European Forum on Music 19-22 May 2016
Table of Content Friday, 20 May Keynote: Musical Homelands: New Territories Grzegorz Michalski Jerzy Kornowicz On Freedom of (Musical) Expression in Europe Contribution by Sara Whyatt & Freemuse statistics on violations of artistic expression Contribution by Sławomir Ratajski Contribution by Sanar Yurdatapan 3 7 9 18 23 Saturday, 21 May Music Makes a Difference: Working with Refugees Contribution by Marie Le Sourd, Secretary General On The Move Contribution by Sarah Hickson, The Calais Sessions 24 26
A musical homeland. There is no doubt that each of us carries such a homeland within. It consists of the sounds, songs and harmony of a distant childhood, of time immemorial. It cannot be altered, even if subjected to education, trained to musical erudition and rich in the experiences and profound emotions of adult life we ignore the memory of early lullabies. Already then, as we know today, sound was our medium of communication with the world around us. Even before we spoke our first word, we recognised the phrasing, timbre and sonority of home, of our mother s voice. Although we cannot remember it, the science of developmental psychology confirms it, so we cannot deny it was so. With time and maturity, our musical homeland was enhanced with Chopin, Bach and Lennon, so it can expand to encompass new assimilated works and new experiences. In recent months, we have been experiencing such clashes of different cultural traditions increasingly often. The question of the other rears up before us. Yet what does that mean? The further back into the past we go, the more often evaluations of foreign music are negative, unfavourable; the closer we come to our times, the more often interest in otherness appears, or even fascination, writes the Polish musicologist Professor Jan Stęszewski, vice president of the International Music Council during the 80s. Yet attempts at justified evaluation [ ] are more the domain of academic consideration than of common, and at once also just, awareness and practice, the distinct consequences of which are arbitrary judgment, solipsism, chauvinism, cultorocentrism, intolerance, etc. (Jan Stęszewski, Problem wartościowania kultur muzycznych [The evaluation of musical cultures] (Kraków, 1978), 222 ff.) In light of this, what can we do? Scholars have been fulminating for more than half a century about the equal rights of cultures, as expressed in the view of Margaret Mead, according to whom every culture is a justified way of expressing the potentialities latent in human nature. Unfortunately, this was not accompanied by any attempts at comparative research into musical cultures, let alone qualitative analyses explaining the possible ways of evaluating them. Perhaps half a century ago the problem was too difficult, and then it became inconvenient, and finally politically incorrect. And such it remains today. We have gained little from the protests of the leading French expert and scholar of overseas cultures Alain Daniélou, who asserted that European harmony was a colonialist method of musically brainwashing peoples from other cultural spheres. According to him, peoples that have been humiliated and forced into submission in the domain of the music that is dear to them have experienced the utmost difficulty in regaining their equilibrium. (Alain Daniélou, Die 3
Herrschaft der Harmonie oder das Ende einer Gehirnwaesche, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 1975) Jan Stęszewski made a hazardous and exhaustive attempt to analyse this question of the evaluation of cultures. After meticulous research, he reached the conclusion that axiology on the scale of all musical cultures should find such values that are acceptable to them all. This is an axiology that makes it possible to compare different cultures and to consider their respective values. He goes on to add: I do not make so bold as to enter into discussion over whether or not there exist universal values in art, artistic culture, musical works, etc. in the sense of Plato s spatially and temporally non-specific ideas of beauty. (op. cit., 233) It is hard to deny that identifying a concrete designatum of Plato s idea of beauty smacks of utopia, so musicology, and even its ethnographic speciality, will be of little use to us here. For a sociologist, we are dealing with some other in ourselves, as well as in the culture to which we belong, and we speak of some other when we have another culture in mind. Those three aspects of the other are interconnected, and when speaking of one, we are often thinking of the others as well. (Zofia Rosińska, Czy możliwy jest dialog międzykulturowy? [Is intercultural dialogue possible?] (Warsaw, 2002), 25) So the other within me is the one who has not assimilated a new sound, a new idea ordering the world of sounds, usually a new music. Tackling the other within me is a task for the creative artist, so perhaps Jerzy Kornowicz, a creator of new sounds, will tell us more about it. The other in my culture might be the one who has consigned me to a niche, an advocate of musical wallpaper, boasting a vocabulary limited to a few sighs and oaths. It is the mass clientele of the media, licking the dust from the boots of the show-business stars. Fortunately, there are grounds to believe that swapping a brain for a bank account number does not suit all Europeans and that the niche of highbrow culture, especially music, is just one of many contemporary superstitions. The third other is the one from a different culture to mine. Sociology warns that In this world [that is, in the approaching age of darkness] the most pervasive, important, and dangerous conflicts will not be between social classes, rich and poor, or other economically defined groups, but between peoples belonging to different cultural entities. (Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (London, 1997), 28) However, common experience and scholarly reflection suggest to us that culture is a force which both divides and unites. And that is not a question of combating barbarity, since barbarity occurs in every culture and should be combated in each and every one of us. But is it? In some of us, no doubt, it is, and Ortega y Gasset has called such a person a select man, 4
