There were good discussions in Berlin last week at “The Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy”. Except from a vast presence from government administration representatives there were also my colleagues from the think tank European Cultural Parliament. They presented various angles and thoughts; cultural diplomacy as policy instrument, value based actions & projects, the role of arts in reshaping our imagination in times of crisis.
Except from sharing some of my views on the challenges of cultural diplomacy and art as conflict prevention I also participated in a panel with the big question “How can people of Arts & Culture promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights in their work?”.
From that discussion I choose to highlight that
- all can be communicated and said if there is a security network in place, a methodology and planning on how to deal with sensitive topics
- the continuation of the democratisation of the arts is needed (access to arts) and this can not only be done through lower ticket prices but real engaging educational and social programmes offering access to much broader audience groups
- It is essential that artistic education & training offers programmes on “awareness on social innovation, entrepreneurial skills, strategy on how to survive in art, knowledge on IP, how to use one’s skills in other sectors….”
Johanna Suo, director ifa laboratory