We are just over four months away from the World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mondiacult), a meeting convened by UNESCO that from September 28 to 30 will bring together 190 Ministers of Culture in Mexico to seek to standardize cultural policies that make facing today’s global challenges, as diverse as climate change, the fight against inequalities and even war.
The goal, says Pablo Raphael de la Madrid, general director of Promotion and Cultural Festivals of the Federal Ministry of Culture, is that what was agreed in Mondiacult be translated into a model of cultural policies with a global reach.
Trafficking of cultural property
Headquartered mainly in the Los Pinos Cultural Complex and the National Auditorium, Mondiacult 2022 will have culture for peace, cultural diversity, recognition and defense of collective rights, as well as the fight against illicit trafficking among its thematic axes of cultural property, the latter one of the standard issues of the current administration.
In this regard, the official is asked if this meeting will be an opportunity to finalize agreements with countries whose public policies are hostile to the affront due to the historical illicit traffic and speculation of cultural heritage, such as France, where it has not been possible to put a stop to auctions of archaeological pieces looted from Mexican territory.
“That is the objective”, he confirms, “that Mondiacult’s mandate be a declaration with teeth, that pays in the strengthening of the protection of cultural heritage, especially in the defense against the illicit trafficking of cultural property, and that with that mandate that UNESCO also become an organization with teeth”.
In addition to the national strategy, confirms the official, the Mexican government is adding allies that suffer from the same, such as Italy, Greece, Egypt, Colombia or Peru, to make common fronts that facilitate the position. Likewise, he confirms that bilateral agreements are being worked on with Turkey, Spain, the United States and even the French government: “there have been a series of meetings with high-level institutions and Mexico has insisted with the French authorities on the matter.”
Russia is invited
The impact on cultural heritage due to climate change and war, he affirms, is beginning to emerge as one of the main axes of Mondiacult, “whose objective, in addition to the final declaration, will be to come out with several mandates that allow the generation of instruments that Help me work on the matter.”
For this reason, Raphael is asked if it is possible to confirm the presence of the ministers of the now antagonistic Russia and Ukraine at the tables of Mondiacult next September.
“The conference is a Type 2 event and Mexico, as the host, adheres to the UNESCO rules, but no country is banned from coming. It is an open invitation to talk about culture and all member countries are included. UNESCO has already issued the invitation and the welcome letter from Secretary Alejandra Frausto will soon follow. From our position, culture prevails over conflict”.
It also confirms that countries that do not belong to UNESCO are expected to travel but may serve as observers, such as Israel and the United States, which renounced their affiliation in January 2019.
crossing agendas
From December 2021 to last February, five regional consultations were organized for the World Conference on Cultural Policies to identify the specific priorities of each region in cultural matters and bring them to the meeting. At the meeting of Latin America and the Caribbean, headed by Alejandra Frausto, the member countries agreed on the need to address the publishing situation in the region. In this vein, the meeting of ministers will coincide with the agenda of Guadalajara, World Book Capital.
In this regard, Pablo Raphael declares: “we are working with the government of Jalisco. One of the 23 international forums that we are going to organize will be in the context of the World Book Capital and will be related to the publishing industry, the promotion of reading and publishing policies, in Guadalajara. It is organized by the State Ministry of Culture itself in collaboration with us. The idea is that editorial policy be added to the agenda of the Conference itself.
“Mexico will make clear its promotion policy of the reading clubs carried out by the General Directorate of Publications in collaboration with the Fund for Economic Culture. Although the process of reflection should be broader, it has to do with the distribution mechanisms of the books that are published in the region, the possibility of new digital processes and the challenges that exist in terms of translation”, he concludes.
Brief history of international agreements
1982 – First World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mondiacult), in Mexico.
1988 – UNESCO declares the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988 -1997).
1998 – Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development in Stockholm, Sweden.
2001 – The Member States of UNESCO sign the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.
2001 – Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
2003 – Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
2003 – UNESCO Declaration on the Destruction of Cultural Heritage.
2005 – Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
2015 – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is issued.