EU Culture Forum/Brussels, 29-30 sept

A week ago some 950 people representing the cultural sector gathered in Brussels for the second EU Culture Forum, called by the DG Education and Culture. It was a huge event, taking place at Flagey, the newly launched European House of Culture. A great place for such gatherings, with a number of meeting rooms, screening rooms and a huge concert/plenary room with space for everyone.

The objective was to carry forward the EU Agenda for Culture which was launched already 2007. A kind of station along the way to evaluate how things move forward. As a political event it surely filled its purpose. Member States sent delegations, cultural operators and advocacy organisations mobilized (like Culture Action Europe, the primary network for European cultural policy in the civil sector) and the discussions were lively during the coffee breaks, lunches Flash Info sessions organised as a kind of Agora in the framework of the Forum.

I was present as "grand rapporteur" for one of three themes: intercultural dialogue.

Unfortunately the messages sent by our political leaders were rather weak. Commissioner Jan Figel - who practically the same day left his position while the new Commissioner for Culture and Education has not yet been decided - was present. He said the obligatory words and referred to developments during his period as Commissioner. European Parliamentary leaders Hans-Gert Pöttering and Doris Pack underlined Culture as a necessary area for EU engagement and focused mostly on the instrumental aspects: intercultural dialogue, security, external relations etc. But the words seemed pretty much like fast flying birds - they flew past us with too little substance and no promises of increased resources. Business as usual.

What is most frustrating is that there doesn't seem to be any sincerely engaged EU parliamentarians who see themselves as cultural politicians. The same is true in most EU Member States, Sweden included. Where is that combination of competence and engagement that can make the cultural factor a serious pat of any political vision?

I did not once hear a reference to migration as a major factor in the transformation of our cultural landscape. The diversity of the European urban centers was not dealt with directly. This is either naïve or an intentional avoidance of a potentially uncomfortable theme. Europe is enriched by the diversity of its citizens, including those who were not born here. Concrete preventative action must be taken to reduce the tensions caused by the flow of peoples. Cultural action is essential in this work.

As a colleague from Culture Action Europe put it: “It is time to put our money where our hearts are …”.

The European project, as imagined in its most complementary and constructive form, has been stumbling for far too long. Without serious engagement in cultural action - as a sustainable alternative to introversion, populism and even military action – there will be no European project.

Less than ½ of one percent of the total EU budget towards Culture is not enough to do this job.

In 2009 and far beyond, we need to incite the innovative capacity of an entire continent, facing challenges we don’t even know yet exist and can hardly imagine. It is, in fact, time to put our money where our hearts are. And our hearts back into our work.