DG/2004/73 Original: French UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the occasion of the meeting of the First Iraqi Cultural Forum UNESCO, 26 May 2004
DG/2004/73 Minister, Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you here to UNESCO on the occasion of the First Iraqi Cultural Forum. It is being held immediately after the first meeting of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of Iraqi Cultural Heritage (ICC) and I hope it will complement the very fruitful discussion that took place yesterday and the day before yesterday and thus provide an overall framework for reflection that can accompany the Iraqi government in its cultural projects. The work of the Committee, composed of 25 international experts appointed in their personal capacity, three of them being Iraqis, concluded yesterday with the formulation of important recommendations that we have distributed to you this morning. The recommendations concern the institutional reform of the Ministry of Culture, in particular building its human and structural capacities; the revision and modernization of national legislation affecting the heritage as a whole; the establishment of action plans for museums, historic monuments, libraries and archives and archaeological sites, and lastly, the definition of a strategy concerning the intangible cultural heritage. At this point I must thank sincerely the Minister of Culture for having agreed to chair the Committee s proceedings; he has thus shown once more his unfailing commitment to the culture of his country and his desire to work closely with UNESCO. It is the third time in the six months that we have had the honour of welcoming here to UNESCO Headquarters and we are most pleased to have done so. I would also like to thank more particularly His Excellency Sheikh Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber, founder of the MBI Foundation and MBI International Group, whose generous support made possible the participation of many of you. I would also like to pay tribute to the artists and intellectuals of Iraq and the Iraqi diaspora who are present today, thus showing how important they consider culture to be in the process of the reconstruction of Iraq. I would lastly like to thank the various international experts who have kindly agreed to work with this Forum by contributing their specific outlook and particular expertise. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, Although UNESCO s action for the preservation of the Iraqi cultural heritage goes back several decades, the idea of launching the first Iraqi Cultural Forum dates from autumn 2003. I had the honour, Minister, of welcoming you at a meeting held in parallel to the 32nd session of the General Conference during which we discussed a number of issues regarding Iraq s culture, which included the need to elaborate a global cultural strategy. The idea then emerged of holding an initial meeting with Iraqi intellectuals and artists from Iraq and the Iraqi diaspora to debate the situation of culture in Iraq, and to start preparations of a national action plan enabling a holistic
DG/2004/73 page 2 vision of culture to be developed. These then were the circumstances in which I decided, at your request, Minister, to convene this meeting. It is the start of work together that I hope will be long and productive and, as we have said recently, it should be continued with a larger-scale meeting in Baghdad which many Iraqi intellectuals and artists could attend. As I said at the opening of the proceedings of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of Iraqi Cultural Heritage, the challenge represented by culture to Iraq is both immense and vital. Enabling the Iraqi people to recover their cultural roots means enabling it to imagine its own future, made of continuity and rupture, tradition and invention, according to its own development plans. Culture thus becomes the instrument for emancipation towards a pluralist and democratic society. It is strengthened by this conviction that we have appealed unceasingly for culture to be integrated in the emergency plans developed by the international community for countries in postconflict situation in the same way as security, education and health measures. In the framework of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) we have insisted that culture should form part of the emergency measures and be integrated in the global strategic plan of the UNESCO for assistance to Iraq. It is a source of genuine satisfaction for us all to observe that we have been heard. For the first time, the cultural component forms part of the short- and medium-term strategies for the reconstruction of Iraq, and I am sure that everybody here is delighted about that. We must now give substance to this victory. And that is the purpose of this meeting. Cultural policy, when it is based on listening to the genuine aspirations of a people and incorporates notions of diversity and pluralism is a basic element of reconstruction for a state and society. The product of the aspirations and values of a community, it is a framework for living together and living with the rest of the world. It can then only be usefully developed as part of a democratic debate which I invite you to initiate in this room and to continue beyond it. You know that the values and aspirations of the Iraqi people should now be recorded and even recast, the forces of creativity released and identities re-appropriated. This means reinventing, as it were, these shared values, taking account of Iraq s remarkable past, recent vicissitudes, and aspirations, with due regard for the principles enshrined in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It will also mean being prepared to build new institutions which will themselves take part in the reconstruction of the social fabric. In order to do, ladies and gentlemen, we must bear in mind the exceptional cultural wealth of Iraq, a land where many communities have come together, at the origin of the first cities and the first forms of social organization, the source of the Codes of Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi, the meeting ground of Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Parthians, Persians and Arabs. From the ninth century to the twelfth century, Baghdad was a cultural centre of world import, disseminating by means of translations into Arabic of Greek and Roman works a body of knowledge that was at that time in danger of being lost for ever. Later, on contact with the West, Baghdad became one of the capitals of modern Arab culture. The influence and wealth of ancient Iraq could constitute the main theme in laying the foundations of a national cultural policy. This wealth, however, lies not so much in its past influence as in the various living cultural expressions and forms which are constantly evolving and
