RECLAIMING CULTURAL DIVERSITY

[elektro80]

I receive a a lot of email. Really! This one is pretty interesting. It is not directly about music, but these issues should interest most composers and musicians.



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I am posting something not directly on-topic for media arts and media cultures, but nonetheless very important for the context in which we are all working - a working conference and three public debates at De Balie in Amsterdam about economic globalisation versus artistic and cultural diversity. The public debates next thursday, friday and saturday, all at 20.00 hrs can be followed live via the internet, so tune in if you are near an ADSL or cable modem....

Find the live stream at: http://www.balie.nl/live


best wishes,

Eric


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September 25/26/27, 2003 / 20.00 hrs / Conference & Public Debates
De Balie, Amsterdam



RECLAIMING CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Economic Globalisation versus Artistic Diversity Worldwide


While in Cancun and elsewhere in the so-called "Doha Round", in the context of the WTO-lead free trade negotiations, the liberalisation of cultural home markets is advocated, many countries are simultaneously mobilising resources to establish and implement a Convention on Cultural Diversity within the context of UNESCO. This raises many questions: Why is the on-going debate about economic globalisation of crucial importance for the arts and the cultural sector - also in countries like The Netherlands? Why is the debate on regulation, protection, and liberalisation of artistic production worldwide so important for development issues? Does the debate about the protection of local cultural home markets only serve the protection and preservation of local cultures, or does the debate also serve other economic or political interests?

In De Balie, centre for culture and politics in Amsterdam, a special three-day international working conference is convened, in which a majority of non-western specialists will take part to address these questions. The conference is combined with three public evening debates in the main hall of De Balie, starting at 20.00 hrs and also presented live via the internet.
( http://www.balie.nl/live )

The conference and the debates have a two-fold strategic goal. Internationally, the conference intends to give new impetus to the discussion about the creation and implementation of a convention to protect and enhance local artistic diversity. This Convention on Cultural Diversity can be seen as an analogue to the existing Convention on Bio-Diversity. At the national level the organisers wish to start the debate about the fragile position of the Netherlands cultural sector vis-a-vis the international context of free-trade negotiations, and the international pressure for opening up cultural home markets. The legitimacy of many of the current policy instruments, including the famous system of cultural subsidies and stimulation programs, are fundamentally questioned in these negotiations, yet critical debate about this is absolutely absent in The Netherlands.

The conference is organised at the instigation of Joost Smiers, at the occasion of the publication of his book "Arts under Pressure - Promoting Cultural Diversity in the Age of Globalization", which appeared recently with Zed Books in London.
http://www.hku.nl/pers/forums.html?nieuws=56

PDF description for download here:
http://www.hku.nl/usa/centres/centres-en/cvo/papers_smiers/leaflet_arts_under_pressure.pdf



- - - - - - E V E N I N G D E B A T E S - - - - - -


Debate I:
A CONVENTION ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Thursday September 25, 2003 - 20.00 hrs
De Balie - Grote Zaal

The primary goal of the first evening is to clarify why there is a problem in the relationship between economic globalisation and local artistic diversity. How to prevent the concentration of distribution channels (media, film, music, image distribution) in the hands of only a few multinational publishers conglomerates? Why should culture, be lifted out of the WTO to achieve this? To reinforce the current rather weak policy instruments (such as the "cultural exemption" in the GATS) the initiative has been taken to develop a Convention on Cultural Diversity. This international treaty is comparable to the existing Convention on Bio-Diversity. How would this new instrument actually work?
Speakers: Joost Smiers (introduction), Garry Neil (International Network on Cultural Diversity, Toronto), Mike van Graan (Advisor for cultural policy, Cape Town), Nina Obuljen (Culture Link, Zagreb).


