Author
Cultural rights to foster behavioural changes and women’s emporwement against domestic violence. Barbados & the Eastern Caribbean.
The drive for creation and development, in several geographic spaces and fields, of international cultural networks along with the support of international cooperation initiatives are the main lines of action that structure all Interarts’ activities.
The Euro-Mediterranean Campus for Cultural Cooperation responds to the wish to enhance the multilateral links for cultural cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean space. Over the years the Campus has had the support of the European Union, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the European Cultural Foundation, the Provincial Government of Barcelona, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development and the Spanish Ministries of Education and Culture. The 6th Euro-Mediterranean Campus for Cultural Cooperation was held in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, in 2002.
Based on the experience acquired in the organisation of the Euro- Mediterranean Campus, Interarts, in collaboration with the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), has developed the same dynamic in the field of Euro-American cultural relations. The 1st Euro-American Campus for Cultural Cooperation took place in Barcelona in 2000, and has been later held in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia, 2001), Seville (Spain, 2003), São Salvador da Bahia (Brazil, 2005), Almada (Portugal, 2007) and Buenos Aires (Argentina, 2009).
Based on the experience in the promotion of the Campus as a space of dialogue, analysis and meeting in the Euro-Mediterranean and Euro- American fields, Interarts and the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA) fostered the creation of the Euro-African Campus for Cultural Cooperation. The first Campus held in Maputo (Mozambique, 2009), organised with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID), the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Mozambique and Maputo Town Council, dealt with the current situation and future perspectives of cultural cooperation between the two continents as well as the integration of cultural aspects into the national and International Cooperation towards Development strategies in Africa.
In the framework of the international process for the definition of the practical implications of the right to participate in cultural life promoted by the United Nations, Interarts, with the collaboration of Institute of Culture of Barcelona City Council (ICUB), called an international seminar (Barcelona, 2002) to debate its meaning and consequences. As a result, Interarts and ICUB produced the City Charter of Cultural Rights and Obligations approved during the period 2003-2007. SOUTH AND EAST: CULTURAL POINTS OF VIEW. 2004 On the occasion of the EU enlargement, Interarts organised, with the support of the European Commission, a seminar (Barcelona, 2004) to identify the shared aspects of cultural policies and projects in the southern member countries of the European Union and the candidate countries to the EU.
In the framework of the Universal Forum of Cultures – Barcelona 2004, Interarts organised, together with the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID) and UNESCO, the World Conference on Human Rights and Human Development. This call also had the support of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the UNDP Human Development Report Office. It had the contribution of around one hundred speakers and was attended by over seven hundred participants among experts, international organisations and networks involved in the issue. The conference also helped to define an agenda of priorities to later consolidate the work and the debate in matters of cultural rights and human development cultural indicators.
In the framework of the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration, which laid the foundations for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of the European Union, Interarts and the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia organised the conference “Culture in the Euro- Mediterranean Space” (Barcelona, 2005). The conference, a space for reflection and exchange of experiences, aimed to assess the achievements and difficulties of the previous decade in terms of culture and put forward specific measures for a greater inclusion of cultural aspects in Euro-Mediterranean relations.
The Forum of European Cultural Networks, an initiative promoted by the Council of Europe between the 1980s and 1990s, sought to define a space of dialogue and collaboration between the non-governmental cultural sector and public authorities in Europe. Interarts took on its presidency, secretariat and coordination in different periods. At present, this initiative has been diversified and integrated into other spaces of cultural cooperation in Europe.
Currently, Interarts chairs the Executive Committee of Culture Action Europe (CAE), a European organisation representing the interests of the cultural sector, and the Board on “Access to Culture”, promoted by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission in the framework of the process of structured dialogue with the non-governmental sector. In recent years, and as a result of the active involvement in cultural cooperation processes in Europe and other continents, Interarts has participated in many international activities – conferences, seminars, training programmes, publications and so on – promoted by cultural networks such as the Informal European Theatre Meeting (IETM), the European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres (ENCATC), the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA), the European Network of Cultural Centres (ENCC), Eurocities, Banlieues d’Europe, Les Rencontres, Interlocal or Sigma; it has taken on the presidency and vice-presidency of the Cultural Information and Research Centres Liaison in Europe (CIRCLE), a network focusing on research into cultural policies, along with the secretariat of Iberformat, a network of cultural management training centres in Latin America.