as distinct from a mass man. The select man (today, we would no doubt say the niche dweller ) is not the petulant person who thinks himself superior to the rest, but the man who demands more of himself than the rest, even though he may not fulfil in his person those higher exigencies. (Jose Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses, new edn (New York, 1993), 15) The postulate of demanding of oneself is not difficult to fulfil for people born in this part of the world. More than a quarter of a century ago, Leszek Kołakowski stated that a distinguishing feature of European culture in its mature form is its ability to question itself. (Leszek Kołakowski, Szukanie barbarzyńcy [Seeking the barbarian], in Czy diabeł może być zbawiony [Can the devil be redeemed?] (Warsaw, 1984), 14) When asking difficult questions of our own culture, and so of ourselves, we take the trouble to seek answers to them. Yet respect for other cultures, that is, understanding them in their own terms, is not only not entirely possible, since it requires living in those cultures, and so either becoming someone else, that is, someone alien to oneself, or else splitting oneself into two and becoming at the same time both oneself and someone else, but it also raises the problem of the mutual understanding of different cultures. Zofia Rosińska, op. cit., 32) An apt observation. The practice of everyday life tells us that contact can be relatively easy between some cultures, but quite the opposite between others. Half a year has passed since the last Chopin Competition, and I still recall the sighs of one Taiwanese woman who at two o clock in the morning could not tear herself away from the broadcast and had to rush off to work at seven. I remember the tens of thousands of pre-orders for discs with Chopin recitals sold in South Korea. And what can one say about the millions of pianos for Chinese children, to say nothing of the Japanese children who start learning music (European music!) at the age of two. The distances between cultures are unequal, just as the cultures themselves are different. Unfortunately, scholarship has little to say on the subject, but it does admit that full understanding of a different culture is a utopia. We cannot live both in our own musical homeland and in another at the same time; we can only try to understand, although that no doubt occurs on the level of reflection, so in a language describing culture, and not in the language of culture. To the fundamental question why bother?, we know the answer: there can only be an I thanks to some you. Wise men have long since known that only by comparing myself to others and becoming conscious of how I differ from them can I experience my own individuality. (Wilhelm Dilthey, Selected Writings (CUP, 1976, p. 247, text written in 1900). 5
We won t change our musical homeland, unless we wish to renounce it. Yet a feature of our own, European culture is the ability to try to understand others. In so doing, we learn the truth about ourselves and at the same time grow closer to others. At times, we even find ourselves so close to them that a connection seems just a small step away. Our musical homeland need only expand just a little. Grzegorz Michalski 6
Musical Homelands and New Territories Our homeland is what unites us, brings us together and lets us feel at home. In its range and function, homeland can be identified with culture, with collective memory. New territories, on the other hand, suggest exploration, going beyond what is standard, formulating hypotheses, accepting risk and the right to make mistakes, as well as a reinterpretation of tradition. As such, they are a domain of art rather than culture. Culture is said to unite, art to divide. This may well be true. Culture aims to establish the widest possible platform on which a given group of people can meet. Culture therefore provides a sense of safety. Art, conversely, is interested in the lowest common denominator, in separate identity and in peculiarities. Art poses demands on us and frequently results in a sense of discomfort. We are anchored in our cultural homelands through education, through our habits of participation in culture, and through possibly the most extensive panorama of culture signs operating in public space. New musical territories are explored, on the other hand, by reconfiguring memory, by selecting and multiplying signs through annexation, borrowing and transgression of signs from other fields. A central role in this process of adding new signs to the melting pot is fulfilled by new technologies. New territories are acquired through openness and inclusion. They are acquired by establishing ties with others despite differences, by developing a sensitivity to other musical and cultural languages, other social circles, other generations and other functions of music. This kind of attitude is quite compatible with cultivating tradition and pride in one s own culture, just as the cultivation of European culture is compatible, I believe, with the inclusion of cultures brought to Europe by newcomers. One possible way of taking in this panorama of cultures is to assume the stance of a friendly observer, an anthropologist of everyday life who welcomes the wealth of cultures, the diversity and simultaneous presence of different cultural narrations with wonderment, but also with acceptance. All these elements depend on one more key parameter: the relation between the artist and the audience. Who are they? What signs bring them together? What structures make them perceive the world in a similar fashion? And, finally, what model of life do they find most agreeable? These models of creation and perception do not fully coincide with cultural and sociological categories, though they are frequently convergent with them. What needs to be considered are the aspects of generational identity, of collective habit, of the need to develop distinctive qualities of one s own, of material status that conditions our cultural behaviour, as well as the entire aggregate of memories the homelands of our identity, with their vast repository of national, regional and religious signs. All that constitutes our good money can easily be driven out by bad money, by the brutal economic, political and military realities of life. Culture can hold on to its own, but art suffers when people focus on the obvious tasks, on such elementary issues as preserving their freedom and dignity. Engrossed in their struggle for the basics of life, people have no use for subtleties. This is why both culture and the cognitive potential of art can exert a wider and deeper influence only after a certain level of political and economic stability and a certain standard of life has been attained. In other words after the level of oppression in our lives has been reduced to a satisfactory degree. Today both Poland and Europe seem to be increasingly closing themselves to all that is new and other. What is being postulated is that we should defend some ostensible core values in the face of variously represented threats. The Polish intellectual Jerzy Sosnowski has formulated a thesis which I have read in this way: After years of rapidly learning and embracing new realities, of a forward race, our country has chosen what is being interpreted 7
