Celebrations that resound throughout the hemisphere.

• Position: Inter-American Year of Culture: "Our Cultures, Our Future"

The Inter-American Year of Culture, which officially came to a close in April 2012, was a year in which we celebrated our immense cultural wealth and our tremendous creative and intellectual potential, Festivals, parades, galas, contests, exhibitions, symposiums, conferences, and roundtable discussions were some of the many initiatives that gave witness to the importance of culture in the economic, social, and human development of communities in the Americas,

After the OAS General Assembly declared 2011 the Inter-American Year of Culture, the year was launched officially in a special joint meeting of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) in Washington DC on March 23, 2011.

The Secretariat for Integral Development invited member states to participate in the Year of Culture celebration and to register their national cultural projects and activities on line. A total of 110 initiatives from 20 countries and regions signed up: Argentina, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, French Guyana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and Uruguay. These initiatives brought together thousands of people from different backgrounds and highlighted the contribution of culture in the creation of resources and employment and in the promotion of citizen participation, diversity, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence among societies.

This article highlights four successful cultural activities that were part of the Inter-American Year of Culture celebrations.

On June 2-5, 2011, the Argentine Cultural Industries Market (MICA) in Buenos Aires drew more than 34,000 people. Producers and artists from all over the country came to meet with the world's largest cultural enterprises and sought out business opportunities through roundtables, conferences, and seminars. The success of the event was evident in the specific business deals reached as a result of the contacts made there. In publishing, for example, Barcelona's largest bookstore chain, La Central, signed an agreement to publish samples of Argentine cultural magazines between the months of December 2011 and March 2012. In design, 20 Argentine designers were invited to present an exhibit in Colombia during 2012. And in the area of music, more than 50 local record licenses were sold to other countries. Numerous other agreements...