COOPERATION IN CULTURE AND INFORMATION (COCI)

ASEAN COCI shared the objective of bringing about closer ties, participation and cooperation among the people of the ASEAN. The Committee on Culture and Information has implemented projects to promote the exchange of arts, culture and information within and among the ASEAN member countries. It has acted as an important vehicle through which the rich and diverse cultural heritage, values and aspirations can be shared.

During its 19th Meeting held in January in Baguio City, COCI has also considered a few projects suitable for the promotion of Visit ASEAN Year or VAY 1992. Such projects were among others, the ASEAN Flier/Pamphlet, ASEAN Festival of Song, ASEAN Documentary on Tourism, Distribution of ASEAN Features/ Documentary Films; ASEAN Theatre Festival; ASEAN Dance Festivals and ASEAN Square Sculptures.

For Year 1988/1989, ASEAN COCI implemented 26 projects which included 4 meetings, namely, one meeting for each of the four Working Groups under it. A total of US$ 2,123,082.72 was disbursed for all those projects and meetings. The highlights of some projects were as follows:

The 6th ASEAN Square Sculpture Symposium

The 6th ASEAN Square Sculpture Symposium was hosted by the Philippines from 15 February-31 March 1989. The sculpture were sited at the Sari Manok area of Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) Complex.

The Symposium with a theme "Towards an ASEAN Regional Identity" was held at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. Lectures and discussion by the participating artists were also Organised, followed by an exhibition of the scale Models of the sculptures.

With the completion of the 6th Square Sculpture projects ASEAN COCI had produced 36 prices of sculptures with 6 pieces in each member country. The Philippines, as host of the last project would also be producing a photofolio of all sculptures.

6th ASEAN Youth Painting Workshop

This project was hosted by Brunei Darussalam on 29 August to 7 September 1988. Thirty youth painters, five from each member country, participated in the Workshop and Exhibition held at Gadong Village in Brunei Darussalam

The Workshop and Exhibition was one of the ASEAN efforts to promote an active interest and creativity in the arts and to further cultural understanding among the young artists in ASEAN region. The Workshop provided opportunities for interaction between the master painters and participants and also individual experimentation with the supervision of the Master Painters. Papers on Portrait Painting, Abstract Painting, Batik Painting, Landscape Painting and Handicrafts, were discussed at the workshop.

Three exhibitions were organised during the workshop. The exhibition of paintings by the participants form the 5 ASEAN member countries was held at the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka from 29 August to 5 September 1988. The exhibition of paintings by the Master Painters and the Ex-participants from Brunei Darussalam at the Third. Fourth and Fifth ASEAN Youth Painting Workshop and Exhibition was held at Gadong Village from 29 August to 7 September 1988. The Exhibition of the participants' works created during the workshop was held at the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka from 7 September to 7 October 1988. A total of 156 paintings were exhibited and all the exhibition were opened to the public.

Third ASEAN Song Festival

The Festival was held at the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 26 November to 5 December 1988. 10 participants from each ASEAN member country were sent for the festival:

	 1   Composer
	 1   Arranger
	 1   Choreographer/Music Director
	 1   Producer/Official and
	 6   Artistes Singers/Dancers

	The Festival activities were of 2 parts:



	a.   ASEAN Composers/Arrangers
                   Workshop;


	b.   Gala   Performance   by singers and
                  dancers

The objectives of the Workshop was to generate interest in the ASEAN musical heritage. It enabled the participants to exchange their views and ideas on the musical trends and development in each of ASEAN member country. The Workshop also gave opportunity for the participants to develop and improve their skills and expertise in song writing and composing.

In the gala performance each member country performed 2 popular songs, one folk song and a finale performance. Each country was given 12 minutes for the performance and they were accompanied by the Radio, Television Malaysia Orchestra.

First ASEAN Youth Music Workshop (Second Cycle)

This project was hosted by Malaysia from 1-5 December 1988, at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) Kuala Lumpur. The project comprised a music workshop and a final concerts perfomed by the participants.

The project had a Resident Conductor as the Workshops' Principal Conductor. He rehearsed and conducted the main portion of the concert programme.

The guest conductors, one from Malaysia and one from Indonesia, were responsible for rehearsing and conducting the performances Of the chosen ASEAN compositions from their respective countries.