In the context of the preparation of the International Conference on Cultural Rights and Human Development, in 2004 a series of international meetings took place aimed at identifying regional perceptions in matters of cultural rights and human development. In one of these meetings, held in Maputo (Mozambique), the idea emerged of preparing a strategic document to define indicators and a strategy linking culture and human development. The project, coordinated by the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA), had the support and advice of Interarts.
The 2nd World Cultural Forum was held in Rio de Janeiro and São Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) between November and December 2006. The meeting endeavoured to contribute to the recognition of the role of culture in development and international cooperation in this field and included a wide programme of debates, performances and exhibitions. In this framework, Interarts coordinated the session devoted to cultural rights. The main objective of the event was to allow the public to become familiar with the notion of cultural rights and understand their practical implications and applications.
The coordination and management of international cooperation projects, in which the cultural element is central, is one of the most innovative areas of Interarts’ activity.
This project, managed in collaboration with the centre “El Sitio” in La Antigua – Guatemala, sought to create a breeding ground of creative industries in Guatemala. To this end, a study of the creative sector in Guatemala, awareness-raising workshops and training activities were developed to facilitate the identification of cultural and creative business projects and to accompany them in their launch and consolidation phase. The project received initial funding from the Consortium for the Commercial Promotion of Catalonia (COPCA) and, later, from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID).
The project for the Creation and Guidance of Cultural and Creative Industries is a management model that conceives cultural production as a development tool. Its final aim is to create a sustainable system linking the sphere of art and culture with the economic, social and academic sectors. It is an integral strategy for the gradual articulation of issues, products, goods and services between the academic and production sectors in the region of Antioquia and in Colombia in general, applicable to global contexts. This initiative is led at the University of Antioquia by the Faculty of Arts, which provides its experience and knowledge in the artistic field, and creates strategic alliances with the business sector in fields such as training, market research and management, ensuring that the process is pertinent in the medium. It also pursues an effective insertion of the project within the different actions that public and private entities are currently developing in Colombia for the promotion of entrepreneurship. The project has the collaboration and participation of the Interarts Foundation and the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID).
The project, developed in Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras, by Interarts and the programme “Santa Rosa Vive el Arte” has the main objectives of increasing the level of training and capacity-building in management of cultural sector professionals as well as promoting the creation of cultural and creative industries with the end of improving the living conditions of cultural operators in Santa Rosa de Copán. The project, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID), will include, among other activities, the organisation of management training courses, the setting up of an incubator and the creation of a project bank.
In collaboration with Multilateral and with the participation of the Association des Métiers de la Musique du Sénégal, Interarts coordinates this project aimed at the strengthening of the entrepreneurial capacities of the cultural agents and artists, as a key element of human and social development. The project, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID), foresees the organisation of training courses, the setting up of an incubator of cultural and creative industries, and the permanent provision of advice aimed at professionals in the field of culture.
This project, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID) and developed in collaboration with Family Care International – Bolivia, seeks to foster the incorporation of cultural human rights and the cultural dimension into the policies and programmes of sexual and reproductive healthcare within the human development programmes. Held in two parts (2007-08, research and preparation phase, and 2008-09, operational phase), the project seeks to strengthen the provision of quality sexual and reproductive heath services, including maternity, which meet the expectations and cultural particularities of the people in several Bolivian departments in coordination with indigenous organisations and the Bolivian Ministry of Health and Sports.
Interarts and Family Care International – Ecuador have set up, in collaboration with local counterparts, this project whose objective is to strengthen the capacity of indigenous women’s organisations to advocate inclusion, in the health policies and programmes, of cultural factors, whose absence increases their vulnerability to HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD). Moreover, the project seeks to identify and highlight the links between cultural rights and cultural factors related to HIV prevention with the end of more efficiently informing the indigenous women in Ecuador on HIV prevention policies and programmes. The activities include analysis of the cultural approaches of HIV and STD care programmes; identification of the perception of indigenous communities in relation to STD, HIV and AIDS; and promotion of the inclusion of indigenous women and cultural factors into the national plans against HIV.
In collaboration with Family Care International – Mali, Interarts has launched a project to strengthen the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health of youths from the informal sector in the town of Mopti through the design of strategies and the creation of materials specially adapted to this target group. It also envisages the creation of a space to facilitate the access of these youths to information on these issues and the provision of awareness- raising and education services adapted to the multicultural context of the town in terms of sexual and reproductive health with different adult references, among business people and religious leaders. The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation towards Development (AECID) funds this initiative in which youths are both the beneficiaries and the actors.
