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UNESCO hosted an event, Towards Access to Culture for All, on 22 May at its Headquarters to celebrate World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In her opening address, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay highlighted the importance of defending and promoting cultural diversity as a tool for dialogue and peace. “Cultural diversity is a fight, a political fight par excellence. A fight to defend the right to cultural diversity that is rooted in human consciousness, and to reaffirm the legitimacy of public policies to support culture and creativity.”

In the two panel discussions that followed, high-level actors from the world of museums, the tech industry and international organizations offered a series of strategies to ensure that all people – regardless of age, gender, nationality or disability – are able to exercise the basic Human Right right to access culture.

Karima Bennoune, the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, declared that “culture is not a luxury”, but is rather an integral part of human rights that States in particular have a responsibility to protect. Speaking of the link between culture, peace and development, she highlighted the example of Medellin, Colombia, a city that successfully employed a strong cultural policy to overcome conflict and division.

Youma Fall, Director of “French language, culture and diversity” at l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and Ghita Khaldi, Vice-President of the pan-African Arterial Network, stressed the importance of grassroots action, particularly in the African context, to promote access to culture and cultural diversity.

As new technologies make culture appear more accessible than ever before, Octavio Kulesz, founder of the first e-publishing house in Latin America and one of the authors of the 2018 UNESCO report Re|Shaping Cultural Policies, emphasized the importance of ensuring cultural diversity in the digital environment. This environment should be inclusive and open to smaller independent players in addition to the dominant platforms, he argued.

Amit Sood, Director of Google Arts & Culture, discussed how technology is responding to peoples’ demand to “access culture in different ways and different contexts.” He said that Google, through the Google Arts & Culture app, makes more than 6 million artefacts available online, supporting museum curators in telling the stories of objects in their collections.

Vincenza Lomonaco, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Italy to UNESCO, described initiatives undertaken in Italy to expand cultural access for young people and among migrant communities.

Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, Member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Executive Board, stressed that making museums more accessible means fostering diversity. She agreed that “digital technology is changing museums” and said that ICOM is working on a new Code of Ethics for Museums that responds to the new professional paradigm.

A performance by Ensemble Son Joropo, a group of young musicians and singers from Puerto Carreño, Colombia, featured as the opening of the event.

URL:

https://en.unesco.org/news/httpswwwflickrcomphotos131897504n0827409205477inalbum-72157667222527757