There were also tutors to help the Youth Musicians with technical problems and all musical issues pertinent to the Workshop.

During the two final concerts of the workshop the youth musicians performed the following pieces:

Shostakavich		- Festival Overture :  7 minutes
Mozart			- Adagio and        :  8 minutes
           		  Fugue                   
Tschaikowsky		- March Slave       :  7 minutes
Malaysian Composition 			    : 10 minutes
and Indonesian Composition		    :  8 minutes

During the interval there was Schuman's Symphony No 4 in A minor for 25 minutes and E. Waaldtenfer - Waltz from les Patineurs for 8 minutes.

The performance was opened to public and was well received. This project is considered one of the most successful ASEAN COCI projects because in Thailand, for example, as a direct result from previous similar projects, a Youth Orchestra had been established.

Indonesia would be hosting the next Youth Music Workshop in 1990.

Anthology of ASEAN Literature

This project was started in 1982. Brunei Darussalam joined the project in 1985. More than one million US dollars had been allocated for this project. To date, 80,000 copies of 19 books had been published and distributed.

Exchange of ASEAN Librarians

In 1988, ASEAN COCI implemented the 3rd and 4th Exchange of ASEAN Librarians. The 3rd was hosted by Malaysia on 14-24 September 1988 and the 4th was hosted by the Philippines on 21-30 November 1988.

This project attempted to expose librarians to the different library development and environment of all types of I libraries on both the urban and rural areas in ASEAN member countries. The aimed was to strengthen library cooperation among member countries.

The project was organised in the form of seminars, panel discussions, visits to libraries and socio-cultural activities.

The 3rd Exchange hosted by Malaysia, focused on "Special Library", while the orientation of the 4th Exchange in the Philippines was on "Academic Library Developments".

Singapore will host the 5th Exchange of ASEAN Librarians in September 1989.

Symposium on Painting and Photography in the 7th ASEAN Travelling Exhibition of Painting Photography and Children's Art

This is one of the COCI projects in the field of' Visual Arts. The project consists of a Symposium and Exhibition. The project started in Jakarta, Indonesia from 8-13 November 1988 (the Exhibition was held in December 1988); Malaysia hosted it in April 1989; Singapore in June 1989; Thailand in August/September 1989 and finally Brunei Darussalam in December 1989.

The project involved presentation of country papers on Painting and Photography by all ASEAN member countries. Some presentation were accompanied by slide shows.

The paintings category had a theme "Vision and Values", while the Children's Art was based on "Transportation". The other themes adopted for subsequence symposium were: Dimension in ASEAN Art, Art Dimension in the ASEAN Spirit, Tradition the Source of Inspiration and ASEAN Art - Today & Tomorrow.

A total of about 420 works from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand were displayed.

Other ASEAN COCI projects implemented were as follows:

5th Intra-ASEAN Archeological Excavation and Conservation in Thailand
Children's Books and Source Material on ASEAN Culture coordinated by Thailand
Comparative Study on the use of Nursery Rhymes and Chants in ASEAN Countries coordinated by Thailand
ASEAN Composers Forum on Traditional Music hosted by the Philippines
Research and Common Historical Evidences in ASEAN Countries organised by Malaysia
ASEAN Traditional Games and Sports hosted by Malaysia
ASEAN Radio Cultural Programme Exchage implemented by all member countries
ASEAN TV Cultural Programme Ex- change implemented by all member countries
ASEAN Documentary Film on 20 years of ASEAN implemented by Thailand
Film Week, Exchange of Film Producers, Actors, Actresses and Film Script Writers hosted by Indonesia
3rd Workshop Seminar for Journalists of the ASEAN News Agencies and Related News Organisations hosted by Singapore.
Publication of ASEAN Flier/Pamphlet by Malaysia.

Cooperation in the Field of Information

The First Conference of ASEAN Ministers responsible for Information was held in Jakarta on 21-25 May 1989. The Meeting adopted a Declaration that called for the strengthening of ASEAN cooperation in the development of the press, television, radio, film and video with the aim to bringing about greater awareness of ASEAN among its people. The Conference also adopted two programmes, namely, on the Enhancement of Press Cooperation Among ASEAN countries and on the Enhancement of ASEAN Cooperation in the TV, Radio , Film and Video Areas.

For more information, please refer to the project details