Vol.
4, No. 1, January 2006
Highlights:
New Coalitions Launched in Venezuela and Tunisia
The creation in December of coalitions for cultural diversity in Venezuela and Tunisia brings to 33 the number of national coalitions now members of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC).
Venezuela
Venezuela’s coalition was launched in Caracas on December 5 at a meeting bringing together the leaders of several of the country’s major cultural professional organizations. Convened by Jose Rafael Farinas, director general of SACVEN (the Venezuela society of authors and composers), the founding meeting of the coalition was presided by Valentin Caruci, SACVEN’s president. Robert Pilon, executive vice president of the Canadian coalition, also participated in the meeting as representative of the ILC.
The articles of incorporation of the coalition that were adopted by the participants at the meeting affirm that the first objective of the new entity will be to « actively contribute to the ratification of the UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions”. The following organizations signed the document: SACVEN, AVINPRO (the Venezuelan Association of Performers and Producers, the Venezuelan association of recorded music performers and producers, the union of professional radio workers, theatre, cinema, television and related fields of the Capital District and the State of Miranda; the music association of the federal district, the Venezuelan chamber of books, and AFONOVEN (the Venezuelan sound recording association).
The Venezuelan coalition is the ninth to be created in Latin America, joining those in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. Two additional coalitions are in the process of being established in Paraguay and Bolivia.
Tunisia
Two weeks later, on December 23, it was the turn of the Tunisian Coalition for Cultural Diversity to see the light of day in Tunis, during a meeting bringing together several of the country’s cultural organizations.
On January 27 the members of the Tunisian coalition again gathered to discuss its priorities for action and to elect the coalition’s executive: president, Zeynab Farhat, independent cultural practitioner and visuals arts and theatre space director; first vice-president, Sonia M’barek, independent music artist; second vice-president, Abdelatif Ben Ammar, filmmaker, representative of the Tunisian cinema producers union; secretary general, Asma Fenni, professor of economics, representative of the Tunisian federation of cinema clubs; assistant director general, Mounir Baaziz, film artist, represent of the audiovisual technicians union; treasurer, Ezzedine Ganouin, independent theatre artist; and assistant treasurer, Mohamed Naceur Sardi, economist, representative of the Tunisian association for the promotion of film criticism.
The Tunisian coalition is the 11th coalition established on the continent of Africa, joining those in Burkina Faso, Bénin, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, and Togo.
Coalitions Push Ratification of UNESCO Convention
Through Meetings, Seminars
European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity Hold Second Meeting in Brussels
The nine European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity established to date met for the second time in Brussels on January 17 and 18. With only the Hungarian and Irish coalitions not present at the meeting, delegates discussed the ratification of the UNESCO convention by the European Community and its 25 member states, praising the proposal for Council decision on ratification of the Convention, adopted by the European Commission on December 21, 2005, that paves the way for ratification by the Community.
The delegates also discussed European political matters pertaining to culture, such as the revision of the "Television without Frontiers" directive, budget allocations for the culture and media programs, and the proposed new directive on services.
On January 17th, the delegates met with representatives of Jan Figel, European commissioner responsible for culture, and Louis Michel, commissioner for development, and adopted a final declaration in which they commit to actively promote the development of new coalitions throughout Europe.
The text of the final declaration is posted in both French and English on the website of the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity (www.coalitionfrancaise.org).
Barcelona Workshop Organized by Spanish Coalition
On November 23 in Barcelona, a workshop on the theme ‘Cultural diversity and the UNESCO convention’ featured as participants representatives from coalitions from Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and Canada, as well as the heads of cultural organizations working to establish the Tunisian coalition. Participants included Rufino Sanchez of SGAE, the Spanish society of authors; Silvana Buzzo, of the national association of cinema authors on behalf of the Italian coalition; Geraldine Loulergue, of the French authors society SACD, on behalf of the French coalition; El Hassan Neffali, of the national union of theatre professionals on behalf of the Moroccan coalition, Ahmed Attia, of the producers union on behalf of the Tunisian coalition; Zeyneb Farhat, of El Teatro also on behalf of the Tunisian coalition; and Robert Pilon of the Canadian coalition, as a representative of the ILC.
The workshop, organized by the Spanish coalition in collaboration with the Canadian arm of the ILC secretariat, took place in the context of the “Culture in the Euro-Mediterranean Space” meeting, a large international conference organized by the department of culture of the government of Catalan, and the Interarts Foundation on the occasion of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Barcelona. Close to 200 participants took part in various workshops during the conference.
Casablanca Symposium Organized at the Initiative of the Moroccan Coalition
A major symposium on the theme “Cultural diversity in the era of globalization: what is at stake?” took place on November 30 at the university of Mohammedia, a town near Casablanca. The close to 400 participants included students, professors, artists and other cultural professionals, leaders of cultural professional organizations, and government representatives.
The meeting, jointly organized by the law faculty of the University Hassan II of Mohammedia, the Moroccan coalition of arts and culture, and the municipal council of the town of Mohammedia, was inaugurated by the minister of communications of Morocco, Nabil Benabdellah.
