Culture and Human Rights
The right to cultural participation: geographical and other peripheries
December 10 and 11, 2020
The Regional Directorate for Culture of Alentejo marks the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights, as it believes it is essential to continue to promote knowledge and the widest dissemination of the first European Human Rights Treaty, signed on 4 November 1950. In 2020 , the leaders of the Council of Europe recall the exceptional conditions in which this important legal instrument for the promotion and protection of human rights was proclaimed, and point out as a challenge in the European space the eventual accession of the European Union to the Convention. In this seminar, we will try to reflect on the role of Culture in what concerns human rights, in a society that is always complex and facing a setback in several countries in Europe and around the world.
Considering, specifically, the right to cultural participation (Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 73 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic), we propose to reflect on the peripheries, geographical and others. This seminar will address issues such as:
- What can be considered center and periphery?
- Are they just geographical concepts?
- What constitutes a barrier to cultural participation?
- What is being done today – on the ground, in Portugal and abroad – to overcome these barriers and create conditions for access to cultural participation? Which cultural policies and cultural and artistic projects are concrete?
On the first day of the seminar (December 10), we will explore these issues with Maria Vlachou from a theoretical point of view, also analysing several case studies. On the second day (December 11), we will be able to listen and debate with three guests with extensive experience in different cultural areas: Joana Villaverde, Maíra Zenum and Maria Simões.
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