Andreas Broeckmann on Wed, 9 Jun 1999 14:13:29 +0100 |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
Syndicate: a regional cultural strategy for Balkan |
Dear collegues: Please find enclosed a short discussion paper on developing a regional cultural strategy for Balkan. Please feel free to circulate it further. Your comments are most welcome to dragank@tin.nl or fax 3120 551 3303. Kind regards Dragan Klaic -------------------------------------------- Long Range Regional Cultural Strategy for Balkan A discussion paper for the EFAH meting in Bonn, 12-14 June 1999 By Dragan Klaic Even before the recent Finnish-Russian diplomatic initiative lead to the agreement about the stopping of the NATO bombing in return for the Yugoslav military withdrawal from Kosovo, the post-war future of the region has been considered by several think tanks and government agencies. Besides political stability and security measures, a major economic recovery has been advocated by some, leading to the talk of a new Marshall plan for the Balkan. There is a German government document, already called the Schroeder Plan, which focuses on the political issues of the region's stability. A comprehensive document by the Center for European Policy Studies (EPS) in Brussels, "A System for Post-War South East Europe", developed with the backing of the new EU Commission Chairman Prodi, contains a comprehensive and radical blueprint: a prospect of an associate EU membership for Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Albania in the very near future in return for significant legislative and political changes; a plan of speeded up monetary and fiscal reforms, opening space for dynamic economic recovery and infrastructure modernization; support for the civic society structures, independent media and educational reform. Significantly, even this very broad minded and inspiring document completely forgets to mention - culture. It is important in my opinion to make sure culture is included in various plans for Balkan's consolidation and development. In all Balkan countries culture has been the dominant source of nationalist ideology. The mass-disseminated spirit of intolerance, hate and ethnic purity was developed from cultural traditions, icons and images, and it has been sustained with steady cultural production of nationalist inspiration. Culture has been nurturing a self-centered idea of the past from which nationalist extrapolations for the future were elaborated. Despite this role in the making of ideology, culture is today a neglected and impoverished sector: cultural budgets have been reduced and diminished by inflation and irregular payments, making many cultural institutions function only formally or with a minimum output. In the whole region, cultural institutions tend to be large, inflexible, rigid, anachronistically set up and run, incapable to adjust and reform. At the other side, a wild market has emerged in popular cultural items, a demand-driven cultural industry of cheep reproduction and serialization, often of pirated origin. There is little dynamic in the tiny independent and non-institutional cultural scene, curtailed by state interference, excessive regulation and arbitrary taxation. There is little mobility within the countries and even regions for cultural creators and their products and especially among the countries of the region and with the rest of Europe. There is a crying need for the development of the intercultural competence, in the first instance among the professionals engaged in the culture: this includes a sensibility, attitudes, skills and a strategy of communication with other cultures without a sense of endangerment and menace, with curiosity, respect and expectation to be enriched by these contacts and collaborations. Despite all nationalism-inspired litanies on the importance of the cultural heritage, its objects have been systematically neglected and destroyed in war operations and peace plunder. Besides physical protection from further damage, there is a strategy needed how to integrate cultural heritage in the contemporary cultural production and in the economy. Culture and education have drifted apart as two sectors, while their synergy is more important than ever. Both culture and education need to be liberated from their ideological layers in order to contribute to the creation of the future European citizens. In the first instance, the urgent needs are in the systematic and structured flow of information, especially about the sources of assistance, support, development, then on the inspiring positive practice. Intensive short-term training, inclusive stages, internships and on-job training are needed. On a more macro level, a redefinition of cultural policy objectives and mechanisms is due. Modernization of the essential cultural infrastructure and appropriate regulation should rely on a strong regional and local input and competence. Further measures would include initiation of innovative, non-conventional pilot projects, encouragement of smaller, flexible and dynamic organizations in place of cultural giants, development of cultural industry and cultural economy, providing jobs and sustaining non-for-profit activities. There are in Europe outstanding resources to respond to these needs. In the last ten years, ever since the end of the Cold War, a large number of organizations and networks have developed contacts and connections in South-Eastern Europe, have built up experience and expertise how to operate in the region, have articulated a sense of priorities or have lined up partners who can sort things out with precision and astuteness. These are, among others, the network of G. Soros' Open Society Institutes in all the countries of the region and with several clustered regional programs in particular fields; large and professional cultural networks such as EFAH and IETM and others; informal networks such as Gulliver and its Gulliver Clearing House facilitating individual mobility; intensive know-how transfer operations such as Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University, Ecume/Ecumest, M. Hicter European Diploma, the Transeuropeennes'' summer school of South-East Europe good neighborhood and spin offs; some QUANGOs such as KulturKontakt; European Cultural Foundation and other private foundation of international outreach; and a large number of individual cultural organizations that have international work as part of their daily practice. Among them, all these players have all what is necessary to establish alliances and partnerships in the region, collaborate in designing and implementing a long range culture development strategy for the entire Balkan. They have to work with the national, regional and municipal governments in Europe, with the European Union and the Council of Europe, with universities and their networks, with professional associations and some UN agencies. Not too much coordination and not too directive approach. Some extra money to be spent wisely. Firm belief in the grass root projects. And in the synergy of initiatives involved. By changing the functioning of culture in Balkan all the players would in fact be working towards the enforcement of the notion of European citizenship and its benefits that in the EU Europe tend to be taken for granted. Now is the moment to plan how to share these values, standards and practices with our colleagues on the Balkan. Dr Dragan Klaic is Professor of University of Amsterdam and Director of Theater Instituut Nederland. E mail: dragank@tin.nl. Fax 31 20 551 3303. ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress