ICD, museum, and visa services

On Monday in Berlin with The Arcos Orchestra, I met with Mark Donfried, Founder and Director of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Touring their elegant, cavernous, modern offices, filled with staff working on projects, I was blown away by their achievements since Mark started ICD in 1999. They do everything from connecting young German and Turkish people to bringing current and former world leaders to their headquarters for public forums. It was exciting to see that cultural diplomacy can consistently attract support from donors, and I was inspired to observe the prestige which ICD has acquired. Hopefully, ICD and Cultures in Harmony will be able to collaborate more in the future.

Yesterday, I toured the Pergamon Museum. The depictions of musicians from throughout history moved me deeply. I saw friezes depicting musicians from 4,000 years ago in Babylonia; another frieze showing Assyrian musicians following soldiers from 2700 years ago; Mughal paintings of musicians at a Muslim court from 300 years ago; and an 800-year-old ceramic plate showing a rubab player in Iran. This last was particularly affecting, as the rubab is still played in Iran and Afghanistan. If anyone in Afghanistan says "Muslims don't play music," I can show them the picture I took of that plate.

While checking email here in Braunschweig, I read this article about the important work done by Tamizdat in bringing musicians to the United States for cultural exchange. Thanks are due to Tamizdat for helping foreign artists navigate the labyrinthine US visa requirements.