Publications
The Creative Wealth of Nations, with foreword by Amartya Sen (Cambridge 2018) Press Kit
Development seen from a more holistic perspective looks beyond the expansion of material means and considers the enrichment of people's lives. The arts are an indispensable asset in taking a comprehensive approach toward the improvement of lives. Available Formats: Paperback Hardback eBook Also available from:
17 Aug. 2023 The Art of Nations and Global Development
In 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Straits Times of Singapore commissioned a survey asking people to rank the essential jobs that had kept the city-state going during the pandemic. The answers were shocking. The Brown Journal of World Affairs Spring/Summer 2023 • Volume XXIX, Issue II
Sept. 2022 On Cultivating African Architecture for the Africa We Need
As one African proverb goes, Knowledge is like a garden: If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested. When it comes to African architecture, what is unequivocal is that the knowledge is there. But ... African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol.5, Issue 4 • Also in the Jahazi Journal Vol. 10, Issue 3, 2022 special issue on Land Governance, Culture, and Heritage.
15 Aug. 2022 Book chapter – The Arts in the Economy and the Economy in the Arts • In New Mediums, Better Messages? • Edited by David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock • 'The arts, no one should doubt, are for the enjoyment and enrichment of life,' as John Kenneth Galbraith—who once said that ‘the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable’—argued. 'But there is another dimension insufficiently recognized. That is their contribution to economic life and well-being.' Open Access • Oxford University Press
26 Oct. 2021 In American Cities, A Tale of Tree Inequity: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions Limited tree canopy affects millions of people living in American cities, especially those in people of color and lower-income neighborhoods. Working Paper No. 10-2021 • Cambridge Open Engage
1 Sept. 2021 On Harnessing Culture and Heritage for Africa’s Economic Transformation In May 2021, the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa opened the Africa Dialogue Series, its annual flagship event, under the theme “Cultural Identity and Ownership: Reshaping Mindsets.” United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
1 June 2021 When It Comes to Sustaining Community Relationships, Small Businesses Are Not Small Among the many valuable lessons I learned as a music student, besides analyzing how the harmony of meaningful relationships works, was that the dry cleaning expenses for my concert clothing could be tax deductible.
The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
3 March 2021 Arts Education and Human Capability
Knowledge, as widely understood, is the engine of modern economic progress.
The World Ensemble
12 Jan. 2021 Portraits from a Shaken Washington
Ever since I arrived in the United States in 1996, I’ve always been surprised by a sense of feckless exceptionalism hanging in the air, mixed with breathtaking underdevelopment — to the point that it’s as if there’s some kind of invisible knee tightly pressing on America’s neck, making it difficult for such a rich country to breathe properly. »»
15 Dec. 2020 An Interview with Sir James D. Wolfensohn (1933-2020)
James D. Wolfensohn, who served as World Bank president from 1995 to 2005, died on 25th November, 2020 at 86. Global Policy Journal
13 Nov. 2020 The Kingdom of Wakanda Grants President Trump Asylum
The Kingdom of Wakanda has unanimously voted to grant President Donald J. Trump asylum should he choose to move there anytime after January 20, 2021. The Satirist
23 Oct. 2020 At the UN, the Arts Emerge as a Force for Sustainable Development The United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary this year, and while it may not be marked in the way we would have imagined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an annual concert for UN Day has been pre-recorded for streaming in the UN General Assembly Hall in New York on 24 October. SDG Knowledge Hub
21 Oct. 2020 Examining Inequality in the Arts
There is nothing new about the nature and scope of inequality engulfing the world today. Still, notwithstanding the ‘starving artist’ mantra—which has become an acceptable truism—inequality in the arts is rarely examined. This discussion aims to shed light on that issue... Background Paper No. 5-2019 • Human Development Report 2019: Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today • UNDP
24 Sept. 2020 How Tourism Could Contribute to Cultural Dignity and Planetary Well-Being The Covid-19 pandemic provides a rare opportunity to rethink how tourism could contribute to cultural dignity and planetary well-being. Global Policy Journal
19 Sept. 2020 In Barbados, An Inter-American Cultural Meeting Met a Beaming Ficus Citrifolia Once up on a time, there was an island that appeared in the Caribbean. Medium
30 March 2020 The Arts Enrich Lives, But Are Also Beset with Gross Inequality
In the prelude to my book The Creative Wealth of Nations, I begin by saying that I grew up in two worlds. Medium • UNDP
17 March 2020 Prelude and Fugue in Bird Major: Why Birds Matter
If you comb through the literature of international affairs, you will find a litany of treaties, from the familiar to the obscure. Environment for the Americas
11 Jan. 2020 Gladys Nalwoga, 1948 – 2019
I sometimes like to joke that if my mother had been someone who didn’t take her time to do certain things, I’d probably have been born on the first and not the third of January. »»
4 Oct. 2018 Beat by Bit: On Measuring Trade in Value Added in the Creative Economy of Southeast Asia Trade in cultural goods and services is one of the least understood areas in commerce. In Bilangan: Selected Papers from the 2018 International Conference on Cultural Statistics and Creative Economy National Commission for Culture and the Arts • The Republic of the Philippines
31 Oct. 2017 Do Pineapples Grow on Trees? Young People and Farming in Thailand, Uganda, and South Sudan In recent years, the first thing that normally comes to mind when talking about food crises is climate change. Africa Policy Journal • Harvard Kennedy School