as safety and a return to collective memory. This choice is to some extent understandable, since it results from the very rhythm and cycle of social processes: it is a look back, a survey of the available reserves, before another forward leap. Possibly also Europe itself needs such a step backwards; but to understanding the reasons is not tantamount to passive waiting. Supporting either trend, the look back or the opening to the new requires honesty and altruism, or at the very least a wise egoism that is not afraid of novelty. The leader of U2, Bono, claims that there is more to music than just sounds. If such a thing is said by a representative of pop culture, how can we apparently well-trained and refined in our tastes possibly think otherwise? Music is not merely about sounds. Music is also a mirror of our awareness and sensibility. It is an omnipresent medium of our communication with the world. Without new territories, memory becomes barren, and without memory modernity is blind. I am writing these words thinking about my father, who saw music as the element that brings people together, that gives them hearth and home. He raised all his children to become musicians in the evident belief that in this way he dedicated their lives to the good cause. And he is now struggling for his life. I hope you will discover many new and good things in Poland and in Wrocław, which cherishes its past, but also boldly embraces modernity. Here the word new recurs several times in the very names of film and music festivals. Here the number of opportunities for penetrating into new territories appears to be particularly impressive. Lublin, 17 th May 2016 8
Presentation European Forum On Music 19 May 2016, Wrocław, Poland Freedom of Artistic Expression Sara Whyatt In my presentation today I will do two things: give a fleeting overview of the state of artistic freedom today, specifically as it relates to Europe, then to talk about a Freedom of Artistic Expression Toolkit that I have developed for Arts Rights Justice, a project of Culture Action Europe, and how a similar toolkit was developed for artists in Turkey. Then to start discussion on how we can collectively and individually support artists and music at risk. The Overview The debate on freedom of expression is dominated by attacks on the media, and the result is when we speak of freedom of expression we tend to think of attacks on the press. With good reason: journalists are at the forefront of the battle for information. They are brought to trial, arrested and even killed. In 2015, the writers association, PEN International recorded over 1,000 cases of attacks on journalists last year alone, twenty five of whom were murdered. Less well reported are attacks on artists. There are few organisations that systematically monitor censorship of the arts and artists globally, and there is a suggestion that these are underreported. However, in recent years the issue is receiving greater attention. 9
There is one organisation that is reporting regularly, ArtsFreedom, hosted by the music censorship organisation, Freemuse. Its report on attacks on Artistic freedom in 2015 recorded 469 instances of attacks on artists worldwide, among them 46 cases of imprisonment, and three killings. Note that this report shows that attacks on music and musicians outstrip those against other art forms, representing 66% of the total. >> Here I recommend including the statistics from Freemuse, attached<< Looking at where arts are most at threat, China sees the most abusive, followed by Iran and Russia. Turkey is among the top ten. As I am speaking in to you Wrocław, Poland at the European Music Council, I ll focus on Europe. European Hot Spots Azerbaijan is listed as among the most censored countries, with the internet jammed and dissidents arrested. Musicians whose work or politics challenge the authorities speak of living under constant fear of repercussions. Recording studios and venues refuse to work with them. Many practice self-censorship so as to not to jeopardise their musical careers. While there is no overt censorship of music, musicians have to apply to the ministry of culture for permission to stage festivals. Those who are critical of the authorities, often find their applications refused on grounds of lack of finance, only to find that musicians who are in favour with the authorities have no problems. Then there is the Armenian issue where hostilities have seeped into cultural affairs in ways that would be comical if not so serious. When the Belarus gymnastic team wanted to use ethnic Armenian soviet composer Aram 10
Khachaturian s work to accompany their set, they were not allowed. A Russian opera singer, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya was banned from performing in Azerbaijan because she had visited the Armenian areas of Nagorny Karabakh. Hostilities between Ukraine and Russia have also impacted on musicians rights. There is a ban on musicians from Ukraine in Russia. Conversely, Russian performers have not been allowed into Ukraine. The furore around the Ukrainian entry, the winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, heightens concerns and I am sure that the European Broadcasting Union is already wondering what will happen in Kiev when Ukraine are hosts in 2017. While I am speaking of Eurovision, I d like to commend the Stockholm contest hosts for holding an event for censored musicians a week beforehand, where an award was granted to a Belarus dissident singer Lavon Volski. It would be great to see this kind of initiative adopted by future hosts, although I doubt that in Kiev we will find space for such openness next year. Religious sensitivities are another area that have hampered musicians in Russia where last year an adaption of the Wagner opera Tannhauser was banned and the opera director sacked because Orthodox leaders complained of a poster for the performance as being blasphemous. The case led to uproar with other artists rising in support of the director. There are nine other countries in Europe that have blasphemy laws that could be pulled out of the box as and when demanded by conservative religious groups: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands and Poland. These laws are rarely used but look at what happened in Germany 11
