International Cultural Exchange
Yoshioka Norihiko

Cultural exchange took place long before imagined communities, which we now
refer to as “nations,” were created. As seen in the former tributary system,
however, cultural exchange has also been historically deeply related to power
struggles across the world.

Today, international cultural exchange as a deliberate practice is oriented towards
internationalism, with aims to contribute to world peace and advocate respect for
cultural diversity. At the same time, it also continues to be exercisedcompetitively as a way of pursuing “national” interest, based on the strategic
concept in international politics of employing soft power, and is therefore
frequently discussed within the context of power struggles even to this day.

As the world becomes increasingly divided, international cultural exchange tends
to be debated and exercised against the simple binary of whether it should
enhance international or national interest. In extreme cases, however, exchange ineither direction can become exclusive or fundamentalist in nature, and result inthe strengthening of relations only among certain groups of people. As thedocumentary film The Social Dilemma (2020) reveals, if our digital environment issystemized so as to further reinforce, with or without our awareness, ourindividual beliefs, values and tastes “at this point in time,” and as international
cultural exchange begins to increasingly happen online and turn more virtual inthis post-Covid world, it will become ever so difficult to deliver information aboutcross-cultural exchange—whether it be for the purpose of mutual understanding
or exercising influence—to the places where we want it to happen mosteffectively, and encourage participation. We are at a point in history where wehave to reconsider how to prepare even for the “wrong delivery”— sending
information out to the wrong destination and causing misinterpretation (aconcept that Azuma Hiroki drew from Jacques Derrida)—and how to encourage
participation from a diverse range of people.

Handscroll by Giuseppe Castiglione, S.J. (an Italian Qing dynasty court painter) depicting theQianlong Emperor (1757) receiving white horses from Kyrgyz as tribute, in exchange for Qing
silk and cotton.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tributary_system_of_China#/media/File:Qianlong_Horse.jpg

Cultural facilities of various countries with offices in Bangkok (from left top, clockwise: TheJapan Foundation, Goethe Institut, Korean Cultural Center, China Cultural Center)

Culture essentially cannot be ranked but is considered a source of soft power. The
competitive power of each nation, therefore, is a topic of interest in soft power discourse andoften appears in different forms of ranking.

Pratthana—A Portrait of Possession (2018-)
Photo: Sopanat Somkhanngoen
Organizer: The Japan Foundation Asia Center
Original novel by Uthis Haemamool, Script and Direction: Okada Toshiki
The performance, which premiered in Bangkok and traveled to Paris and Tokyo, was aground-breaking international cultural exchange event, in which the participants sought ways
not only to collaborate internationally in the making, but also to adopt a co-production style.

Related Links
The Japan Foundation https://www.jpf.go.jp
China Cultural Center http://cn.cccweb.org
Korean Cultural Center http://www.kocis.go.kr
Goethe Institut https://www.goethe.de
British Council https://www.britishcouncil.org
Alliance Français https://www.institutfrancais.com