Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist July 2018 | Page 46

CULTURE CONNECT
Guest performer Katerina L'Dokova
MUSIC KNOWS
NO BARRIERS
BY MANJU SETH
Latin American Jazz Concert in Delhi
Ambassadors of Brazil and Mexico, Riva Ganguly Das,
Magos Herrera, Trio Afora
M
usic connects hearts and minds across cultures!
Listening to the Grammy nominee, Mexican
singer, Magos Herrera along with the ‘Trio
Afora', the three brilliant Jazz musicians from Brazil, was
absolutely mesmerising! The Indian Council for Cultural
Relations(ICCR) and the Embassies of Mexico and Brazil
in India collaborated to make it a magical evening as part of
Cultural Diplomacy.
Cultural Diplomacy is the deployment of a country’s
soft power, particularly its cultural assets, to achieve its
foreign policy goals and forms an integral part of Diplomatic
practice. Culture is a soft power resource that strives to foster
the exchange of ideas, information, art, etc. among nations
and their people to build bridges and shape preferences and
positive outcomes through appeal and attraction. Coupled
with economic power, culture is a potent instrument of a
country’s soft power assets. Cultural Diplomacy relies on
the people to people dimension as a basis of dialogue and
understanding the other.
Art and Cultural activities create opportunities to develop,
enhance and maintain relationships and present a positive
46 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 7 • July 2018, Noida