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Towards A Global Cultural Pact Lucerne, Switzerland FINAL REPORT Friday, September 21 The Second Annual Conference of the International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) Towards A Global Cultural Pact was launched at a dinner sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation in the picturesque Swiss town of Lucerne. Opening remarks were offered by Hans Ulrich Lehmann, president of Suisseculture, the conference co-hosts; Megan Williams, National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA); Renata Petroni of Arts International on behalf of all of the funding partners; and Garry Neil, Coordinator of the INCD. The terrorist attacks of September 11 cast a pall over the proceedings and participants were thanked for their willingness to travel in this time of uncertainty in the West. It was reported that a number of delegates from the U.S., Middle East, Asia and Latin America were unable to attend the Conference on account of associated disruptions. Speakers stressed the importance of promoting cultural diversity as a counterbalance to fanaticism of all kinds and underscored the necessity of working together to achieve an international consensus that involves the North and South, the developing world and industrialized nations. Saturday, September 22 Keynote Dialogue Saturday's keynote dialogue Cultural Diversity: An Antidote To Globalization, brought together individual artists to discuss the local, national and international scope of government, business and the arts. The panel of speakers included Mohan Agashe, actor, theatre director and Director of the Film and Television Institute of India; Katarina Marinaki, scriptwriter, President of the Scriptwriters Guild of Greece and President of the Federation of Scriptwriters in Europe; Japan Mthembu, South African stage and screen actor and General Secretary of Performing Arts Workers Equity (PAWE); and Irma Pietrasanta, independent video producer and activist from Mexico. RH Thomson, Canadian actor, broadcaster and cultural activist who headed the Canadian delegation to Switzerland, moderated the panel. Thomson opened the dialogue by saying that trade agreements have become the defining authority of world governance, but since these agreements are not bound by democratic process, the result compromises cultural diversity. He poetically defined culture as 'consciousness revealing itself' and drew connections between the civil and cultural aspects of society before handing the dialogue over to the panellists. Irma Pietrasanta explained the impact of mergers and globalization in Mexico, pointing out that 90 percent of the country's media content is generated by just four companies. The impact of consolidation on media content is heightened by the growing trend toward vertical integration within monopolies, as well as the insertion of non-media companies into a marketplace that treats culture as just another commodity. Pietrasanta insisted on the right of societies to foster pluralism in order to ensure informed decisions by citizens. This right is threatened by the increasing separation of political and economic structures, creating what she called an "impotent media that cannot be controlled." Katarina Marinaki defined cultural diversity as an antidote to globalization, but said she was not actually concerned with globalization per se. Globalization has existed ever since people first began travelling and exchanging ideas; the real problem lies in the exchange of culture for economic gain. Marinaki said international travel provides an indicator of a substantial cultural shift. Even when we go to foreign places, many people listen to the same mainstream music, watch the same television stations, eat only in familiar food chains and buy the same clothing labels; there is nothing new to experience. Marinaki cautioned that if culture is driven by the need to create cheap, income-generating products, society will have no more poetry and no more local stories. Mohan Agashe coined the term "coca-colonization" to describe the cultural infancy that exists in so-called developed countries. He argued that America is a developing nation culturally, and economically poor countries like India are, in contrast, culturally rich. He asserted that any global pact to be decided at this conference must accommodate the dynamic evolution of culture. Japan Mthembu discussed how globalization invades a country's privacy and pointed to situations in Africa in which black stories are told by white directors - what he called examples of cultural distortion and theft. He said eliminating deeply imbedded racism is fundamental to preservation of cultural diversity. He also spoke of the need to preserve cultural assets as an important dimension of cultural diversity, since these assets provide the only base on which societies can build their own cultural industries. Thomson concluded the panel with a discussion on the importance of and limits to the development of an instrument that could promote cultural diversity. He proposed that existing and new international institutions could be mobilized to support and monitor the national climate for cultural diversity, speaking specifically about the potential for a global arts council. Building the Instrument The second session of the day was the first to examine a proposed New International Instrument on Cultural Diversity (NIICD). Ivan Bernier, law professor from Quebec's Université Laval who is an advisor to the International Network on Cultural Policy, presented a paper that was the basis for a panel discussion. Hong-joon Kim, a film maker and representative of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Images (Korea); Burama Sagnia, coordinator of the African Itinerant College for Cultural and Development (Senegal); Wilton Littlechild, founder of the International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development (Canada); and Dr. Christine von Weizsäcker, Ecoropa (Germany) responded to the concept of the new instrument. James C. Early, of the Smithsonian Institution and member of the INCD Steering Committee (U.S.) moderated the session. Mr. Bernier's paper A New International Instrument on Cultural Diversity: Questions and Answers summarized the background, reviewed the possible architecture of the NIICD and presented basic ideas about what could be included in it. When he said that texts of most existing instruments that touch on cultural diversity have "difficulty (in) addressing the commerce/culture issue head on" and are "basically declaratory texts," he was highlighting the limitations of more recent efforts to develop international agreements designed to promote and encourage cultural diversity. Bernier said that, to be effective, the instrument must "reflect the positive commitment of the signatory states to take action in favour of cultural diversity and (contain) a mechanism for monitoring this commitment." Burama Sagnia and Hong-joon Kim provided complementary responses to the paper, endorsing the concept of the instrument from both the point of view of nations with mature cultural industries like Korea and nations from the developing world like those in Africa. Kim explained how the NIICD would assist Korea in its battle to maintain screen and broadcast quotas. The existing Korean quota system is faced with a direct challenge from the U.S. government in the ongoing negotiations between Korea and the United States for a bilateral investment treaty. Kim noted that despite the now-threatened quota system, U.S. movies continue to dominate in the theatres and television screens and audiences in Korea only have access to films produced domestically or in the United States. He proposed that the NIICD contain a strong anti-monopoly provision, such as a limitation on the amount of audiovisual material that could be imported into a country from any single other country. Sagnia focused "largely on Africa on the one hand and on culture and development in the region on the other hand" in his response to the concept of the NIICD. He discussed the need for the NIICD to preserve, promote and protect creativity and innovation and insisted that the rights and needs of the artist and creator be at the heart of the initiative. He suggested the NIICD must ensure that the cultural dimensions of international cooperation are fully understood and acknowledged by the industrialized nations. Sagnia further argued the NIICD should establish a mechanism through which the cultural impacts of development projects could be assessed, in much the same way that environmental impacts are reviewed. Finally, Sagnia made an appeal for the practical integration of culture in sustainable development frameworks and processes, and offered ideas on how the NIICD could be a catalyst for improvement. Christine von Weizsäcker shared her experiences as part of a successful international lobby for an agreement on biodiversity and the Biosafety Protocol. She emphasized that a strong global network of ministers and the presence of developing nations are necessary for any substantive agreement to be reached. Within the biodiversity movement, von Weiszäcker said, it was important to display solidarity and dispel the myth that developing nations were eager to participate in global treaties only to trade environmental concerns for economic gains. Von Weizsäcker advised that the new cultural instrument should exist outside of the WTO and the UN. She discussed U.S. participation and pointed out that the current American strategy seems to be to participate in negotiations in order to weaken the international resolve and then to refuse to sign the resulting treaty. A key example is the Kyoto accord. In conclusion, she endorsed the creation of a new accord, saying that the WTO would not be able to disregard a truly international agreement of this kind. Luncheon Presentation Dagfinn Bach from Norway presented Artspages, a service that catalogues and sells digital files of music and video clips over the Internet. Within this service, royalties are returned directly to the artists and security functions prevent the misuse of material. This allows artists to bypass multi-national recording and distribution companies that have a poor track record of protecting the rights of artists. Regional Concerns Following the luncheon, regional working groups for Eastern and Western Europe; Africa and the Middle East; Asia and the Americas discussed how the proposed new instrument might work for their region, and regional issues that would need to tackled in it. Building the Instrument (Part 2) Rapporteurs presented summaries of each session to the subsequent plenary, highlighting challenges to cultural diversity, measures which have been found to successfully promote diversity, and the ways in which cultural diversity