where it was an unused, dormant law that rose up from the vaults to bite, a case I ll return to later. Turkey has been singled out for its suppression of artists who insult religion, most notably the composer, Fazil Say who came to trial for his comments on twitter, but the biggest threats to artistic freedom are laws on terrorism and on insult. In Turkey hundreds if not 1,000s of people are in prison or on trial under antiterror laws. And artists have been caught up in these too. They tend in the main to be Kurdish such as the singer Nudem Durak, imprisoned since last year, serving a ten year sentence, not for her music but for her alleged involvement with terrorist groups. However, I believe that she is being treated especially harshly because of her popularity as a singer among young Kurds, and to serve as a warning to others. But this is not solely a Turkish problem. We ve had a play on the radicalisation of British youth inexplicably cancelled, and an artwork depicting children s toys as terrorists removed from an exhibition, just a couple of examples about how heightened fears of terrorism is impacting freedom of artistic expression. Again Turkey tops the tables when it comes to the application of insult and defamation laws. President Erdoğan alone has instigated hundreds of cases against people accused of insulting him and artists have been among them. Earlier this year, folk singer Evcimen Kutsal was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days for singing a song written 30 years earlier about little donkeys, a mild insult equivalent to calling someone an idiot. An Erdoğan party official claimed that the President had been insulted by the reference and brought it to trial. 12
Kutsal s sentence was suspended but if he were to commit a similar crime, in the coming three years, he could find himself forced to spend time in prison for the donkey song along with whatever his new offence. But again, this is not only a Turkish problem. The prosecution in Germany of German comedian Jan Böhmermann for his poem on orders from Turkey s President Erdoğan should not have come as a shock. Article 103 of Germany s criminal code allowing heads of foreign states to bring judicial complaints against German citizens had been lurking in the vaults since the 1800s, devised to protect first the Germany royal family, and which extended to other European royalty, many of course close relatives. It had been amended after the end of the monarchy in the early part of the 20 th century to protect its new leaders. The poem has now been banned in Germany and there are other people who may be prosecuted for having repeated it in public. Similar laws against insult to foreign heads of states still exist elsewhere in Europe. If you are in Italy, Greece, Switzerland or here in Poland you better be careful. On hearing of the Böhermann s case, and on a request from the Turkish representative in the Netherlands to report to them any comments demeaning Erdoğan, moved to scrap their own similar law. My advice to European Artists Be careful not to mock religion in: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands and Poland Don t dare to insult another state in: Greece, Switzerland, Poland and don t desecrate another state s flag in Italy. 13
Tread carefully when insulting your own country (or your Royal Family if you have one): Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Romania, and Poland. Public threat is another cause of self-censorship. Crowds gathered outside performance spaces threatening performers and audience alike has led to police intervention for reasons of public safety and the cancellation of events. Threats on social media is another cause of self-censorship. A report published recently recorded that one in six artists in Sweden have suffered attacks, mainly through the internet, but also on the streets and graffiti sprayed outside their homes and work spaces, notably by extreme right wing extremist groups. So, what can we do about it? Most important is for artists to a) know their rights both under international law and also national, and b) to be able to turn to a supportive network. Earlier this year I worked with Arts Rights Justice to produce a simple tool-kit that uses human rights research and advocacy methods as a starting point for where to turn for help. It includes sections on: What is artistic freedom, the motivations for censorship, who are the censors, and what are the pretexts for silencing artists? Advice on how to gather information and what can be done for individual artists at risk, both at home and for those outside Suggestions for mobilization and advocacy Using the international mechanisms within the European Union and the United Nations 14
Frequently the European organisations who are part of the Arts Rights Justice network are approached by artists at threat outside Europe for support, and the guide gives advice on how to respond in a constructive, helpful way. Alongside the international support, there can be a need for more tailored advice specific to the country where the artist lives, and to enable them to access details of their rights, as well as local legal and other sources of support. A hugely satisfying piece of work for me has been to bring my experience of working on international human rights and bringing it to a national level through my work with Siyah Bant, the Istanbul-based arts censorship monitoring organisation. We first met in 2014 and I was impressed by the work they were doing monitoring attacks on artistic freedom ranging from arrests and court cases, to removal of artworks from exhibition spaces and festivals, to refusal of film certification for political reasons, and others. I felt that their work needed to be better known in the human rights field so worked with them to draft and submit a statement to the UN, then to take them to Geneva to lobby representatives. In January 2015 we hosted an event where 60 artists and activists met to watch a live web-cast of a 3-hour presentation by the Turkish government on its adherence to the UN Convention on Human Rights, which, unsurprisingly, gave a rosy picture that did not accord with many human rights defenders experience. Throughout the broadcast, the artists in the room responded by shouting, sometimes laughing in response, and also posted their comments on Facebook and twitter throughout the morning. Our social media presence led to over 20,000 visits, shares and comments during and shortly after the event. 15
Out of this came the idea of a handbook for Turkish artists. Based on the ARJ s hand book, it was devised and written by Siyah Bant with input from Turkish legal experts on censorship. It covers artists rights under Turkish law, as well as internationally, what steps they can take if faced with censorship and where to find help locally, as well as how they can act in solidarity with their colleagues. Several workshops have been held with this document at the centre at university arts departments, and it is hoped funding for further projects promoting artistic freedom in Turkey will follow on. The ARJ is encouraging artists to use the toolkit as a source of guidance not only on how to support other artists in countries where artistic freedom is at threat. It is also a guide where censorship is present even if it does not extend to prison terms or killings and to enable artists under to practice their work and to know where to turn when in trouble. 16
