Kenya: The Land, Its Art and Its Wildlife—An Anthology ed. by Frederick Lumley, Made in West Africa by Christine Price (review)

Uncertainty and the Performing Arts. and T. Moore's almost classic The Demand for Broadway Theater Tickets are particularly interesting. Cultural Policy in Afghanistan. Shafie Rahel. The Uncsco Press. Paris. 1975.49pp..illus. Paper. Reviewed by M. NazifShahrani* This is one of a Unesco series of studies intended 'to show how cultural policies are planned and implemented in various Member States' (p. 5). Rahel's contribution. however. tells nothing ahout /XJW cultural policies are planned in Afghanistan. but it does furnish some useful information about how current cultural activities and dissemination of information in the country are administered through the various departments of the Ministry of Information and Culture. The study begins with a sweeping review of the chronology of political developments and the sequence of 'cultural periods' ranging from Middle Palaeolithic (30.00&S0.000 years ago) to the establishment of the first Republic in Afghanistan in 1973. Following this. the author states: 'For the first time in its history. Afghanistan. under the leadership of the Republican rkgime. has developetl ;I cultural policy . . ..'(p.21). The chapter on 'cultural policy' conmts of quotations from the text 01' Prcsident Mohammed Daud's address to the nation and a series of general statements outlining the Republic's rniijor goiils and aspicitions in implementing ii cultural policy. The rest ofthe study describe5 opcrations of the Ministry of Information and Culture. One of the major shortcomings of this booklet is in the fact that it not only fails t o account for the tremendous cultural heterogeneity represented within the country hut also to discuss the question of how Afghanistan's cultural policy deals with this existing cultural plurality. Phrases such as 'national culture' and 'national heritage' are repeatedly used in the essay but they are never defined. Therefore. readers cannot tell exactly what is meant by 'national culture' in reference to the cultural policy of Afghanista11. Rahcl's document provides a valuable guide to the activities of the Ministry of Information and Culture in Afghanistan. One ciin only hopc that it will htyorne it basis for the formulation and implementation of ii clearer and comprehensivecultural policy in the future. Some Aspects of Cultural Policies in India. Kapila Malik Vatsyayan. The Unesco Press. Paris, 1972. 105 pp.. illus. Paper. US$2.00: f0.60: FFX.00. Reviewed by K. C. Subramanyan** The author gives ;i fairly comprehensive account of what the Government of India is doing in the field of culture through its various institutions. some long established. some new. A5 an officcr in the Ministry of Education, she has an inside knowledge oftheir functioning and, as a known scholar in the field of Indian arts. especially the art of dance. she brings to her presentation ii large perspective. According to her. the basic approach of the Governmcnt is to bring modern science and learning to the people of India at different levels. while preserving the various aspects of the country.5 culture and providing for its extension and growth.She however admits that the Government is not able to do as much for culture as it would like to. for. in the scheme ofthings. culture receives 'comparatively low priority, when pitted ayainst the needs o f a developing economy. a backward industry . . . not to mention the target of free and compulsory education. adult literacy drives. expansion and improvement of educational facilities at secondary. university and technical level'. Some of the institutions she mentions arc government sponsored. others are government supported. They divide roughly into the following four kinds: (I)those that try to preserve the heritage of the past (like the Department of Archaeology. the National Archives. the National Lihrar). *Dept. 01 Anthropology. University of Nevada. Reno. NV 89557. IJ.S.A **Faculty 01' kine Arts. M.S. University, Baroda 2. India. tiirious museums and collections): (2) thobe that try t o study the past and clarify it and extend the persistence of traditional arts :ind skills (like various educational and research institutions. both official and non-official. and the departments that compile the gazeteei-, and census surveys: (3) those that try to support traditional and non-traditional arts and skills in present-day society (like the National Academies of Arts. Letters. Music, Dance and...