Inspired by a success of the Arterial, the Pan-African conference on vitalizing African cultural assets, co-organized by Hivos in 2007, that generated a powerful, effective and substantially funded platform - Hivos and OSI are initiating in 2008 an intensive and interactive conference among the stakeholders of the Asian arts and culture sector.

This conference will, for the first time, bring together about 80 stakeholders from autonomous arts and culture sectors and civil society groups. The conference will include artists, cultural theorists and activists, and national and international donor agencies active in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan) South and South-East Asia (India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka).

The aim of the conference is to firstly, generate new initiatives for strengthening the arts and culture sector in these regions of Asia. Secondly, it will articulate and disseminate productive strategies of cultural activism and work towards a building of a civil society in Asia that would advance pluralism, participation, equality and justice.