Violations of Artistic Freedom in 2015 by Art Form 320 300 11 Number of Violations 280 260 240 220 200 180 160 140 120 17 18 16 16 223 Violation Type Killed Abducted Attacked Persecuted / Threatened Prosecuted Detained Still Imprisoned Newly Imprisoned Censored This bar graph shows the number of violations of artistic freedom, separated into art form columns and color-coded violation types within the columns. The large number in the Music category is due to a censorship case in China wherein its government released a "blacklist" of 120 songs in August 2015. Freemuse considers each of those censored songs to be individual instances of censorship. 100 80 60 40 8 20 0 31 Dance Film Literature Multiple Art Forms 10 10 6 9 16 13 Music Theatre Visual Arts 17
1 Sławomir Ratajski Freedom of (musical) expression in Europe" in the frame of the European Forum on Music. Wrocław 2016 The freedom of expression is one of the fundamental goals of UNESCO, the Organization which was founded on the ruins of the Second World War and the building of peace was considered to be possible through dialogue, acceptance of cultural diversity and understanding of the Other. Of course, the freedom of expression is widely understood as safety of journalists, freedom of information etc. These are issues dealt with by the Communication and Information Sector in UNESCO which prepares reports on the safety of journalists and freedom of expression where we can find information that only during the years 2012 and 2013 more than 200 journalists were killed around the world, unfortunately many of them in Europe. Can we give such a drastic example as killing of the journalists when talking about the freedom of expression in music? But from the field of culture, isn t it a very drastic example either, recently coming from Palmyra where the cultural hatred caused destruction of one of the most precious world heritage sites? This is of course a radical example of lack of respect or rejection of the cultural diversity. Achieving a way towards a dialogue and consensus is necessary for peaceful coexistence of communities and nations. Such spectacular events warn us that if we don t cultivate the openness for cultural diversity and freedom of expression during a process of education on everyday basis then one day it could accumulate up to such tragic level. The elder generation still remember that the distribution of the music composed by Panufnik and Lutosławski was very limited during the gloomy communism times in Poland. Few years ago we celebrated the international years of both composers under the auspices of UNESCO. Playing Chopin was prohibited in Warsaw during the Second World War. Or the jazz music in 50s and beginning of 60s was considered in Poland as the symbol of the longing for freedom and democracy. That was one of the arguments which the polish 18
2 delegation used during the debate in UNESCO on the establishment of the International World Jazz Day in 2013. The EU faces the task of creating a harmoniously developing knowledge-based society, where the natural, obvious context is that of the coexistence of many cultures and religions. The increasing role of a roots-based identity becomes increasingly important, when it comes to the need to shape attitudes of openness and an acceptance of disparate options. What needs to be stressed, therefore, is the importance of identifying with the local environment in which people live, as the most private, personal and most recognizable; one combining the elements of both tangible and intangible heritage along with the natural environment. Is it possible to advance the cause of a pro-social education, and national identity without such awareness; without that sense of local community affiliation, based on named elements that make up an integrated environment, that fulfils every human being s need for growth? What is needed in order for our modern, global civilization to develop dynamically, is paradoxically, more diversity. Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other universally recognized instruments of the United Nations, the foreword of the 2005 UNESCO Convention addressing the need for the protection of the diversity of cultural expressions states that culture takes diverse forms across time and space, and that this diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities and cultural expressions of the peoples and societies making up humanity. The European Union, recognizing the major role of the 2005 Convention in shaping development policies in a spirit of creativity and diversity, ratified it as an international organization, in addition to the 126 Member States Parties current parties to the Convention. Furthermore, the Convention recognises the importance of traditional knowledge as a source of intangible ( including traditional and contemporary created music) and material wealth, and in particular the knowledge systems of indigenous peoples, and its positive contribution to sustainable development, as well as the need for its adequate protection and promotion. The significance of culture then, lies in the social cohesion and development role of interaction between cultures, based on freedom of thought, expression and 19
3 information, as well as media diversity, the importance of linguistic diversity, and the vitality of cultures, including that of minorities and indigenous peoples, as manifested in their freedom to create, disseminate and distribute their traditional cultural expressions and to have access thereto, so as to benefit them for their own development. Poland ratified the Convention in 2007. Nine years later the need for publicity and the mobilisation of interested parties remains particularly important to the development of the audiovisual sector, cultural industries, as well as national cultural policy. One must admit that the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is a long-term process, where it happens that the principles of the Convention,( as formulated in article 2 ); are misunderstood by governments and certain milieus all the more so, seeing how this process requires the breaking down of stereotypes, related to the promotion of national culture, and a simultaneous acceptance and promotion of cultural diversity. In accordance with the Convention (Articles 6-8 ) and the requirements of the respective legal regulations as adopted by individual States Parties, the conservation and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions includes: the creation, production, dissemination, distribution of cultural goods and cultural services and benefits therefrom, the development of cultural industries, the exchange and free flow of ideas and cultural expressions; the encouragement of creativity and entrepreneurship, associated closely with the promotion of artists; respect for intellectual property rights and copyright laws; promoting diversity in the media; equalizing opportunities and assuring access to culture for women, minorities and various social groups, and access to various forms of cultural expressions from other countries. The Convention (Article 7 ), requires States to enable various social groups to create, produce, disseminate, distribute and have access to the diversity of cultural expressions. The inclusion of culture in development policy is an essential element in the strategic planning and implementation of sustainable development. The participation of civil society is an essential element in the creation and 20
