International Network for Cultural Diversity
Newsletter 21 – July 2002
Contents
The Third Annual Conference of the INCD
For more information: incd@ccarts.ca
The INCD is pleased to announce that its Secretariat is now truly international. Since March of this year, Rebecka Koritz, Associate Coordinator – Europe, has been hosted by KLYS (the Swedish Joint Committee of Literary and Artistic Professionals) in Stockholm. In June, the Secretariat was joined by Michael van Graan, in South Africa. Mike is a well-known cultural activist and playwright who will be coordinating our third meeting in Cape Town as well as building the network in Africa. The main Secretariat will continue to be housed in Ottawa at the Canadian Conference of the Arts.
We encourage you to contact the Secretariat branch in your region to find out more about activities and events or to submit information about your organization’s activities.
Garry Neil, INCD Coordinator
Alexis Andrew, INCD Administrator
Rebecka Koritz, INCD Associate coordinator – Europe
Michael van Graan, INCD Administrator – South Africa
The INCD would like to acknowledge the generosity of the
government of Sweden, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of
Canadian Heritage, the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
(South Africa), the Rockefeller Foundation (USA) and the Prince Claus Fund
(Netherlands) in supporting the INCD Secretariat.
A number of INCD members have inquired about the relationship between the INCD and the Coalition for Cultural Diversity. The following is an excerpt of a response by INCD coordinator Garry Neil to an inquiry from Europe:
I can
understand the confusion created outside Canada by the existence of both
the Coalition for Cultural Diversity (CCD) and the International Network for
Cultural Diversity (INCD), particularly since the organizations were formed at
roughly the same time.
Both groups are working internationally to encourage the formation of national networks. The principal differences between the organizations are the following:
1. The membership of the INCD is GLOBAL - there are now more than 400 organizations in 60 countries which have signed the statement of principles.
The membership, Board and Executive of the CCD are limited to Canadian professional associations, 33 in total. The CCD represents the issue of cultural diversity at the national level here in Canada, and several INCD activists sit on the Board of Directors of the CCD, representing one or other Canadian group. The CCD fosters international dialogue with sister professional organizations in other countries.
2. The Steering Committee and staff of the INCD are also global. The Steering Committee is elected annually at the INCD members' meeting and presently there are 14 members from 13 countries providing leadership for the INCD. The headquarters of the secretariat is in Ottawa at the offices of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, but the INCD also has a staff person in each of Stockholm and Cape Town.
3. The INCD's definition of the cultural field is perhaps more broad than that of the CCD. For example, the INCD is working on issues relating to globalization and the heritage sector. A number of members of the INCD come from the heritage community. The concerns of the CCD focus more on the issues related to the cultural industries, an area of interest obviously shared with the INCD.
4. The INCD
is the official interlocutor with the network of culture ministers
organized in the International Network on Cultural Policy. INCD
meetings occur immediately before the culture ministers' meeting and we have an
opportunity to present our conclusions to the ministers. At the
upcoming meetings in Cape Town, all INCD delegates will have a joint lunch with
the culture ministers, and a delegation from the INCD will attend
the culture ministers' meeting on its opening day.
There is presently discussion among the key players about how to minimize the overlap between the INCD and CCD. We hope to continue working in a mutually supportive manner to achieve our common aims.
It seems like cultural observatories are popping up all over the world these days and the INCD thought it would be useful to do a quick run-down on these nebulous institutions…
It would be difficult to pinpoint the one true definition or role of cultural observatories as each of the existing observatories serves different communities while there are also a number of institutions or organizations that operate much as observatories without having adopted the name, but it is safe to say that they are all concerned with the monitoring of cultural policy and culture-related information. Some are exclusively concerned with data gathering and storing (including statistics, research and policy papers) while others operate by fostering partnerships and dialogue between like-minded organizations.
UNESCO has also formed a network for observatories (what’s a movement without a network, right?): the International Network of Observatories in Cultural Policies http://www.unesco.org/culture/development/observatories/index.shtml - most observatories are linked to on this site.
There is a wide variety of information accessible on the web sites of many of the observatories, spanning in-depth studies of particular facets of cultural policy, best practice compendiums and statistical data; however, information on some sites is restricted to members or to paying subscribers. Many observatories also publish studies, reports and newsletters.
