About us

© Pauline Caplet

The Cultural Relations Platform is an EU-funded project that connects cultural practitioners worldwide for dialogue, exchange and co-operation. It also provides expertise to the European Union (EU) in the field of international cultural relations.

The Platform is implemented by a consortium of four organisations: the Goethe-Institut Brussels (the consortium leader); the European Cultural Foundation; the International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts and the University of Siena.

The Cultural Relations Platform:

• Develops research into the cultural and creative sectors in countries around the world
• Facilitates co-operation and networking between cultural practitioners within and outside the EU including cultural organisations, private foundations and the civil society sector
• Provides advice and expertise to EU institutions and EU delegations all over the world
• Strengthens the capacity of cultural practitioners globally to deliver international cultural relations, through local conferences, workshops and training, and its Global Cultural Relations Programme

By doing so, it builds awareness of the importance of international cultural relations, as a means of sharing knowledge, increasing understanding between different cultures and contributing to economic, human and social development as well as to peace and conflict mitigation.

“The EU is strongly engaged in international cultural relations, with programmes supporting the cultural sector of its partner countries. It also fosters cultural cooperation, as it strongly contributes to inter-cultural dialogue, conflict prevention, reconciliation and resilience.”

Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and High Representative & Vice-President Josep Borrell on World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development – 21 May 2020

Team

Rie Alkemade joined the team as a Project Officer for the Cultural Relations Platform in May 2020. Her previous experiences have been in working across the broader creative and cultural sectors between Asia and Europe which has led to her keen interest in working on international cross-cultural and collaborative initiatives. She has worked primarily in managing global projects as well as focusing on cultivating sustainable, long-term partnerships and networks. In her prior experiences she has freelanced for large-scale art fairs and festivals as well as more small-scale local cultural operators and organizations looking at promoting and enhancing people-to-people cultural exchange and intercultural dialogue.

Johanna Kouzmine-Karavaïeff is a consultant, researcher and cultural strategist with 20 years experience in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS). She specialises in culture in the context of international relations and in skill and perspective transfer from the CCS to business and industry. In 2020, she wrote a master’s thesis called “Cultural Diplomacy – an exercise for the tightrope artist – Politically motivated image building, cultural capacity building, or creating a better world?”. She was recently appointed G100 Country Chair Belgium for Arts Leadership. ​

Ruth Artiles Valero is a Project Assistant at the Cultural Relations Platform. Before joining the team, she worked in international diplomacy, security, and peacebuilding in London, Lyon and Brussels at the European Commission, Interpol, and the Spanish Embassy in London. Ruth holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from The University of Sheffield and a master´s degree in Conflict, Rights and Justice from the School Of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. With a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and postcolonial research, her master’s thesis, which was later published, tackled performative art’s ability to reconcile societies in contexts of post-conflict / negative peace with a focus on Lebanon. 

Zahra Jahanshah joined the team as an intern for the Cultural Relations Platform in March 2022. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the Isfahan University (Iran) and is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Innovation and Organization of Culture and Art at the University of Bologna (Italy). Parallel to her Bachelor’s (2016-2018) she worked as secretary for the Music Association of Isfahan University’s General Department of Cultural Affairs. After her graduation she started to work in a private sector company called Paksun-energy as Advertising Manager and Managing Director for more than three years. In 2020 she enrolled in a Master’s degree to follow up her career in the creative industry.

Consortium Members

Università degli Studi di Siena (University of Siena) is one of the oldest universities in Europe with a well-established tradition of high-quality teaching and research. Two departments are particularly involved in training and research activities in the field of cultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and cultural heritage.
www.unisi.it