International
Network for Cultural Diversity
Newsletter – June
2003
1. INCD News and Events
The INCD is pleased to
announce that it has received a three-year grant from the Swedish International
Development Agency (Sida) to support its work in Africa. This funding will
enable the INCD to engage the African cultural sector in the international
debate on cultural diversity and to facilitate the work of the INCD’s Committee
on Culture and Development
The INCD is also
pleased to announce it has received grants from the European Cultural
Foundation and the Arts and Culture Network Program, Open Society Institute,
Budapest to support the Fourth Annual Conference.
INCD Coordinator Garry Neil and Steering Committee member Nina Obuljen had an opportunity to meet with members of the INCP Contact Group and the INCP Working Group on Cultural Diversity and Globalization on May 29 in Zagreb. We provided them with an update on developments in the INCD, discussed the need for a more collaborative working relationship and repeated some of our concerns about the content of their proposed Convention on Cultural Diversity.
Some of the key observations we made were the following:
· we believe the collaborative relationship between us has benefited both sides – the INCD has helped to build the global momentum to support the Convention and we have successfully challenged them to improve their draft
· but, Nina also said: “As the focus of activity shifts to UNESCO, our relationship must evolve into a more dynamic dialogue about the issues and strategies, rather than exclusively a formal presentation every six months.”
· on the Convention, we congratulated them on their work with UNESCO and pledged to do what we can to ensure a positive outcome
· we urged them again to make their Draft available as soon as they can since it must and should drive the agenda
· we made a number of specific comments about the content, similar to the comments we presented to them in Cape Town.
In response, the INCP group said they would consider our proposals for more substantive cooperation on tactics and strategies.
While in Zagreb, the Coordinator addressed the fourth in a series of public debates about cultural diversity, organized by the Institute for International Relations and the French Institute of Zagreb. More than fifty people attended the debate on a very hot and humid evening in the city, including several of our colleagues from the INCP.
Garry Neil
INCD Coordinator
The Network for Arts
and Culture South Africa (NACSA) will be officially launched in Johannesburg on
June 7 2003, with Prof Itumeleng Mosala, the new Director General of the
Department of Arts and Culture of South Africa as the keynote speaker.
The primary role of
NACSA will be to engage with public representatives, relevant government
departments, funding agencies and other important stakeholders around issues of
policy, funding and strategy that affect the arts and culture sector.
Some of the areas that
NACSA will concentrate on during the first year include giving effect to
UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Status of the Artist with regard to working
conditions and remuneration for artists; getting funding agencies to work more
effectively and efficiently in the interests of the sector; monitoring
international trade agreements in which South Africa is engaged to assess their
impact on arts and culture; seeking to impact on the cultural dimension of the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and building strong
organizations in each discipline. NACSA will represent the INCD in Southern
Africa.
For more information,
please contact art27m@iafrica.com .
2.
Stockholm+5 – More minuses than pluses?
Stockholm +
5, a follow-up to the 1998 Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies
for Development, took place May 11-14, 2003. The 1998 meeting is largely seen
as a catalyst for the current cultural diversity movement as the Action Plan underlined
the growing impact of globalization on cultures and of the need for governments
and civil society to mobilize around these issues.
Stockholm
+5 took place at a hotel in a suburb outside Stockholm. Most participants were
official delegates from UNESCO national Commissions or ministries with about 20
NGO representatives, some representatives from UNESCO in Paris and some invited
speakers. All in all about 150 persons.
Peter Curman and Bernt Lindberg represented the INCD, following most of
the speeches and discussions.
The meeting
was organized in four main themes:
·
Cultural
policy and eradication of poverty
·
Cultural
policy and cultural diversity
·
Cultural
policy and the process of education for all (EFA)
·
Cultural
policy in the information society
The meeting had an official character with many long speeches, thanks from invited governments to the Swedish host and many speeches that fell out of the frame of the themes. Some of the participants apparently were not acquainted with “Our Creative Diversity” or the Stockholm Action Plan. But there were also interesting speeches by engaged and well prepared participants.
What was
the result of the meeting? That question is not so easy to answer. The
discussions during the four themes were so hard to sum up that none of the
moderators managed to do so. If you look at the original purpose of the meeting
– to bring forth criticism to UNESCO for not having done much of what was said
that they should do in the Stockholm action plan, it was only moderately successful.
Some of the participants expressed criticism in front of Katérina Stenou from
UNESCO but she did not comment on the criticism and there was no dialogue about
it. No final document was formulated but the criticism must have been heard.