could best be encouraged through an international instrument. Pierre Curzi, Vice-President of the Canadian-based Coalition for Cultural Diversity, reported on the results of a recent international meeting held in Montreal. This meeting brought together representatives of professional associations from 11 countries. In the African session, there was general concern with the apparent lack of understanding on the part of many African governments of cultural policy and that educating their governments is the first task of African cultural groups. Pinkie Mseleku, Cape Film Commissioner (South Africa) and rapporteur for the African session, spoke of the need for a separate African group to study the issue of cultural diversity and the proposed instrument and which could then approach African governments in preparation for the INCD meeting in South Africa. Ong Keng Sen, Artistic Director of Theatreworks (Singapore), summarized the Asian discussion, covering a number of crucial concerns. He spoke about the possibility that the promotion of the NIICD could result in the negative side effect of nationalism or national protectionism. There was concern that while quota systems can support local cultural industries, they can also be abused and become a way merely of preventing the importation of foreign works and thus can lead to cultural isolation. There were three major points in the Asian discussion. Firstly, they discussed the need for nurturing the human process, that the protection of culture in Asia is too often focussed on cultural monuments or forms and not on the creative processes of the artists themselves. Thus, the retention of culture can become solely archival. This is of concern in Asia as much of their cultural expression is passed on through oral history, necessitating the protection and nurturing of the human part of creativity. Secondly, they questioned if the instrument would be primarily reflective of the European/Western stance with the token addition of regional concerns and stated that the language of the declaration and any instrument would need to be truly inclusive of different regions. Finally, Ong Keng Sen asked what would be the priority of the NIICD as the group was divided into those concerned with supporting local cultural diversity and those wanting to curtail the cultural incursions of international superpowers. Peter Jenner, Chairman of the Association of United Recording Artists (UK), reported on the European workshop, detailing the different concerns of Western and Eastern Europe, including the preservation of language and the importance of national sovereignty in determining cultural policy. With regards to the NIICD, it was felt that a draft version and a timetable for implementation were needed in order to discuss it concretely and that a draft would give delegates a tool with which to engage their communities. The crucial point of where to negotiate the NIICD was discussed and the idea of using the European Union (EU) as a forum because of its wide cultural mandate was raised. Further, they looked at the need for some sort of response system as the EU and other intergovernmental bodies are constantly issuing policies and statements that the cultural community does not have the resources to properly address. The Americas workshop, summarized by Jose Luis Aguirre Alvis, a radio and television developer from Bolivia, began by stating that cultural diversity begins first and foremost within nations and that cultural organizations must pressure their governments to support local artistic production in all its forms. While some spoke about the strength of the Canadian government's cultural policies, the Canadians pointed out to other delegates some weaknesses and shortcomings of Canadian cultural policy. Mexico insisted on the importance of having enforceable laws in each country to protect both tangible and intangible heritage. The workshop examined a few of the elements thought to be essential for the NIICD. The Preamble was felt to be the section appropriate in which to address moral or rights-based concerns but that the main body of the text would need to include executive powers that signatory states would have to agree to in order for the instrument to be effective. They also looked at where to house the instrument, looking at UNESCO among other international bodies and briefly at the possibility of forming a World Culture Organization. International lawyer Peter Grant assisted in synthesizing the regional comments and began the examination of the potential content of the NIICD. Grant pointed out those statements that would find their way into the general statements of principle that would frame the substantive undertakings of the treaty, the government measures such as content quotas and financial incentives that would need to be confirmed in the new instrument, and the need for the treaty to permit governments to define for themselves what constitutes a cultural matter. He also began the discussion of the interface that will be required between the new instrument and the WTO and trade agreements, in order to ensure the instrument is effective in preventing national cultural policies from being challenged under trade rules. Sunday, September 23
