Cultural Awareness: A 21st Century Agenda

By Peter Musa*

The 21st century has been described by many as the century In which culture shall be at the forefront of human ddevelopment. In this context culture is poised in helping to shape our lives and what we do. HeLena Vaz Da Silva, President and Director General of Centro National de Cultura,Portugal in Discoveries 11, multilingual edition 2000 throws more light on this. "The tendencies are clear. It is clear for example that informatio will be the most transacted good. It is clear that knowledge will be the main source of power. It is clear that environmental awareness will be the mark of the century. Above all, it is clear that culture will be the essential antidote against normalisation global society engenders".

Helena Vaz Da Silva advances her point on the subject, "The tendency is that in the coming years information will reach people whether they do anything for it to happen or not, and access to education will be generalised as the choices it offers multiply. Ecological awareness will also be shared by everybody, who will view it as a question of self-defence.

These objective tendencies, which are foreseeable, can however develop in favour or to the detriment of a better quality life. What will permit people to select the right information or the right training, and, above all, to use one or the other to establish values, aims and ideals, is culture".

It was therefore very symbolic for the World Bank to organise a meeting in Florence under the banner "Culture Counts" in the month of October 1999, a few weeks into the start of the 21st century. The World Bank which for many years never considered culture as an integral part of any meaningful developmental strategy by organising the Florence meeting, served as a big lesson to the numerous nations worldwide who too have for long paid little or no attention to culture. This meeting was also an eye-opener for the hundreds of international and multinational corporations who have also in the past neglected culture or considered culture as a low-keyed issue, of no relevance which did not merit their attention, assistance or funding.

Paving the way for Cultural Awareness, Action and Development:

As the year 2000 draws to an end, the year shall be remembered for the numerous meetings held at the international level touching on culture. The meetings this year are unprecedented with all classes of people involved with cultural issues participating.

Four major events were organised during the course of the year which will no doubt pave the way for cultural awareness, action and development in the 21st century. These are;

1. Meeting of Experts on Cultural Diversity at UNESCO, Paris 21 - 22 September, 2000.

2. International Conference on the Artist, Culture and Globalisation and the International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) founding meeting 24 - 26 September 2000, Santorini, Greece.

3. International Network for Cultural Policy (INCP) fourth annual meeting 27 - 29 September, 2000, Santorini, Greece.

4. The World Summit on the arts and Culture 20 November - 3 December 2000, Ottawa, Canada.

11th December 2000

* The writer participated in the International Conference on the Artist, Culture and Globalisation and in INCD's founding meeting.