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

FILM SCREENING
	Guang (光) by Asian Film Festival (Italy)
	Dafne by Asian Film Festival (Italy)
	Rewind: Goethe Experimental

Presented by:

IMAGE GALLERY

The festival is presented by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia (MCFA), in partnership with the European Union and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).