|
A memo sent to correspondents, friends and acquaintances of the
Budapest Observatory (BO) in June 2003
Dear Colleagues,
In June most of BO tasks and thoughts were connected, in one way
or other, to the EU. One neighbour to east-central Europe passes now the
presidency on to another one. Is the region profiting from this enough?
Draft
constituted
Against odds, the Convention succeeded to complete its task and
produced a draft constitution for the Union before the end of June. The number
and weight of the occurences of the word ‘culture' in the text will be
scrutinised in the next months.
BO is greeting the emergence of one
article (albeit without the word ‘culture'). Article I-56 on the Union and its
immediate environment, vital for our region that indeed hopes to become ‘an
area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the
Union', commonly called European values. It is hoped that the proposed
reference to the Council of Europe in this article will be adopted; this amendment
was supported best by delegates from east-central Europe.
Will
manifested
A wish akin to the above article was echoed by the participants
of a meeting of the European Cultural Foundation on the Herengracht in
Amsterdam: for the one-page Manifesto go to http://www.eurocult.org/.
The following excerpts originate from the same gathering:
"European multiculturalism is, as practised today, more than ever
just a politically correct disguise for indifference, for lack of contact
between different ethnic groups, for politically acceptable racism."
"In cultural cooperation - ... danger is hidden in the term
‘advocacy for culture'. Cultural policy experts, cultural operators, cultural
managers, cultural facility providers might in some near future outnumber
writers, artists, film-makers, composers."
BO admits being part of this hidden danger - yet wholeheartedly
recommends you to search for the full text and the author of these excerpts,
again at http://www.eurocult.org/.
(For a clue: the title is 'Balkans, my Balkans'.)
Job
done
What the Interarts-led consortium did can be measured to that of
the Convention. An extremely rich and complex study has been compiled from the
contributions of over 40 experts (including BO team) on cultural co-operation
in Europe. The opus of nearly 1000 pages was submitted to the Commission, from
where it returned with careful signs of appreciation and pertinent criticism,
which led to another round of deep-going editing.
Hopefully the Commission endorses the paper soon and makes it
public. So that governments should be able to read the question: "... is it too
late for governments? Would it be too difficult for them to emerge from a logic
of diplomacy, bureaucracy and promotion to engage in another dimension of
cooperation?" And: "It would also be
important for national governments in Europe to combine their resources and
synchronise their objectives in order to boost international cultural
cooperation outside the EU, primarily with the countries of first proximity in
Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe and the Southern Mediterranean. In those
zones, cultural diplomacy could play a major role to weaken ignorance and
prejudice, dispel hatred and intolerance and stimulate mutual respect, trust
and understanding."
For the record: the consortium included the European Forum for
the Arts and Heritage (EFAH) and has been supported by CIRCLE (Cultural
Information and Research Centres Liaison in Europe). See also our February,
March and April memos.
Wroclaw,
cultural capital in 2008?
Sounds nice, doesn't it? Or Tartu, Maribor, Brno, Varna, Kaunas?
Yet it can probably work out next to Liverpool only. This is how the primary
stakeholders, the actual members of the Union decided in May 1999. For more,
see http://www.budobs.org/eu-news.htm#27062003.
Call,
please
Colleagues in the heritage field have been waiting for the next
Culture 2000 call with particular interest: theirs being the priority area next
year. End of June was the latest promise. Those who try http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/eac/c2000condition_en.html
are teased by the sentence "The call for projects beginning in 2004 will be
issued during the first semester 2003".
We easterners have been warned about new expectations once
accepted to the EU. Gestures like the above make us feel quite comfortable
already.
Respond,
please
The Central European University has announced the next
international policy fellowships programme. One of the fourteen thematic areas
is "cultural policies and cultural heritage". Applicants are encouraged to
submit research proposals by the end of July. Winners will be provided with a
one-year stipend, expenses including travel, and needed communications
equipment to work full-time on research of their design. For more, go to http://www.osi.hu/ipf.
Répondez
s'il vous plait
Those speaking French, or willing to learn it, will have chances
to get a grant for a postgraduate course of studies in cultural management and
cultural policy in the Balkans, announced by the University of Arts in Belgrade
in conjunction with three distinguished French universities. Speakers of
English are also welcome. Go to www.arts.bg.ac.yu, but don't be slow, the first deadline is 18
July.
|