4 implementation of development policy,( which as referred to in Article 11) - is culture-driven. To ensure the participation of culture in the identity-building process, both at national and local levels, whilst recognizing the importance of education in the spirit of tolerance and acceptance of cultural identity, requires an input by the State. Thus (Article 10 ), requires states to set up appropriate education and training programmes for teachers, in the creative professions, including both formal artistic education and training, as well as teaching systems in the field of cultural industries, and the creation of conditions for their exchange. The conditions for understanding diversity are forged to a great extent by arts education. Supporting creativity is a prerequisite for the creation and development of basic values in art and culture, whilst vital to the implementation of this objective is art education in schools, including adult and social education, both formal and informal. According to research conducted by UNESCO the knowledge of and participation in the artistic process together with an awareness of one s own culture, shapes the need for creativity, sense of initiative, stimulates the imagination, emotional intelligence, the ability to critically reflect and give moral compass and sense of independence, freedom of thought and action. A list of artistic domains which should be taken into consideration in the educational processes was establihsed in Lisbon in 2006. These include, performing arts (dance, theater, music, etc.), literature, poetry, crafts, design, computer art, the art of narrative, heritage, visual arts and film, media art and photography. Arts education, based on the above-mentioned fields of culture, can help maintain a balance between the emotional and cognitive development of a human, contributing to the building of peace and order. It also affects the ability to explore the diversity of cultural expressions and artistic and cultural practices. This has a strong influence on the sense of one s separateness and of individual communities and thus promotes the development of awareness of who I am and respect for the differences of others. 21
5 The learning process should take into account the assimilation of skills such as: understanding of the interdependence between individuals and nations, and the ability to interact and cooperate with people of other cultures. Second World Conference on Arts Education was held in 2010 in Seoul. The document published after confirmed that arts education is an essential measure for the harmonious cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and social development of children and adolescents. It stressed the importance of education taking into account the artistic education as "the principal means of supporting creativity. Full implementation of the 2005 Convention requires a continuous effort to find answers to newly emerging challenges, linked, among others, to the development of new communication technologies. The most important and increasingly vital conclusion however remains that in today s world there is no development without creativity, born of a dialogue and respect for cultural diversity and freedom of expression. The comprehension of diversity and freedom of expression depends on appropriate education that encompasses arts education and media education. Sławomir Ratajski 22
Draft statement for European Music Forum Background: During the Ottoman Empire (1300 1920) there was no problem. The empire was established on a multi national/cultural basis. What the system expected form units, was to pay taxes on regular times and submit armed forces when needed. The drastic change came after the republic (1923). The newborn republic s intention was to build a new society a new individual- with a new ideology: One State, one language, one history, one culture; denying the diversity. Those steps were taken: 1. To cut the ropes with the past. Religious organizations were banned, centers closed. Latin alphabet accepted. New genres were not able to read anything in Arabic letters. The classical Turkish Music (A la Turca) was also banned officially (Between November 1934 and September 1936, nearly two years) 2. Unification of folk music New cadres were active in travelling all around the country collecting the folk songs Thus, an official repertoire was established, folk music works were registered. But parallel to official ideology, everything was registered as Turkish folk music. Turkish lyrics were created for traditional Kurdish, Armenian, Greek or Laz songs. All traditional songs were interpreted by a group of ONE instrument: Baglama. 3. Ban on all other languages, music forms The State Monopoly TRT (Turkish Radio-TV) banned all different music types. Even using Bouzouki was banned. (Also banned by the Greek Junta) But the most intensive ban was on Kurdish songs. Lasted for many years. Because, even the existence of such a language was denied by the state. Nowadays We cannot say that such restrictions continue. Yet, both the legislation and practice shows that the State can turn back to old practice. Especially Kurdish musicians can be subjected to oppression any time. Kurdish or Turkish, musicians can be oppressed when they oppose the establishment. Attila Özdemiroğlu case: Composer Özdemiroğlu s crime was to prove that the dialog between Erdogan and his son Bilal which was recorded illegally and publicized on the Internet was not a montage but real. On this telephone conversation, Erdoğan was warning his son about the probable police raid and asking him to evacuate the cash money at home. Özdemiroğlu sent the recordings to serious experts in USA and received reports. Then he explained the fact on TV channels. He was not arrested and tried but almost all his copyright incomes were cut. (His musicals performed in State theaters were stopped, although all performances were successfully going on, always sold out) Where is the zoo, where have all the animals gone? It has nothing to do with music, but this absurd event can give an idea what sort of threats are awaiting people in Turkey today, of course including artists, musicians. In Ankara, once there was a zoo, in the area of Atatürk Forest Farm. A great part of this farm is illegally- occupied and the new President Palace was built there, despite many court decisions. A man, went the Farm with his wife and children to visit the Zoo, but it was not there, were it once was. He asked the policemen at the gate of the President Palace: There was a zoo and animals here, where have they gone? Policemen were angry: What do you mean? This is an insult to the President. They took him into custody. And worse, the judge arrested him 23
