Send in photos, video, audio or stories showing your culture and we’ll feature a selection on the Connecting Cultures website and our Commonwealth Secretariat website and Facebook page. 

“Connecting Cultures” celebrates the diversity of the Commonwealth and its role in bringing together many different peoples on the basis of shared visions and values.  Through your photos, videos, and stories the Secretariat hopes to showcase the rich tapestry of cultures woven together to create our Commonwealth.

Aged 30 or under? For posterity why not also add your submissions to the Royal Commonwealth Society’s Young Commonwealth Competitions through the Jubilee Time Capsule.

This month’s topic: FOOD

Each month we’ll focus on a new topic and how your culture is expressed through it: dance, fashion, music, art, etc.

This month we want to hear about your traditional cultural foods. What do you cook, eat, or share with family and friends? How do they represent your culture? How have they changed over the years? What has influenced them? Share a recipe, describe any rituals and traditions around sharing a meal, or discuss the local ingredients used in preparing a traditional meal.

Take part

Citizens of Commonwealth member states can send material via:

• Flickr (www.flickr.com/groups/commonwealthconnectingcultures) — photos, audio and video
• Email (connectingcultures@commonwealth.int) — stories, photos, audio and video

Don’t forget to include your name, where you’re from, and background information about the material (who, what, why, where and when).

Terms and conditions
You must hold the citizenship of a Commonwealth member state to submit material.
In contributing to the Commonwealth Secretariat you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use your material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide.
This may include the transmission of the material by our partner organisations. These are all reputable Commonwealth organisations that are prohibited from altering the material in any way or making it available to the general media.
It is important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything that you contribute to the Commonwealth Secretariat in this manner and that if your material is used, we will endeavour to publish your name alongside it.
In contributing you warrant that you have created this material or have permission to do so.
The Commonwealth Secretariat cannot guarantee that any material will be used and we reserve the right to remove this material at our own discretion and to edit your comments for length.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
Any dispute concerning these terms and conditions shall be settled by negotiation, although if negotiation is unsuccessful either party may refer the dispute to the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal which will have exclusive jurisdiction to consider the matter.

Multiple prize winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will speak on the 2012 Commonwealth theme ‘Connecting Cultures’ at the Commonwealth Lecture on 15 March.

Born in Nigeria, Ms Ngozi Adichie is the author of Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the 2007 Orange Prize For Fiction; and Purple Hibiscus, which won the 2005 Best First Book Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the 2004 Debut Fiction Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.

She was named one of the twenty most important fiction writers today under 40 years old by The New Yorker.

The 15th Commonwealth Lecture will be held at the Guildhall in London, UK.

Tickets are limited and attendance is strictly by prior registration only.

Click here for more information and booking details >

The Commonwealth Lecture is organised by the Commonwealth Foundation in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Royal Over-Seas League.

The full list of those schools that have won tickets to attend the Commonwealth Day Observance in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen on 12th March can be downloaded here. There are many other ways schools or youth groups can get involved with Commonwealth Day. See here for some suggestions and remember the Jubilee Time Capsule is open until 6th June 2012!

In 2012, the essay, photo and film competitions take the 2012 Commonwealth theme, ‘Connecting Cultures’. Each entry must also relate to one day in the last sixty years, as this year all entries will be added to the Jubilee Time Capsule.

Entrants have from now until 1st May 2012 to submit an entry. For more information click here.

We’re looking for original, bold and authentic films in any genre which entertain as well as stimulate and encourage debate both locally and globally.

Deadline for receipt of applications is 31 January 2012 (5pm GMT)

Commonwealth Shorts >>

Grants will be awarded to civil society organisations in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Organisations should submit a proposal for the development and delivery of activities that use culture as a way of engaging with local communities. Projects should also include a tangible output that captures the experiences of the participants and highlights the impact of the project.

Deadline: 27 January 2012, 17:00 (GMT)

Culture and conflict grants initiative >>

The Commonwealth Foundation’s mission is to strengthen civil society organisations across the Commonwealth as they promote democracy, advance sustainable development and foster inter-cultural understanding. To deliver this mission the Foundation gives grants to promote dialogue, exchanges, and partnerships between Commonwealth peoples.

The “Connecting Cultures” Special Grants Initiative complements the existing Commonwealth Foundation’s programmes and grants and aims to create  deeper understanding between different cultures within the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Foundation invites applicants to submit proposals for projects up to a total of £25,000. A sum of £100,000 has been made available for the initiative and it is therefore expected that four awards will be made.  Project activity should not start before July 2012 and should be completed by June 2013. The Foundation is unable to retrospectively fund project activities.

Special Grants Initiative >>

Commonwealth Writers works in partnership with international literary organisations, the wider cultural industries, and civil society to help writers develop their craft.

We aim to encourage members to exchange ideas and get inspired by our online writer in residence, interviews with authors, and useful guidance from publishers and industry experts. It will also contribute to the debate for a more equitable publishing industry, to help talented writers from all parts of the world get their voices heard.

We want members to exchange ideas and get inspired. Read, watch and hear writers from Nigeria, Canada, India, Pakistan and the UK. Over the next few weeks we’ll also be talking to: David Mitchell, H.M. Naqvi, Kim Scott, Louisa Young, and others. Our second writer-in-residence will soon join Katrina Best to offer you more tips and guidance. We’ll also debate the future of publishing where you can put your views to industry experts from around the world.

The Commonwealth Book and Short Story prizes for 2012 have now closed and we’re looking forward to working with our judges to find and celebrate the best new fiction from the Commonwealth. These two annual awards give writers the chance to be recognised and read more widely across the world. Winners will be announced by June 2012 but there’s a lot to be found on the site – if you don’t know where to begin here’s a good place to start.