CULTURAL RIGHTS & THE 2005 UNESCO CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS By Ole Reitov Member of the EU/UNESCO Expert Facility on the Governance of Culture for the implementation of the 2005 Convention Why should artists and cultural operators take an interest in UN conventions? The simple answer is: because conventions are instruments that make governments accountable. They provide frameworks for cultural policies and inclusion of civil society. In this chapter we will particularly focus on the UNESCO 2005 Convention as the main objective is to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions. The Convention recognizes the “sovereign right of States to maintain, adopt and implement policies to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expression, both nationally and internationally (and) supports governments and civil society in finding policy solutions for emerging challenges.” 4 To cut a very long – and sometimes complicated – story short, States are allowed to financially support cultural expressions and cultural institutions without violating international trade agreements. Thus, the states can fund and co-fund film, music, theatre, and literary productions without violating international trade agreements. This ensures – in principle – that even small countries can produce artistic productions in their own languages and cultural and social contexts independently of market mechanisms. The Convention, ratified by 150 countries and the EU defines cultural diversity as “the manifold ways in which the cultures of groups and societies find expression. These expressions are passed on within and among groups and societies. Cultural diversity is made manifest not only through the varied ways in which the cultural heritage of humanity is expressed, augmented and transmitted through the variety of cultural expressions, but also through diverse modes of artistic creation, production, dissemination, distribution and enjoyment, whatever the means and technologies used.”5 4 5 https://en.unesco.org/creativity/convention Article 4.1. https://en.unesco.org/creativity/sites/creativity/files/passeport-convention2005-web2.pdf 9