ASEM Cultural Festival 2021 | Asia and Europe: Cultures Connect

The 3^rd edition of the ASEM Cultural Festival titled Asia and Europe: Cultures Connect is a multidisciplinary arts festival with on-site events taking place in Brussels, Belgium on 15 – 22 November and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 22 – 26 November 2021. Various events will also be shown online due to some existing mobility restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the theme ‘Enhancing ASEM Partnerships through Arts and Culture’, the Festival is the official cultural side-event of the 13^th Summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM13) to be hosted by the Royal Government of Cambodia on 25 – 26 November. It aims to promote people-to-people connections between Asia and Europe in the field of arts and culture, enhancing ASEM partnership through collaborations and networking. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a myriad of unprecedented challenges, and the importance of cooperation and mutual understanding between Asia and Europe has been further emphasised in these times of global change.

This year, over 30 events featuring more than 100 Asian and European artists will showcase the rich cultural diversity and creative collaborations from the two regions through theatre, dance, music, visual arts and interdisciplinary presentations. The on-site programme of the Festival includes 6 art exhibitions hosted at the National Museum of Cambodia and 4 film screenings at the Major Cineplex in Phnom Penh. Many more events will take place online due to travelling restrictions posed by the pandemic. To ensure the widest possible reach of the Festival while ensuring public safety, virtual performances and screenings will be available on the Festival’s official website.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

On-site Festival curtain-raiser: A curtain raiser offering a slice of the Festival programme to live audiences in Brussels, Belgium takes place from 15-26 November 2021. This includes an art installation featuring two giant, colourful inflatable heads inspired by popular Chinese masks with the addition of western elements; and the screening of White Building, the debut feature film of Cambodian director Kavich Neang which won the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards as well as the Best Actor Award at the Orizzonti Venice Film Festival 2021.

Official opening of the Festival: On 22 November 2021 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Festival will be officially opened through a special presentation titled Colourful Cambodia. This features classical, folk and contemporary dances to be performed by exceptional artists from Cambodia and ASEM Partner countries. The line-up includes a welcome blessing dance, a harvest folk dance, Pounding the Gum-Lacquer, Rice, and Gems from Mozart at Angkor, highlighting Asia-Europe partnership through artistic approaches and the ASEM flag dance.

Online programme: With some mobility and gathering restrictions still in place due to COVID-19, the Festival will bring several events virtually for our audiences not only in Asia and Europe, but globally. The online programme consists of a very diverse lineup, including performances, exhibitions, webinars and film screenings from ASEM Partner countries. These will be shown on the Festival website from 22 – 26 November 2021.

EVENTS CALENDAR

ON-SITE EVENTS

FILM SCREENINGS
	Date: 15 and 22 November	Venue: Flagey Cultural Centre, Brussels, Belgium
	White Building (Cambodia)
	Date: From 22 to 26 November	Venue: Major Cineplex, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
	The Gate (Cambodia)	The Missing Picture (Cambodia)

	White Soldier (Cambodia)	The Last Reel (Cambodia)

EXHIBITIONS
	Date: 15 - 26 November	Venue: Gallery St Hubert, Brussels, Belgium
	Happy Heads (China and France) Art Installation	Songs of Freedom
	Date: 22 November - 31 December	Venue: National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
	Encountering Cultures (Asia and Europe) Group Exhibition	Il Nodo: A Sketch for Hope (Italy) Literature

	Things that Count (Cambodia) Photography	Sahaka Playground (Cambodia) Visual Arts

	The Longest Voyage (Spain) Literature	Happy Heads (China and France) Art Installation

ONLINE EVENTS | 22 - 26 November 2021

PERFORMING ARTS
	Colorful Cambodia Opening ceremony	Kaminagahime (Japan) Theatre

	Philippines' Days of Culture with No Barriers (Philippines) Dance and Music	Kostroma (Russia) Dance

	A Tale of Two Shores (Singapore) Oral Storytelling	Museum of Elsewhere (Italy) Dance and Visual Arts

	The Myth of Demon, Rahoo, and the Lunar Eclipse (Thailand) Theatre and Puppetry	Concert Celebrating 50th Anniversary of China-Italy Diplomatic Relations (China and Italy) Dance and Music

	PLI (Czech Republic) Dance	The Pulse (Spain) Dance

	Pythian Oratorio (Poland) Theatre and Music	The Road to Mozart at Angkor (Cambodia) Dance

	White Gold Phare (Cambodia) Theatre - Circus

EXHIBITION
	Encountering Cultures (Cambodia) Group exhibition featuring artists from Asia and Europe	The Longest Voyage (Spain) Literature

	Sahaka Playground (Cambodia) Visual Arts	Il Nodo: A Sketch for Hope (Italy) Design

	Things that Count (Cambodia) Photography	Happy Heads (France and China) Art Installation

	Parallel Space: Meeting the Terracota Warriors in Greece (Greece)

WEBINARS
	Transcending Artscience Cultures (Malaysia)

	At Home, Being Home: A Conversation with Artists from Europe and Asia (Spain)

	Far but Close