Housing the Instrument The opening discussion on Sunday focussed on what role UNESCO, the WTO, International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) and other intergovernmental organizations are playing the promoting cultural diversity and their potential role in negotiating or housing the new instrument. Moderator Nancy Juneau, Director of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) introduced Garry Neil, filling in for Bernard Kuiten of the WTO; Katérina Stenou, Director of Cultural Policy, UNESCO; David Streiff, Director, Swiss Federal Office of Culture and representative of the INCP; and Vera Boltho, Council of Europe, France. Stenou and Boltho spoke about the work on cultural diversity and the declarations issued by their organizations. Streiff spoke about the background of the ministerial network, their working group on the new instrument and expectations of the upcoming meeting. While all panellists rejected the involvement of the WTO in the development of the new instrument, there was no consensus about where it should be negotiated. As their recent work plan indicates, UNESCO seems to be eager to take the lead. There was concern expressed about UNESCO's appreciation of the scope of what is required to build a legally binding instrument and whether it would be able to transform its essentially declaratory statements into an effective buffer against the trade agreements. The INCP is also playing a role, however, the ministerial network does not yet have a sufficient number of active members to make it authoritative. There was brief reference to creating a new World Culture Organization as an umbrella body that could bring together all of the existing networks, both governmental and non-governmental, UNESCO and other players. There was also a consensus that since non-governmental organizations are key to the process, the forum must encourage such involvement. Lucerne Statement In a discussion moderated by James Early and RH Thomson, participants were presented with the first draft of a potential statement to the ministers about the conclusions of the conference, prepared by the Steering Committee. Before substantive discussion could commence, Canada's Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, who had joined the meeting, was invited to make a few remarks to the delegates. She commented on the challenges to Canadian cultural policy that have motivated Canada's involvement in this debate, provided background about the ministerial network and highlighted various programs and policies that promote diversity within Canada. Luncheon with the Ministers An informal exchange of ideas about the cultural diversity and the NIICD took place at a lunch reception with the Ministers of Culture, hosted by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. This was a rare opportunity for cultural groups to engage in informal discussions with ministers from a wide variety of nations and participants on all sides found the occasion productive. INCD Business Meeting The opening session in the afternoon was the business meeting of the INCD. The delegates made the following important decisions unanimously: · the proposed By-laws were adopted; · a Financial Statement for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001 and a draft budget for the 2001/2002 fiscal year were adopted; · as outlined in the By-laws, a slate of candidates for the Steering Committee was proposed by the outgoing Steering Committee. The report on the proposed composition of the Steering Committee for 2001/2002 resulted in an amendment that was also accepted unanimously. Consequently, the Steering Committee elected to serve until the next annual general meeting is as follows: Delegates resolved to meet again in collaboration with the ministerial network (INCP) in South Africa in September 2002 and in 2003 in Croatia. Final Declaration During the concluding session of the Conference, delegates discussed the proposed Final Declaration. After a significant number of amendments, the Declaration was adopted unanimously. It includes an outline of the framework and content of the new international instrument on cultural diversity, messages for the WTO, UNESCO and the INCP and a plan of action for the next year. The determined plan of action requires the INCD to circulate the draft text of the NIICD and organize national and regional meetings to examine it. The INCD will also organize support for the new instrument in a campaign directed at the upcoming UNESCO General Conference October 15 - November 3 2001. Monday, September 24 Declaration to the Ministers of Culture in the International Network on Cultural Policy James C. Early, Atul Kumar, Japan Mthembu, Rafael Segovia and INCD coordinator, Garry Neil, represented the INCD at the meeting of the Ministers of Culture. Twenty-two members and two observer nations of the INCP attended the session, most of them ministers. This presentation provided the formal link between the NGO meeting and the fourth annual meeting of the INCP. Early, Neil and Mthembu summarized the Final Declaration in a 12-minute presentation. This was followed by questions and comments from six of the ministers, which provided an additional opportunity for the representatives to present the positions of the INCD on the importance of working to promote cultural diversity, the direct and indirect challenges of the trade agreements, the content of the new international instrument on cultural diversity and how to build an international consensus in support of it. INCD Secretariat with input from Patricia Joyce, Canadian Actor's Equity Association |