In the context of this symposium, El Hassan Neffali, president of the national union of theatre professionals and of the Morrocan coalition, Claude Michel, secretary of the CGT union’s performing arts federation and representative of the French coalition, and Robert Pilon, executive vice-president of the Canadian coalition, made presentations during a workshop entitled “Culture and globalization: reasons for a convention on the protection of cultural contents and aspects of artistic expressions.”
Brazil CCD Hosts Cultural Diversity Workshop at 6th Brazilian Cinema Congress
The importance of the UNESCO cultural diversity convention to cultural industries was the theme of a workshop organized at the initiative of Brazil’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity during the Sixth Brazilian Cinema Congress held December 7-11 in Recife.
On behalf of the Secretariat of the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity, Robert Pilon joined filmmaker Geraldo Moraes, president of the Brazilian CCD and outgoing president of the Cinema Congress, filmmaker Bebe Kamin of the Argentine Coalition and vice-president of DAC, the Argentine directors’ association for the December 8 workshop, which focused on the campaign to ratify the convention in the wake of the its adoption at UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference last October.
The topic of the UNESCO Convention was picked up during a subsequent panel by Juca Ferreira, the executive secretary of the minister of culture of Brazil, spoke in favour of early ratification by his government.
The Sixth Congress was attended by more than 120 participants, including leaders of the 55 member organizations of the Congress, senior officials responsible for cultural policies and cultural agencies, as well as professionals from the cinema sector and media. The bi-annual gathering is held to take stock of the state of cinema in Brazil and internationally.
At the conclusion of the Congress, delegates elected Paulo Boccato as its new president for the next two years. They also adopted a declaration setting out detailed recommendations for action in major areas of concern to Brazil’s cinema sector. In it, the Congress pledged to work as part of the Brazilian Coalition for Cultural Diversity to achieve its objectives—notably, to work to secure early ratification of the convention by the government of Brazil.
French Coalition Conducts Mission to Tokyo and Taipei
On December 19 and 20, Debora Abramowicz of the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity, was in Tokyo for a series of individual meetings with cultural professional organizations, as well as with government officials. The meetings were with Bunkacho (the Japanese government body responsible for culture), the Japan Writers’ Guild (representing book writers), the Directors Guild of Japan, Japan Performing Arts, and the Writers Guild of Japan (representing screenwriters). All stated that they were mobilizing in support of rapid ratification of the UNESCO convention by Japan.
At the invitation of the French Institute of Taipei, the French Coalition representative began her mission to Asia by meeting with a number of Taipei’s cultural professional organizations on December15 and 16 to speak with them about cultural diversity, outline the content of the new UNESCO convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, and to introduce the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity. A conference organized by the French Institute on the morning of December 16, brought together representatives of these cultural organizations for a constructive exchange. The French Coalition and the French Institute will follow up on this initial exchange.
Calls Grow for Prompt Ratification
of the UNESCO Convention
Ratification call issued at African Union culture ministers conference
At the conclusion of the first-ever conference of culture ministers of the African Union, held December 13-14 in Narobi, Kenya, ministers issued a declaration “exhorting member states that have not already done so to ratify the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (…) in order to promote cultural diversity and inter-cultural dialogue as instruments of integration and development.”(CCD translation)
European Commission Puts Ratification Process in Motion With Proposal For Council Decision
On December 21, two months after the October 20 adoption at UNESCO of the convention on protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Council decision to ratify the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. Jan Figel, the commissioner responsible for culture, stated, “Today, the European Commission has taken a first step towards the ratification of this Convention by the European Community. I intend to work closely with the member states so that they, and the Community, ratify the text quickly. I call on the signatory parties to launch their ratification procedures as soon as possible, so that together we can put in place this text to protect and promote cultural diversity around the world.” (CCD translation)
EAEA and PEARLE* adopt joint statement on cultural diversity
At the Social dialogue committee of the live performance sector, Brussels, 23 November, PEARLE*, the European federation of employers associations across Europe, representing over 3,500 theatres, theatre production companies, orchestras, operas, ballet and dance companies and other professional organisations in the performing arts in Europe and the European Arts & Entertainment Alliance (EAEA), composed of FIM (International Federation of Musicians), FIA (International Federation of Actors) and EURO-MEI (representing creative, technical and administrative workers in the entertainment sector) adopted a joint declaration on the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in relation to the GATS-negotiations within the WTO.
CISAC pledges to “continue mobilizing creators around the world to begin ratifying the Convention in their respective territories ”
CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, brings together some 210 authors' societies from 109 countries whose memberships total more than three million creators within all the artistic repertoires: music, drama, literature, audio-visual works, graphic and visual arts.
Coalition
Currents is published by the Secretariat for the International
Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC).
Member
Coalitions:
Argentina,
Australia, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guinea, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Korea, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Uruguay, Venezuela.
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Montreal, QUE H2T 2N7
T. (514) 277-2666
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www.coalitionfrancaise.org
e-mail:
Editor:
Jim McKee
Contributors in this issue: Robert Pilon, Bruno Bettati, Mélanie Marron, Marisol Paquin
Coalition Currents is published with the financial assistance of
