The World Culture Hub was conceived and initiated by the German science fiction writer Michael K. Iwoleit. While editing the international science fiction magazine InterNova he became interested first in contemporary literature and then in arts and cultures from all over the world in general. Fascinated by the richness and diversity especially of cultures outside of the focus of Anglo and Euro centric mainstream media, he slowly approached the idea of creating a central repository for world culture.
The goal of the World Culture Hub is to provide some prospects of the artistic and cultural heritage of mankind in all its richness and diversity, without temporal and geographical prejudices, not uncritical but as open-minded as possible, receptive for all genres and traditions, forms and media, from ancient cave paintings to digital video art, from Bach to Ligeti, from Rembrandt to Picasso, from romantic poetry to cyberpunk, from John Dowland to Zakir Hussain. The Hub is intended to be a source of discovery not just for scholars and specialists but for open-minded lovers of the arts in general, presenting information, works and work samples in a coherent framework with the most flexible and accessible search and browsing interface.
Classic European or contemporary American culture will not be excluded but the focus is on the other, on neglected or unknown works and traditions that are rarely comprehensively and unprejudicedly presented elsewhere. The World Culture Hub is, first of all, an online repository, collecting articles, essays, images, audio, video and other information. But it’s also intended as an event hub, casting its net into various real and virtual worlds. We plan events, among others
- locally in Germany, also at international locations with the help of local agents whenever the occasion arises
- in virtual worlds such as Second Life, Sansar and our own WebGL installation that is currently in development
- via video live streaming on Youtube or Vimeo
- via audio live streaming using Shoutcast
If you have any ideas and like to contribute, your suggestions are warmly welcome by e-mail to wch@worldculturehub.net