As a
preparation for the Stockholm+5 meeting, a Swedish research team had sent out a
questionnaire to all invited states. It was a quite complicated questionnaire
about the national goals in the Stockholm action plan and what states had
achieved. Less that 20 states responded, some of them so late that it was not
possible incorporate their answers. Nonetheless, one thing that was evident
from the answers was that not much had been done as a direct result of the
action plan. But many of the respondents said that the Stockholm conference
1998 and the documents that accompanied it had had quite an impact on their
thinking.
Hopefully a
meeting like the Stockholm+5 meeting will also have a positive impact on
delegates that had not been acquainted with the Stockholm model and action plan
earlier. However, it is a disappointment that more progress could not be shown.
The official character of the UNESCO system was a hindrance to an open
discussion. These meetings would have been much more profitable if all groups
were able to engage on a level playing field.
The results
of the meeting will be made available on the web site of the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO.
Bernt
Lindberg
Member,
KLYS (Swedish Joint Committee of Literary and Artistic Professionals). KLYS is
a founding member of the INCD.
3. Entertainment Industry Coalition for
Free Trade joins the fray
On March 13, 2003, a
group of top U.S. entertainment industry corporations and unions joined forces
to form the Entertainment Industry Coalition for Free Trade (EIC). Their stated
purpose is to “…educate key policymakers about the importance of free trade,
the positive economic impact international trade has on the entertainment
industry and how international trade negotiations help to lay the groundwork
for strong intellectual property protections.” It was a powerful gathering of
U.S. interests - in fact, U.S. Trade
Representative Robert B. Zoellick was at the launch, highlighting the
importance of this initiative to the American government.
The press release
points out that the copyright industries (which include all audio-visual
products, such as films, TV programs and sound recording, business and
entertainment computer software, and all published works) are now the U.S.’s
strongest economic driver. It employs more people, contributes more to economic
growth and outpaces all other export sectors, including agriculture and the
aerospace industry. This is in stark contrast
to the struggling cultural industries in most developed countries and the
countries in transition, let alone in the developing world. It also serves to clarify why the fight over
cultural diversity is so difficult – big money is at stake.
The EIC goes on to say
in its release that one of their objectives is to ensure “meaningful market
access”. The barriers to this access
are the very policies that guarantee the existence of other cultures – content
quotas, subsidy, tax incentives for local producers and foreign ownership
restrictions are among the many mechanisms used by governments to promote
domestic cultural production. This new
coalition has cultural policies as a primary target.
While the formation of
the EIC is definitely a threat to the goals of the cultural diversity movement,
it is also a measure of the success of the movement. They are trying to appropriate our language and tactics to
advocate for the opposite position.
Furthermore, it’s
interesting to note that this initiative is going on at the same time as a
battle is occurring around the Federal Communications Commission’s changes to
its regulations that prohibit the cross-ownership of media in the same
market. It is a schizophrenic moment in
the U.S. cultural sector – on the one hand, groups are arguing for the strengthening
of what is essentially a cultural policy, while on the other, many of the same
groups are advocating a position that would see the abolishment of the cultural
policies of other nations.
For more information:
United
States Trade Representative Press Release
Copyright
Industries in the U.S. Economy – 2002 Report
4. Statements, speeches and
declarations: Cultural Diversity on the move
During French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries signed a Joint Statement on Cultural Diversity. They applaud the decision of UNESCO to carry the proposed instrument to the General Conference, saying: “The UNESCO General Conference in October 2003 represents an important step, an opportunity for the international community to promote cultural diversity and harness the benefits of globalization in favour of humankind and its creativity.
English: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/country_fra_f2-en.asp
French: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/country_fra_f2-fr.asp
In the context of the
Cannes Film Festival, a meeting of the directors of European film agencies
issued a declaration on the state of the European Union, stating that “Culture
should not be compromised for commercial interests”.
English: http://www.cnc.fr/b_actual/declaration_anglais.pdf
French: http://www.cnc.fr/b_actual/fr_declaration_cannes.htm
The General Secretary
of the International Organization of La Francophonie, Abdou Diouff gave a
speech in favour of cultural pluralism during a recent meeting of French,
Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries.
French only: http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3232--321083-,00.html
5. Events and
Announcements
The Washington-based Center for Arts and Culture has launched a forum for discussion about cultural policy issues called The Cultural Commons. It is free to subscribe; go to http://www.culturalcommons.org.
A Sense of Place
British Council
Cardiff, Wales
Nov 24-27, 2003
director@asenseofplace.org.uk.