Shah Alam and PJ becomes Art Cities, make culture an economic opportunity

SHAH ALAM, 29 Nov: The cities of Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya should become Art Cities or Creatopolice that can increase the involvement of the local creative economic sector in the global creative economy which is developing rapidly.

The Chairman of the Standing Committee for Youth Generation & Sports Culture and Entrepreneur Development, Amirudin Shari, said that film, theater, publishing, the music industry and app creation should be developed and integrated in the global trend.

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He said that Selangor needs to join forces with regional players to strengthen human capital and expertise in this sector.

“The effort by the state government to make the cities of Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya as Art Cities is important in creating a society that always lives in healthy integration through art, cultural and intellectual activities.

“These activities eliminate prejudices and foster relationships among the people,” said Amirudin during the winding-up session of the Selangor Budget 2015 at the Selangor State Assembly.

He said that cultural confusion is purely aesthetic or taste of beauty needs to be corrected.

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“We also need to look at culture from the point of economy and industry. The creative economy is now being seen as important, given its tremendous size,” he said.

He explained that in 2011 the creative economy, identified as the orange economy, amounted to USD4.3 trillion, 20 percent larger than the economy of Germany and two and a half times that of total military spending worldwide.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) between 2002 and 2011, the export of creative goods and services grew by 134 percent.

“We tried to make Shah Alam a regional art hub with artists being able to open their studios and work here.

“In fact, we can also make Shah Alam a centre of regional art auction with art lovers, curators and art auctioneers being able to come here,” he said.

NS


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