[caption id="attachment_8604" align="alignright" width="356" caption="Beijing International Book Fair 2011 - The Netherlands is guest of honour"][/caption]

For some years, the Netherlands has invested in strengthening cultural relations with China.  The 2011 programme includes literature, visual arts and a new digital platform for Cultural Exchange.

SICA - the Dutch portal for culture professionals - aligns ambitions and possibilities of programmes that combine several cultural disciplines.

In 2011, SICA will develop the following activities:

• In collaboration with the Dutch Foundation for Literature, SICA will organise a fringe programme at the Beijing International Book Fair. The Netherlands will be focus country at the 2011 edition of this Fair, which will be held from 31 August – 4 September.

• SICA supports a project by OCT (Chinese real estate developments), the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB) and the Mondriaan Foundation, which will the visibility of Dutch visual arts in China. This project originated at the Dutch Culture Centre at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

• SICA is developing the digital platform Cultural Exchange China – the Netherlands, which will made available online in the spring of 2011.