“Etats généraux culturels méditerranéens”, Marseille

The “Etats généraux culturels méditerranéens”, to be held in Marseille between 4 and 6 November 2008, will be the main event organized by the French Presidency of the European Union in the framework of 2008 – the European Year of intercultural dialogue. The event will prolong the process of the Mediterranean Cultural Workshop, which took place between 2006 and 2008 through conferences in Paris, Seville and Alexandria.
The event in Marseille will revolve around 8 workshops: 1) memory, history and heritage; 2) images, audiovisual and cinema, 3)literature, translation, library, and written press; 4) artists, artistic creation, artistic mobility; 5)religion and society; 6) modernization of society, 7)education and university; 8)values and identity.

The objectives of this event are twofold: to discuss and to propose. It will gather non-governmental actors involved in the Euro-Mediterranean cultural action and heads of public and private institutions operating in the cultural field.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) asked me to kindly ensure the chair of workshop No. 4 "artists, artistic creation, artistic and cultural mobility", a request to which I responded positively.

The identification of issues to be addressed and the resource persons or participants from Europe and the Southern Mediterranean to be invited are included under this task.

In our first meeting with the MFA we were able to identify some major themes that deserve the attention of the work of this meeting:
The status of artist. This concept should be taken in its larger dimension, not only legal status but also social. It will take stock of work done by the CIMETTA Funds, of the UNESCO recommendations, the conclusions of the Euromed Ministerial Conference in Athens. The objective of the social recognition of the artist should be taken into account. It will also take into account the work of the European Cultural Foundation, the Anna LINDH Foundation, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, ALESCO and ISESCO. Of course, actions proposed by the European Commission should be the focus of work.
Mobility. With regard to the European Cultural Agenda of the EC and the prospect of a European Fund for mobility. We must consider the probability of a " Mediterranean window" inside the Programme Culture 2007-13. It will also refer to the Council of Europe preparation of “Artists in Dialogue”. It should also work on the idea of a Funders platform of artistic mobility in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The idea of a real and unique mobility fund should be taken into account. The first and second points should lead to a deeper reflection on the idea of a regional observatory.

The third theme of the workshop will consider the artistic and cultural creation as well as the issue of cultural policies. It should draw conclusions from the conference in Athens. It should take into account the implementation of the principle of cultural diversity and the reference to the existing cultural policies of the concerned countries. The third theme has two dimensions: an institutional dimension (existing policy) and a sectoral dimension through the testimony of independent artists.

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