25 June 2017 Living the Dream
Thank you for such a wonderful story about the life Harry Radliffe lived ("Support for Storytellers," Fall 2016). Letter to the Editor • Fletcher Magazine
29 Nov. 2016 Introducing a Cultural Trade Index
A few years ago, when Craigslist was just “The List,” a friend circulated an ad posted on Craigslist Vancouver. Let's Talk Development • World Bank
26 Oct. 2016 For the people, by the people: How inclusive design can help tackle extreme poverty A museum is probably not the most obvious place to examine global inequality, but something is happening at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City that deserves a good look. Nasikiliza • World Bank
24 Oct. 2016 The Cultural Trade Index: An Introduction
The Cultural Trade Index aims to shed light on cultural trade and stimulate interest in how this little-known area can contribute to economic diversification, boost shared prosperity, and reduce extreme poverty. Working Paper 7871 • World Bank
Sept. 2016 Music Going for a Song
Intellectual property rights date to ancient Egypt. Finance & Development, Vol. 53, No. 3 • IMF
28 Sept. 2016 El mundo nos da basura, y nosotros les devolvemos música English
La alianza global que busca promover la vida sostenible está encontrando nuevos aliados en los lugares más insospechados. Kreatopolis • Inter-American Development Bank
24 May 2016 Creative Trade for Human Development
In recent years, international trade in creative goods and services has been expanding. Working Paper 7684 • World Bank
24 May 2016 Creative Natives in the Digital Age: How Digital Technology Has Revolutionized Creative Work Digital technologies have permeated modern life, and their impact on creative work has been revolutionary. Working Paper 7683 • World Bank
May 2016 Work as Art: Links between Creative Work and Human Development Creative work has enhanced human development since early times; similarly, the latter can expand the former. Background Paper • Human Development Report 2015: Work for Human Development • UNDP
1 May 2016 The Arts, Africa & Economic Development: the Problem of Intellectual Property Rights The subject of this article is the application of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) to Africa's cultural economy, and its implications for development. Journal of Law, Social Justice & Global Development • University of Warwick • UK
March 2016 Music for Development in the Digital Age
The music world has had its share of Internet-led shake-ups. Background Paper • World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends • World Bank
21 Oct. 2015 African art needs to come home - and this is why
(With Dilip Ratha) African art dots museums across Europe and North America, gracing countries where many Africans would be hard pressed to get a visa.
The Guardian
22 Sept. 2015 The road not shared: Turning to the arts to help increase pedestrian safety A few years ago on a busy Kampala intersection, cars zoomed by while pedestrians braced themselves to cross a road. Let's Talk Development • World Bank
5 June 2015 Development as Music: Using Africa's Creative Wealth to Improve Lives across the Continent When I was a child I lived in two worlds. The first world was a creative one, filled with music, a teeming treasure of sounds that stretched from church to nature. Nasikiliza • World Bank
1 April 2015 Mozart seduces the World Bank and the IMF
Something curious happened recently at the D.C. enclaves of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mozart, no less, seized hold of the two institutions. Let's Talk Development • World Bank
19 Jan. 2015 Haiti's Economic Imperative
Re "Haiti’s economic aftershocks" (Opinion, Jan. 12): Paul E. Fallon makes a point that anyone concerned about Haiti or even global poverty must consider.
Letter to the Editor • New York Times International Edition
Nov. 2014 The Creative Wealth of Nations: How the Performing Arts Can Advance Development and Human Progress • Foreword by Amartya Sen Cultural activities are increasingly noted as drivers of meaningful development. Working Paper 7118 • World Bank
April 2014 Africa's Creative Sector: Why Intellectual Property Matters
"When you play the flute in Zanzibar all Africa dances," goes a Zanzibari saying. Africa.com
19 Feb. 2014 An Untapped Economy: Africa's Creative Sector
“All roads lead to Kilembe.” As a child growing up in Uganda, I heard that statement countless times. World Policy Journal
24 May 2013 A Ugandan in Southeast Asia
It was as if I was in Thailand before I got there. Photo Essay • The Fletcher Forum
9 July 2010 For God and My Feet: The Pain of Walking in Uganda
IF a survey were conducted to measure the natural beauty of countries, Uganda would score highly. Its vegetation makes Uganda a gem. Edited by The New Vision
See original article
3 June 2009 U.S. Students: See the World, and Change It
Re "Cum Laude in Evading Bandits" (column, May 31): Since America is at the center of global power, Nicholas D. Kristof’s "15 travel tips" should be discussed at all American schools. Letter to the Editor • New York Times
6 Nov. 2008 Northern Uganda: Halting the War is Just the Beginning
Like Rwanda, northern Uganda has had its share of political upheavals. The Phillipian • Vol. CXXX1 No. 23
30 Oct. 2008 Rwanda Strives to Redeem Its Dark Past
Since I left Uganda 12 years ago, I have had a couple of opportunities to go back — thanks to my musical activities. The Phillipian • Vol. CXXX1 No. 22
14 Dec. 2007 The Overture to the North Koreans
Re "Philharmonic Agrees to Play in North Korea" (front page, Dec. 10): The Philharmonic’s decision to play in Pyongyang is a brazen act that shows how music remains a powerful tool of communication. Letter to the Editor • New York Times
5 Oct. 2005 The Other Gold in Southern Africa: Music
The Andover Gazette • Vol. XXXI No. 5
Oct. 2003 Sylff Music and Minds in Cairo
I first heard about Egypt in my geography classes in Uganda, the location of Lake Victoria, one of the sources of the Nile River, the source of prosperity for Egyptians. Sylff Newsletter, No.7 • The Tokyo Foundation
Oct. 2003 Young Minds and Music Converge in Egypt
The Juilliard Journal • Vol. XIX No. 2
Oct. 2000 African Odyssey: Bringing the Music Home
The Juilliard Journal • Vol. XVI No. 2
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