Beyond the refugees trend, a shared responsibility By Marie Le Sourd, Secretary General, On the Move Special thanks to Elena Di Federico, Project Manager Research and Publications, IETM On the Move is the cultural mobility information network active in Europe and worldwide. Our main mission is to share information about mobility opportunities and funding for artists and cultural professionals. More than 800 calls and about 1,500 regular funding schemes are listed and/or signposted on our website every year. Based on my experience working at On the Move, I would like to share three main comments about how the arts and cultural sector can help to integrate refugees. 1. A new trend? Every year, depending on some contexts and policy orientations, there seems to be a form of trend related to funding allocation be it at the levels of EU, national, regional, public and/or private bodies. Past years have seen topics such as 'art and urban regeneration', 'art/cultural practices and environmental challenges' and of course 'innovation' related topics being stringed to funding lines. This year, the term of 'refugees' has come increasingly as THE topic of the year both in terms of funding opportunities and meetings' subjects. We can of course see this trend as a positive one: considering the urgency of the situation, funding bodies - and even the most bureaucratic ones - can still adapt and embed in their guidelines new criteria to consider how arts and culture can contribute to refugees' integration. We can also see that the arts and cultural sector is caring for the others and that they want to do something valuable. However how many of these funding opportunities will directly go to associations and organisations deeply involved in the refugees' issues, and for many of them for a long time? Will this 'refugees' funding trend not become for some organisations just another opportunity to get additional funding? What about long-term funding and support, which is crucial to ensure that projects are indeed effective (since integration doesn't happen overnight, and not even in a generation)? Beyond the question of funding, we can also ask ourselves about the visibility of meaningful initiatives, the fact that small-scale organisations which are very active on the ground often have very little resources to devote to communication - and subsequently, however valid and successful, won't have the visibility they would deserve on social networks, websites etc. 2. Artists / cultural professionals as artists: Beyond the crucial question of integration of refugees through arts and culture related projects and initiatives, lies also the question of integration of refugees who are professional artists (individuals or as groups). Some organisations or individuals in various countries are already helping on an informal basis some refugee artists while activating their professional networks. Migrant-artists' communities can also help the freshly arrived refugees to connect them to some local networks of cultural organisations, universities, art centres etc. Other organisations are disseminating information to help refugees like the very good German touring artists' website and their section 'Refugees welcome' (both in German and English) or trying to link refugee artists with professional artists and organisations, like ONDA in France. In this context, how can we also connect (and support) better organisations and networks dealing with artists at risk for many years such as ICORN, PEN international, Freemuse etc.? 1 3. The need to connect initiatives: Various initiatives in the arts and cultural sector - and of course in the field of music as we saw in this panel- are happening in many places but are not necessarily visible. We - as organisations, networks, individuals - need to identify, share and/or connect them better at various levels, from funders, policy makers to the sector. Special issue like the EMC 1 See also the list compiled by International Theatre Institute-Germany, Action Committee for Artists Rights 24
magazine, Sounds in Europe, on migrations and music, the IETM publication Creation and Displacement: Developing new narratives around migration, the ULCG-Agenda21 for Culture publication 'Cities, refugees and culture', the NEMO publication "Museums, migration and cultural diversity Recommendations for museum work on and others need to be further spread. This is also our responsibility to make the refugees question more than a trend and to continue to share, do and encourage the funding and the long-term support of such initiatives particularly those which are less visible but deeply rooted in reality. 25
PRESENTATION MADE AT THE 6 TH EUROPEAN FORUM ON MUSIC WROCLAW, POLAND / 19 22 MAY 2016 MUSIC MAKES A DIFFERENCE: WORKING WITH REFUGEES SARAH HICKSON THE CALAIS SESSIONS Hello everyone. My name is Sarah Hickson and I m delighted to be here to talk about The Calais Sessions. I m a freelance photographer and arts consultant with a background in the performing arts as a producer in both large institutions and small artist-led companies. I now concentrate mostly on my photographic work, the main focus of which is in the arts and cultural sector. Since December 2015 I ve been involved as a photographer on a collaborative music-based project called The Calais Sessions in the refugee camps in Northern France. You may have already seen the article about this initiative and some of my photographs in the magazine in your conference pack. I ve travelled on three separate visits to the camp in Calais known as the Jungle to document the work of The Calais Sessions and to tell visual stories about the project and the people involved. The Calais Sessions is a collective of musicians and music industry professionals from the UK who use the universal language of music to empower and entertain refugees in the Jungle by facilitating a shared space for making music. 26