Debate II:
REGULATING FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY:
Reclaiming the Right to Protect
Friday September 26, 2003 - 20.00 hrs
De Balie - Grote Zaal

This debate will explore the kinds of regulation that are most suited to prevent cultural dominance, and enhance cultural diversity. Why is it necessary to impose limits on the free-trade ideology? Against the free-market fundamentalism a restrained form of regulation should be put in place, for those sectors that require protection and where the public interest outweighs the interests of the market - art and culture is such a domain. What kind of regulations could be considered? Is content regulation of cultural production desirable, or could it turn to easily, in an unstable political context, into an unwarranted instrument of censorship?


Debate III:
STRATEGIES FOR ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Saturday September 27, 2003 - 20.00 hrs
De Balie - Grote Zaal

During the closing debate we will discuss how possible measures to enhance artistic and cultural diversity worldwide, can be translated into actual policies. Reactions to the different positions presented by the conference participants will be asked from policy makers, representatives of the cultural sector, representatives of cultural industries, and politicians. One of the topics for debate will certainly be the resentment of free-trade-country Holland to protect local artistic diversity with sound regulation.

The evening debates will all be conducted in English and are chaired by Karel van Wolferen (University of Amsterdam).
Language: English

Organised in co-operation with HIVOS and the Onderzoeksgroep Kunst en Economie van de Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht.

The evening debates can be followed live via the internet at:
http://www.balie.nl/live



- - - - - C O N F E R E N C E P A R T I C I P A N T S - - - - - -

- Jeebesch Bagchi, Sarai / Raqs Media (Delhi)
- Leonardo Brant (Cultural Research Institute Pensarte, Sao Paulo)
- Susan Burke (Consultant local and regional cultural industries, Trinidad and Tabago)
- Kuan-Hsing Chen (Prof. of Cultural Studies, National Tsing Hua Univ., Taiwan)
- Mariétou Diongue Diop (Director Books and Reading, National Library of Senegal)
- Gillian Doyle (Film and Media Studies, University of Stirling, Scotland)
- Sylvie Duran (Actress and director of Latin American cultural NGO, Costa Rica)
- Ben Goldsmith, (Researcher Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy)
- Nilanjana Gupta (Professor popular culture, Jadavpur University, Calcutta)
- Mike van Graan, (Writer and cultural administrator, Rondebosch, South Africa)
- Souheil Houissa (Researcher Institut Superieur de Documentation, University of Manouba, Tunisia)
- Bernardo Jaramillo (Economist in the field of the publishing industry, Bogota)
- Jane Kelsey (Prof. International Economic Regulations, Un. of Auckland, New Zealand)
- Garry Neil (Coordinator International Network for Cultural Diversity, Toronto)
- John Nichols (Washington correspondent of The Nation (tbc))
- Nina Obuljen (Editor Culturelink, Zagreb - K.S. Park, Legal Advisor Korean Film Commission, Seoul)
- Caroline Pauwels (Prof. European Commu-nication Policy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
- Tatiana Razmustova (Russian Institute for Cultural Research, Moskou)
- Alinah Kelo Segobye (Botswana Cultural Council, senior lecturer Un. of Botswana)
- Rafael Segovia (Writer, professor, director Artual, Mexican Artists' Touring Agency )
- Joost Smiers (Professor of political science of the arts, HKU, Utrecht School of the Arts)
- Yvon Thiec (Secretary General Eurocinema, Brussel (tbc))
- Inge van der Vlies (Professor in Administrative and Communication Law, Universiteit van Amsterdam)
- Roger Wallis (Chairman Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers, Stockholm)
- Gina Yu (President Korean Coalition for Cultural Diversity in the Moving Images, Seoul)

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Ticket sales and reservation:
Ticket price debate: €E 7,50, with reduction: E 5,00
Opening hours kassa: during working days from 13.00-18.00 hrs or till the Start of the evening program.
In the weekend 1 1/2 hour before start of the program.
Reserve by phone: +31.(0)20 55 35 100 during opening hours and 45 minutes before program start.

debalie / Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10 / 1017 RR / Amsterdam
http://www.balie.nl