The more effective observatories shy away from broad and all-inclusive thematic approaches and focus their attention on a narrow spectrum of policy issues which can be thoroughly treated.
One of the more successful is the European Audiovisual Observatory. It concentrates on a single sector and has developed a comprehensive approach to studying the a/v field, through the development of a specific methodology and indicators that can be applied to a number of countries. Regional observatories such as those in Budapest and Quebec centers work on a small but well-defined range of themes and are of significant use to their target audiences. A well established center is the Observatoire des politiques culturelles de Grenoble, in France which focuses more on education and research than on collecting and studying existing data.
A few observatories, such as INTERARTS, are privately funded but most exist under the wing of governments or inter-governmental agencies. UNESCO and the Council of Europe have been particularly involved in the formation and consolidation of cultural observatories. Most do not operate as funding bodies but a few contribute to specific projects in partnership. Concern exists in some quarters about the funneling of limited resources towards these institutions and away from cultural practitioners, particularly in Europe, where the levels of bureaucracy sometimes lead to replication of information.
For the past two years, African organizations, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, UNESCO and the Culturelink Network, have been working on establishing the Observatory for Cultural Policy in Africa. This is a pan-African initiative that seeks to map out the wealth of African culture and to strengthen the cultural policies of member countries. It was being created under the now defunct Organization of African Unity, replaced by the fledgling African Union.
There are also stirrings in the Organization of American States to create a hemispheric cultural observatory (see 3. OAS Summit). Both of these projects will require more than just goodwill to see them through. They will need significant financial resources as well as compliance from member governments and strong involvement from civil society to effect positive impacts upon the cultural policies of their regions.
In Europe, the debate on forming a European observatory swings between enthusiasm and deep mistrust as many cultural organizations worry about the centralization of policy-making in the EU. Other see it as an opportunity to work on developing stronger and more cohesive policies for the EU, which is often criticized for its lack of involvement in culture.
The danger with these all-encompassing continental initiatives is that they will simply mimic the ponderous bureaucracy of their host organizations and add little of significant use to the development of effective policy development and analysis. Hopefully, the bureaucratic sinkhole can be avoided as there is need for clear and accessible information to stimulate coherent and proactive cultural development in governments and civil society.
Following the Organization of American States (OAS) Summit of the Americas in April 2001 and the First Experts Seminar on Cultural Diversity in March 2002, the First OAS CIDI Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Authorities of Culture is being held in Cartegena, Columbia, July 12-13.
Primary themes of the meeting include integrating cultural diversity into various aspects of public policy (for example: health, education and the environment) and promoting mechanisms for greater hemispheric dialogue. It is expected that the Statement issuing from the Summit will include a recommendation calling for the formation of an inter-American Observatory on Cultural Policies.
The NGO community has been invited to participate as observers and the INCD has sent Brazilian Steering Committee member Nitis Jacon of La Red Latin American and Caribbean Performer’s Network to monitor the Summit. A full report on the findings will be in the next INCD newsletter.
The Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity is a new UNESCO initiative that seeks to work on two main issues of international cultural diversity for the coming five years: the development of local cultural industries and the prevention of piracy. It is focused on partnerships between developed and developing world cultural industries and the strengthening of copyright laws to prevent “unfair competition from low-priced pirated works”. UNESCO is soliciting both proposals for funding and sponsors.
For more information:
http://www.unesco.org/culture/alliance/
5. News from INCD Members
If your organization has an announcement that you would like to see included in the INCD newsletter, please send it to incd@ccarts.ca .
EUCLID has launched new
searchable online database – ACRONIM. It’s free and lists 3000 documents
dealing with culture. Check it out!
http://www.euclid.co.uk/fr4_eng.html
The
Societé congolaise pour le dévelopement des industries culturelles is
organizing three events in Brazzaville early in 2003 – for more information socodic@hotmail.com
-
Regional
seminar on arts training and cultural management February 17-22
-
Seminar
on cultural policies and the cultural dimension of the growth of
municipalities, April 15-22.
-
International
residences for performing and visual artists, Sept 20-28.
The Second World Summit on the Arts and Culture, to be hosted by the National Arts Council of Singapore will take place November 23, 2003 to November 26. The summit, which will be organised in partnership with the International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies (IFACCA), will see representatives of arts and culture agencies from around the world gather to exchange ideas and debate key issues. The theme and program will be announced later in the year. Info: ifacca@ozco.gov.au