The Art of Sustainability or The Art of well-living together!
How art can be a transversal link to question all aspects of the society and support a sustainable change?
This column is a showcase of talented initiatives and reflections about Art and Culture supporting the well-living in a society allowing to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” - Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, 1987.
#1 - Do you know your cultural rights?
Why do I want to talk about cultural rights? I believe in the richness of people coming from their experience, belief, knowledge, way of living, emotions, creativity, and strength… but how to highlight all the qualitative features of human beings? And how to measure the interaction of human richness?
Several important political agreements have raised the issue of cultural rights as the Universal Declaration of Human rights, The International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights from UN, The Universal Declaration of Cultural Diversity from UNESCO, Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society and much more. Finally in 2007, the Fribourg Declaration was elaborated to gather all cultural rights from the different political instruments. Convinced that in understanding it better, we can avoid its violation that brings tensions and conflicts in the world but also in respecting it, it becomes a factor to legitimate the sustainable development.
The cultural rights are part of the human rights that are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. It’s part of the basics of our daily life but often forgotten in favour of power or individualism. Let’s try to see what ‘cultural rights’ means and how we can reclaim it! Let’s not only leave it to academicians who write conventions but let’s make it concrete for us!
First of all, the definition of Culture used in the declaration is seen in a large sense. It covers “those values, beliefs, convictions, languages, knowledge and the arts, traditions, institutions and ways of life through which a person or a group expresses their humanity and the meanings that they give to their existence and to their development.” (art2. Declaration of Cultural Rights, 2007). Enhancing this, people won’t feel anymore weight of their roots and differences but it will become richness for themselves and for others.
The declaration presents the rights of the people but also their responsibilities. Good to know that we all have richness but we all have the responsibility to share it with others: in building a common knowledge and in developing cultural resources collected from the everyday and also the most exceptional part of life. This is how we can be part of the society and play a role in the democracy. Sharing our cultural resource make us decide to respect the others in their difference and to co-recognize the right of human dignity.
When we talk about democracy, we often feel it unreachable, too much related to our governmental system, however the democracy means “Power to People”. Using the recognition of the cultural rights, we can rebuild a democracy that is closer to us. No need of big actions! Participating locally in the development of our own neighbourhood, sharing our cultural resources with our neighbours during a diner or being involved in a non-profit organization are already moments where we take back the power.
In the sector of Art and Culture, the political mainstream is to give access to Culture or to develop the cultural consumption. But in a perspective of the cultural rights, the cultural exchange is not only one way because everybody has culture to exchange and everybody can get richer sharing with others. We can then think that participation to Culture will be more appropriate to create more engaging meetings between Art & Culture and people. Idriss Aberkane, French research engineer, purposes the concept of “Knowledge Economy”. He explains that when you exchange knowledge, you still keep your knowledge, while when you exchange a product you don’t have the product anymore. So you are getting richer, having two knowledge. If we base our economic growth in knowledge instead of raw material, then we will have an infinite growth!
Cultural rights is our immaterial heritage but also our present and our future if we find a way to make it alive!