonstrates that the peoples of Asia and Europe are more inspired by joint values rather than differences.

One of the themes for ASEF15 was “Mutual Perceptions between Asia and Europe” in order to highlight how social interpretations of other cultures and traditions play an essential role in shaping the relations between nationalities and communities. By doing so, we hope to challenge your present and future perceptions and bring fresh interpretations of the diversity of Asia and Europe.

The programme will consist of a number of events open to the public including: