Culture: a definite project

On the initiative of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, an important event took place in Paris at the beginning of last week. Culture ministers from the member states of the European Union met together with thinkers and artists to discuss culture's role in Europe's further growth.

The French government gave tremendous importance to the event which was opened on Monday morning by the President Jacques Chirac. He gave a keynote speech about the importance of culture within the European framework not only from the point of view of culture providing the basis of Europe's own identity but also as a crucial keystone in the building of a common European future together.

In his own message to the Symposium on a Europe of Culture, as the event was called, the French Minister for Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, pointed out that it is urgent that artists and writers should be invited to join in the European debate.

In fact several hundred men and women from the world of letters and the arts, from the 25 countries that make up the EU, met in Paris on Monday and Tuesday. Apart from the invitation extended to me as Minister of Culture, Malta was ably represented by Rev. Professor Peter Serracino Inglott and Professor Henry Frendo.

The fundamental principle of 'Unity in Diversity' that guides the Union is of particular relevance in the field of culture since one can draw a parallel between the way the Union operates at an economic and political level and the way creative artists open different routes that lead to a shared destiny.

The Paris symposium has taken further the theme of the conference organised in Berlin last November, entitled 'A Soul for Europe'. That conference was opened by the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and brought together a large number of persons involved in culture and politics at a high level, under the chairmanship of the president of the Bundestag.

The Berlin and Paris meetings will before the end of this year be continued in another European capital - Budapest. Other angles will be looked into and other capitals are lining up to take the process further even next year. It is already clear after the first two meetings, that there is growing momentum in favour of a Europe of Culture.

As the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, stressed at the Berlin event, in the hierarchy of values, cultural ones come above the economic ones. Mr Barroso was again present at the Paris Symposium, and in his concluding address expressed his total and unreserved faith in favour of a Europe that affirms both its credentials as well as its future growth through culture. He abandoned a prepared text that dealt with what the Commission is already doing and plans to do in the cultural field in favour of a more impromptu speech that came direct from his own heart. It was received with incredible enthusiasm by all the persons present.

Another keynote speaker at this event was the President of the European Council - the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker. In his speech Mr Juncker pointed out that Europe cannot be summed up only in terms of the market economy. That would be a narrow and restrictive focus.

In anticipation of the Paris symposium, four different workshops were organised to address a number of relevant themes. These were the Books, Language and Translation Workshop, the Cinema and Audiovisual Workshop, the Performing Arts Workshop, and the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Workshop.

The results of these different workshops are of direct relevance to our country. The one dealing with language, for instance, dealt with the disappearance of learning the various languages of Europe in the different countries. Quoting Umberto Eco, "the language of Europe is in the translation", emphasis was made on leading literary works from the different European countries being translated into the other languages, thereby ensuring much wider distribution and appreciation.

This recommendation can in future on its own represent an incredible opportunity for Malta's own literary works that will automatically transcend frontiers and reach a much larger audience.

Similarly, the performing arts workshop that focused on theatre, music and dance suggested that concrete initiatives be taken in favour of the training and circulation of artists and professionals and that a European databank, accessible to all, be set up for opera, music and theatre, along with a mobile European Artistic University based on the exchange of artists and institutions. Again, this initiative could offer in the future tremendous potential to our own capable performers.

The workshop that discussed cultural heritage and tourism emphasised more mobility of works and exhibitions, access to European photographic libraries and museums as well as the development of a European heritage label for monuments and sites indicating the European character of leading styles of architecture or civilisations, like the UNESCO World Heritage List.

More than ever, I am convinced that our own national future as well as that of the European Union as a whole, lies with culture. One can never equate growth strictly to the economic sphere since that on its own would be artificial and deprived of the kind of deep meaning for which the human being naturally craves.

The ministers present for this symposium have signed a declaration in favour of a European Charter of Culture where "we, the representatives of the European Union Member States, convinced that culture is at the origin of the Europe in which we are living and that it represents a fundamental aspect of the European identity and citizenship, undertake to make culture an essential priority of the European construction process."

Moreover through this Declaration, European Ministers of Culture have reaffirmed that culture also contributes to economic development, employment and social and territorial cohesion and to Europe's influence in the world.

The Declaration recognises the special role of public cultural institutions in the Member States to preserve and promote the diversity of artistic expression and cultural content, as well as to affirm the diversity of media and opinions intrinsic to democratic societies. The Declaration furthermore affirms the need to guarantee adequate funding for European cultural projects, institutions and networks.

The concluding paragraph sums it up: "We are convinced that compliance with and active implementation of these principles can make culture a definite political project for Europe. Based upon the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity, this project will strengthen the feeling of a European identity, awareness among all European citizens that they belong to a community of values and their will to build a common future together."

It was an honour for me to be able to sign this Declaration together with other Ministers of Culture from the EU member states.

In my address at the symposium's plenary session, I referred to Malta's own cultural contribution to the rest of the European family, not least through our language which is the only Semitic language in Europe, as well as through the unique blend between different phases of our history as reflected in our architecture, folk music and way of life that it manifest in our country.

Culture can never be inward looking, even if seen throughout the entire geographical area of an enlarged European Union. It needs to represent an ongoing dialogue with other cultures and modes of expression. The Malta experience offers an appropriate synthesis of this principle.

Our experience and contribution will be part of the definite project represented by culture as a priority area within the European Union in the coming years.

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