The project was set up by Vanessa Lucas-Smith, the cellist from the Allegri String Quartet and a brilliant creative entrepreneur. The Calais Sessions is a grass-roots organization with very little funding. Some money has been raised through crowd funding and donations, but the trips are run on as small a budget as possible, with those involved giving voluntarily of their time. We go to Calais for short trips of 2-3 days at a time about once every 4-6 weeks, depending largely on the availability of those involved who fit the visits around their professional commitments. The team travels with a colourful array of instruments and sound gear. Darbuka drums and guitars are particularly popular calling cards and as we wander through the camp we connect with musicians, hear their stories and see where there are opportunities to collaborate. We set up a makeshift recording studio in which to capture tracks, as well as an informal space for performing. Both spaces are set up by experienced sound engineers who have to contend with the noise of a chugging generator outside the door, heavy-duty tarpaulins flapping in the wind and often the patter of rain on a corrugated plastic roof. Despite all these distractions, for a few hours the universal language of music connects, builds friendships, and provides some respite from the harsh reality of daily life in the Jungle. The UK-based musicians who are involved with The Calais Sessions come from many different cultural and musical backgrounds. Examples of musicians who have joined The Calais Sessions include Bogdan - a Romanian violinist, members of the Balkan, folk-inspired dance band Molotov Jukebox led by Natalia (who is perhaps better known to many people from her roles in Harry Potter films and Game of Thrones ), members of the UK Gospel Choir called Get Gospel, an Arabic flautist and 27
percussionist from Syria, a classically trained viola player and composer, Sola Akingbola a Nigerian percussionist & member of the band Jamiroquai and his own collective Critical Mass, a Spanish guitar and vocal duo, a Kurdish singer, singersongwriters, folk, jazz and rock guitarists and bass players. Musicians currently living in the Jungle who have played with The Calais Sessions include traditional singers from Kuwait and Syria, a dambura player from Afghanistan, Sudanese drummers, women singers from the Ethiopian & Eritrean Protestant church, Kurdish percussionists, an Iraqi rapper, and many budding guitarists and drummers. Some of the tracks made with The Calais Sessions have been recorded in the Jungle for an album, which is to be released next month. Tracks include traditional songs from Syria, pop tracks from Afghanistan, Sudanese drumming, a re-working of a Bollywood inspired classic, American folk tunes, gospel songs and Eritrean hymns of praise. The unifying factor that brings all these artists together wherever they come from is a musical passion, curiosity and imagination. 28
Photo: DSC_9581 Sarah Hickson The simple wooden shelter The Calais Sessions use as a makeshift recording studio is normally a designated space for language lessons or other classes. When it s not being used for teaching, it s a reading room, or a warm and dry space to sit, chat, and just hang out. The arrival of musicians and instruments in the Jungle always attracts a crowd, and so the studio becomes an informal meeting place for many different people, languages and cultures. 29
Photo: DSC_0704 Sarah Hickson Abdullah is a Kuwaiti Bedoon. The Bedoon have no passports, and no right to education, health care, housing or work, and are often marginalized and persecuted. The generosity with which Abdullah shared his music and stories, and the beauty of his singing was one of many memorable experiences on my first trip with The Calais Sessions. 30
Photo: DSC_0827 Sarah Hickson In the shelter next to the Kabul Café in what used to be the heart of the Southern area of the camp before it was bulldozed earlier this year, traditional fabrics lined the walls and ceilings, and rugs covered the seating area around the edge of the room. Cigarette smoke hung in the air. Urged on by the clapping and drumming, young men got up to dance, whilst others joined in the singing. The faces of these young men, stranded in Calais, lit up. 31
Photo: DSC_7174 Sarah Hickson Ismail is from Afghanistan. He s an accomplished singer, and plays the dambora, a traditional, two-stringed, long-necked lute. Ismail told us through an interpreter the harrowing story of why he fled Afghanistan with his wife and children. He rolled up his right sleeve to reveal burn scars, explaining that the Taliban plunged his arm into scalding water to prevent him from playing. He also showed us a gunshot wound to his stomach. As he recorded in the makeshift studio in the Calais Jungle, Ismail was completely immersed in the music animated and exuberant one moment, reflective and absorbed the next. 32
Photo: DSC_4346 Sarah Hickson David Wilson, who was involved in setting up the Pavarotti Centre in Bosnia 20 years ago, came to the Jungle with The Calais Sessions last month. Here I photographed him and an Ethiopian man called Assi quietly exchanging musical skills. David taught Assi the chords of C, G, A and F, after which Assi showed David how to play Ethiopian pentatonic scales. 33
Photo: DSC_0780 Sarah Hickson The environment of the camps is fragile and volatile - the constant movement of displaced peoples, the insecurity of life in the camp, the uncertainty of the future of the camp itself, the lack of resources and basic facilities, not to mention the extremely anxious state of mind of many of the people living at the camp, not knowing what lies ahead for themselves and their families. In winter it was particularly inhospitable, the main road through the camp was thick with grey, sticky mud and deep puddles. What always strikes me about this project is that it focuses on connection rather than difference. The stories about the refugee crisis we see in the media have a tendency to emphasise the other, the sense of us and them. The Calais Sessions facilitates meaningful and beautiful exchanges through music, friendship and shared moments of creativity. The strength of the human spirit and the need to connect shines through in the toughest of circumstances. 34
I ll leave you with just a few other images: The outside of The Calais Sessions makeshift recording studio: Photo: DSC_9885 Sarah Hickson Portrait of Sudanese guitarist during The Calais Sessions workshop: Photo: DSC_4326 Sarah Hickson 35
Musicians from The Calais Sessions walking through the Jungle Photo: DSC_9149 Sarah Hickson Musician dancing with guitar during The Calais Sessions workshop Photo: DSC_9673 Sarah Hickson 36