[Ecommerce] FYI: U.S. Official Criticizes Proposed Cultural Diversity Convention

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Negotiators are meeting in Paris this month regarding the  Convention
on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic
Expressions.  This below from the State Department 's "Washington
Files" is helpful in understanding where the US stands on the
convention.
Manon

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=3Dwashfile-
english&y=3D2005&m=3DSeptember&x=3D20050928181714eaifas0.3730432&t=3Dlivefe=
eds/w
f-latest.html

28 September 2005
U.S. Official Criticizes Proposed Cultural Diversity Convention

National Endowment for Arts chair says UNESCO effort hampers cultural
exchange

By Michael J. Friedman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) proposed Convention on the Promotion and
Protection of Cultural Diversity could result in possible
restrictions on artistic expression, Dana Gioia, a member of the U.S.
delegation to UNESCO, said September 27.

Gioia, who also heads the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),
offered his remarks at a Washington Foreign Press Center briefing.

The proposed convention would allow states to exempt certain cultural
goods and services from international free-trade protections. The
United States has argued that this measure would exceed UNESCO=92s
authority and that the convention would interferes with the free flow
of ideas.

Gioia argued that culture is formed in the interplay of individuals
and groups, minority groups included, and shaped by many factors,
including language, ethnicity and religion. He described the process
as migratory, dynamic and one that often transcends national boundaries.

The convention, said Gioia, instead defines culture =93entirely in such
economic terms as goods and services,=94 and as a purely national
characteristic.

Such an approach, he suggested, could short-circuit cross-
fertilization between cultures. He offered as one example the Belgian
Gypsy jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Jazz, Gioia said, represents an
American combination of European and African influence that  later
were transformed by European artists like Reinhardt.

These achievements, he argued, could not have occurred had nations
sought to protect their =93national=94 cultures by restricting the open
exchange of cultural expression. Insulating national cultures in this
way, he suggested, does not protect cultural diversity but instead
diminishes it, not least among minority cultures.

Gioia acknowledged that nations have the right to promote their
cultural legacy but not by =93censoring and prohibiting cultural
exchange.=94 =93There is no measure for promotion of cultural diversity
in this document,=94 he said. =93It=92s all about trade protection.=94

In its current form, he added, the convention might allow nations to
cloak cultural or ideological censorship, particularly of minority
groups, under the cover of preserving cultural diversity.

Gioia contrasted this with the relatively decentralized U.S. system
of funding the arts. Even though the NEA is the largest single
funding source, it represents slightly less than 1 percent of total
U.S. nonprofit cultural expenditures.

The United States allows individuals and organizations to deduct the
sums they donate to charitable and arts organizations from their tax
obligations. This, said Gioia, encourages a highly diverse and
dynamic culture as Americans support financially the groups of their
choice, from the most traditional to specialized minority and other
wide-ranging arts organizations.

UNESCO is headquartered in Paris and has 190 member states. The
United States withdrew from UNESCO in 1984, citing poor management
and values opposed to U.S. values, including advocacy by the then
director-general of limitations on a free press. The United States
rejoined the organization in 2003, following a concerted effort to
institute financial and management reform and resumed efforts to
reinforce founding principles, including an emphasis on international
press freedom.

A transcript of the briefing is available on the State Department Web
site.

For additional information, see the U.S. National Endowment for the
Arts Web site, which includes the NEA publication =93How America Funds
the Arts=94 (PDF, 31 pages).

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://
usinfo.state.gov)

************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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