A/HRC/58/60/Add.1
65.
The fact that many memorialization initiatives have emerged from the families of
victims or from groups such as migrants is an excellent dynamic that should be welcomed by
the authorities. But civil society groups cannot substitute for the responsibility of the State.
The continuous preservation of the memorial process, the necessary legal and archiving
expertise, and the safeguarding and conservation of memorial assets must be publicly
guaranteed, among other things, to prevent negationism. The right balance must be struck
between bottom-up, civil society initiatives and active memorial policies from the authorities.
Victims of human rights violations, and the inhabitants of Chile in general, have a right to
know about their past and share their history.
3.
Access to and participation in arts and cultural spaces
66.
The right to take part in cultural life implies real opportunities to access and enjoy
cultural spaces. Artistic and cultural spaces have reportedly been reduced to commodities or
touristic attractions, with very little support from the public authorities to ensure theses spaces
are accessible and affordable for all. The fact that cultural activities are expensive excludes
a large part of the population from accessing and enjoying them on a regular basis. It also
perpetuates the impression that arts and cultural activities are only for the elite, not for all.
With limited public funding, theatres, cinemas and cultural centres only survive where there
is enough critical mass to sustain their existence, as in big cities like Santiago, where most of
the cultural offerings are concentrated in five communes. Meanwhile, most of the country is
left without active spaces to create, develop, enjoy and transmit artistic and cultural practices.
Most theatres and cultural centres that are not supported do not have the personnel or
equipment to keep the spaces going, with the exception of a few private or locally supported
spaces.
67.
Concerns were raised multiple times about the scarcity of information on cultural
offerings,14 including musical offerings, as well as the lack of diversity and interculturality
in the content proposed by most cultural institutions. The need for public media to embrace
its mission to disseminate information that reflects the full diversity of national works was
expressed. The unavailability of public transportation options in the capital was mentioned
as an additional obstacle.
68.
Beyond the material obstacles, the fact that arts and cultural activities are peripheral
in education deprives many of the opportunity to be introduced to and develop a relationship
with the arts in their various forms. This is fundamental to developing the full potential of all
individuals, or as one person told the Special Rapporteur, art is part of everyone and a means
for transformation and social change.
69.
There is a pressing need for cultural mediation, through spaces that respect, welcome
and encourage the artistic desires and capacities of each person and provide conditions for
individuals and communities to be subjects of their own artistic rights, and not mere
consumers and spectators of the works of others. There must be more trust on the part of the
authorities that Chileans across the country have something to say and can contribute to
artistic and cultural life.
70.
Cultural policies should strengthen the overall ecosystem of cultural actors and
organizations to involve more of the existing cultural centres, libraries and artistic spaces,
from the north to the south. This ecosystem should include all the professions and crafts that
make cultural works possible, to create dynamics and foster complementarities so that all
Chileans may enjoy cultural and artistic creations.
4.
Embracing diversity and interculturality
71.
It has long been established that cultural rights and cultural diversity are mutually
reinforcing, and that the exercise of any human right or cultural diversity may not be invoked
to infringe upon human rights guaranteed by international law or to limit their scope. These
principles guard against relativist attempts to use what are claimed to be cultural, religious
14
GE.25-01340
Despite the existence of a site aiming to gather information about all cultural offerings
(chilecultura.gob.cl).
13