Towards a Cultural "Agenda 21"

In conjunction with the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, KLYS, the Swedish Joint Committee for Literary and Artistic Professionals, comprising 19 organisations with 30.000 members, has invited colleagues from all over the world to meet in HŠsselby Castle from March 30th to April 1st, 1998. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange views and ideas of our creative work and to discuss the topics of the Intergovernmental Conference from the point of view of artists and cultural workers. As we all are here as independent individuals, not as representatives of states, we have the liberty to contribute - with genuine insight in the situation of culture - to the discussions of the Ministers.

The KLYS-event will be opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr.Federico Mayor, and is welcoming all interested participants of the International Conference. Furthermore, we have decided to put all our discussions on Internet so that our colleagues all over the world, where ever they are, may have a chance to participate by addressing us via e-mail while our conference goes on.

Already at the outset, the KLYS-meeting would like to make the following general observations concerning the Draft Action Plan submitted by the Director-General and presented to the Ministers of Culture. The plan contains many constructive proposals, particularly those concerning the interrelation between culture and development. We agree that culture is the very essence of development policy, and we support the endeavours to insert the cultural dimension in all important future conferences.

We also share the conviction that more resources must be made available for cultural development, and that there should be specific recommendations to states concerning the activities needed for the implementation of the above mentioned overall goals. We find it excellent that there should be national goals to be reached by each nation when it comes to cultural investments. We also agree that the taxation system in each country should encourage cultural support, instead of impeding it.

The Draft Action Plan then continues to recommend the Director-General of UNESCO to explore the feasibility of organising a Global Summit on Culture and Development. In this context the international KLYS-meeting of artists and cultural workers is particularly concerned that such a summit must have an implementary aspect. It will not be sufficient to once again just adopt recommendations and action plans. A defined review mechanism has to be established, and a decision to be taken calling on all member states to submit national reports on their specific efforts to implement the Action Plan once it has been adopted. Without such review and implementation, the entire exercise risks to be futile. In other words: we would like the Stockholm meeting to be the start of a cultural process leading to a broader cultural awareness, much in the same way as ”Agenda 21” has promoted a widespread consciousness of environmental problems. The special quality of ”Agenda 21”, namely, to discuss urgent problems on all levels, world-wide, nation-wide, and local, should also guide our cultural aspirations. The proposed Global Summit should be the first checkpoint on this road.

The Human Rights should also be contained in the Action Plan. Perhaps Cultural Rights could be linked to them? Just before opening this conference, we learnt that one our of invited colleagues, the famous Indonesian dramatist Ratna Sarumpaet, has been arrested by the police for having exercised her right to express her opinions in a human right demonstration. One of her plays has recently been banned for political reasons. This is a clear violation of the right to freedom of artistic expression. Therefore, we urge that UNESCO must counteract when it comes to oppression of freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech, there is no art, and without art, no culture.

The KLYS conference is prepared to offer its co-operation and support for these common goals, and will at a later stage of its deliberations contribute concrete suggestions and remarks in our own final document.

Best regards

The participants of KLYS World Conference on Culture
Stockholm, Hässelby Slot, March 31st to April 2nd, 19998