A/76/178 2. Significant constituencies and spaces 52. The relevant work of a range of constituencies central to the Special Rapporteur’s mandate is affected by approaches taken to issues covered in the present report. For example, all artistic creators require the possibility of change and transformation and of relations with others and their creative expressions. Artists, including diverse indigenous artists, have created works involving intercultural collaboration, as well as sensitive and thoughtful cultural mixing or use of hybrid mediums as a conscious artistic form, which has served as a mode of critique, of bringing traditions into contemporary contexts and of socially conscious humour, as well as a demand to challenge two-dimensional depictions. 66 Such borrowing and creativity may be stifled by, for example, galleries having limited views about the cultural horizons available to or authentic for individuals based on their identities. Funding streams may also not be directed in ways that encourage hybrid, intercultural and experimental artistic and cultural practices. A multiplicity of forms of creation and performance should be recognized and supported. 53. The work of cultural rights defenders – defenders of cultural rights in accordance with international standards – is vital in protecting the human rights of persons with mixed identities, collecting histories of cultural mixing and syncretism, preserving sites that reflect these histories and promoting the understanding of rights respecting cultural mixing and mixed cultural identities, past and present (A/HRC/43/50, paras. 11 and 48). For example, the curators at the National Museum of Afghanistan have used displays of historic artefacts of different groups to underscore contemporary questions of ethnic pluralism that are difficult to address directly in a context of extreme violence. 67 The Special Rapporteur was pleased to learn of the concern of some Bosniak cultural rights defenders in Novi Pazar, Serbia, with the preservation of the memory of Jewish heritage in their city, despite the resistance they may encounter in addressing this topic. Such work is sometimes dangerous and may result in attacks against the cultural rights defenders or damage to the cultural objects and sites they work to defend. For example, during her mission to Maldives, the Special Rapporteur was concerned to hear that cultural rights defenders promoting awareness of the pre-Islamic cultural heritage in their country on social media had been subjected to online threats ( A/HRC/43/50/Add.2, para. 40). Those cultural rights defenders involved in the protection of natural heritage and the land and water rights of indigenous peoples that are essential resources for their cultural lives are among the most threatened human rights defenders ( A/HRC/39/17). For example, the Special Rapporteur deplores that, while she was writing the present report, Luis Urbano Dominguez, a 35-year-old Yaqui leader and land and water rights defender, was killed in Mexico. 68 54. Cultural mixing and respect for multiple and mixed identities are critical issues for the protection of diverse women’s equal cultural rights. Conversely, according to UNESCO, “central to the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions is a commitment to gender equality”. 69 Furthermore, “gender equality analyses consistently emphasize women’s diverse identities and related implications ” (A/67/287, para. 12). Essentializing cultures and identities and viewing them as static __________________ 66 67 68 69 21-10019 See, e.g., www.bunkyechohawk.com/; Shaq Koyok, https://shaqkoyok.blogspot.com/ and https://www.friesengallery.com/artists/preston-singletary. Karima Bennoune, Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism (Norton, 2013), p. 73. See also https://asiafoundation.org/2013/01/23/in-conversation-with-afghan-museum-director-omarakhan-masoudi/. See https://news.culturacolectiva.com/mexico/asesinan -luis-urbano-defensor-del-agua-tribuyaqui-en-sonora/. See https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375706, p. 5. 15/22