The 21st Francophonie Festival is going to launch in more than 200 cities across China in March. A variety of cultural events featuring French music, films, literature, sports, gastronomy and art will show the French language and culture.

Pakistan's literary scene is seeing a spirited revival, with packed festivals attracting tens of thousands in a rock concert-like atmosphere that defies security threats in a growing cultural renaissance.  Events such as the raucous Lahore Literary Festival [...] are reclaiming the “cultural space” that has shrunk significantly in the conservative Muslim nation in recent years amid a raging Islamist insurgency.

160 years of Bangkok-Paris diplomatic relations are being celebrated this year. Life caught up with new French Ambassador to Thailand Gilles Garachon to discuss food, the AEC and cultural exchange. Political and economic diplomacy may be the core business of his job, but the ambassador puts emphasis on understanding culture.

When President Obama and leaders of Asian nations meet here Monday they will feel the tug of history and a bit of glamour on an estate where Ronald Reagan wandered around in slippers, Frank Sinatra sipped drinks by the pool and Dwight D. Eisenhower suggested that the nine-hole golf course could use a few palm trees.

It had everything from bagpipes to belly dancers [...] Canberrans came out in force on Saturday to enjoy costume, cuisine and customs from all over the world. The 2016 National Multicultural Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary with 7.5 kilometres of bunting, 400 stalls representing 170 nationalities and 350 performance groups and 2500 performers. 

North Korean tour guides lead visitors through the regime’s latest cultural showpiece, a grand new panorama museum reported to have cost $24m. [...] Part grand design and part diplomacy project, the Angkor Panorama museum, which opened in December, is the latest cultural export North Korea hopes will bring in much-needed funds for its struggling economy.

The heartbreaking image of a dead, three-year old Syrian refugee who was drowned in the Mediterranean sea last year just got a huge artistic tribute. [...] That photograph of Ai captured by India Today magazine on the Greek island of Lesbos is now the toast of the India Art Fair at an exhibition called “The Artists” this weekend.

Organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Assam, in association with the North East Writers’ Forum, with an aim to promote tourism as well as the rich literary tradition of the State, the three-day literary extravaganza will facilitate a cultural exchange and interaction among the writers of Italy and those of the region. A group of writers from Italy, including Sergio Scapagnini who is a well-known Italian film producer, are here to attend the festival.