DG/2004/73 page 3 have survived in Iraq. This heritage has the vulnerability of the living, endlessly renewed and perpetuated by the men and women who are the real depositories and guarantors of these cultural traditions, but who are also the first victims of conflict and authoritarian regimes. They may nevertheless prove to be frontline artisans of reconciliation when the heritage they convey is highlighted appropriately. Beyond the rediscovery of national unity and identity, actions to safeguard the Iraqi intangible heritage could, I am sure, contribute to reasserting the cultural identity of the different communities present and bringing them closer together whilst maintaining the rich cultural diversity of Iraq. In this context, I am particularly pleased that the Iraqi Maqam, that important tradition of Iraqi classical music was proclaimed a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO at the second such Proclamation in November 2003. Despite the trials and ravages caused by an authoritarian regime and armed conflict, this cultural expression has survived in the furthest reaches of the Iraqi soul. The proclamation coincided with the adoption of the new UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, marking a major step forward in its longstanding efforts for such a vulnerable heritage. I think it essential that in your attempts to formulate a cultural policy for Iraq, you do not neglect the intangible aspect which, in my opinion, is indispensable. As for myself, I hope that Iraq will not delay in joining the States Parties to the new UNESCO Convention which will enter into force when ratified by 30 countries. In addition to this great historic wealth, other aspects of Iraqi culture might be subject to your reflection, including the issue of Iraqi artists and intellectuals in exile or in the diaspora, represented here by a number of participants. The potential for regenerating the life of all communities on the basis of Iraq s cultural heritage and contemporary creativity is immense but remains fragile. Any progress requires commitment, constant determination and patience because the forces of the country have been unable to express themselves freely for decades. Today what matters is allowing all elements of society, all groups and all sensibilities to speak out so as to lay the foundations of a policy that respects the country s rich cultural diversity. Culture, as we all know, conveys both the hopes and fears of an entire society; it cannot be alienated to the advantage of a dominant group and must reflect everyone s expectations and aspirations to be included in building a better future. Seen in this way, culture cannot be confiscated and instrumentalized by an authority, be it political or religious. Just as there can be no right to veto over a cultural expression, so there can be no privilege of providing support for a cultural expression to the detriment of others. Culture, because it belongs to all and to each of us, is then free to claim various allegiances, free to enrich cultural life, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, age, language or faith. Cultural life in this way is not confined to access to artistic expressions and festivities: it also includes access to public debate and to objective information guaranteed by media pluralism. We are also well aware that culture is renewed through individual and collective creativity. It is through this facility of creation that people can see that they are freer and can imagine and build their own future. Examples abound of the impatience of peoples to regain their music, songs, images and generate new ones. We can easily assess the importance for film-makers who rally to make the opening of a cinema possible, the gestures of solidarity to enable the resumption of
DG/2004/73 page 4 publishing, whether of books, whose significance remains primordial, learning to read for the discovery of all sorts of knowledge and the opening up of thought, or of records, CDs and DVDs. Furthermore, in the field of crafts, I would like to confirm our readiness to provide technical assistance in the establishment of crafts centres around some archaeological sites, both for the development of cultural tourism and for job creation. Since it involves restoring a living economy in the midst of living cultures, global development comes through enhancing the potential of cultural industries and crafts. The time has come to think of this. Lastly, there is great interest in training for artists and arts education for children and adolescents. We know the extent to which you are already aware of this. Art is seen here as a regenerating means of transmission for communities marked by conflict and deprivation of freedom, which acts on the emotional level as much as that of the symbolic representation of individuals, particularly in the post-conflict phase. In short, whether regarding commitments to pluralism and cultural rights, the safeguarding of the cultural heritage in the service of development, the promotion of the arts, creativity and cultural industries and the protection of artists, the participation of young people in cultural life, improving research and international cooperation, mobilizing resources for cultural activities, and the role of the media and new technologies in cultural policy, the work ahead is exciting. I invite you over these two days to lay down markers for a new cultural policy for Iraq, with a view to reaching an agreement on the main guidelines that could be the foundation for a fullyfledged cultural charter. The charter should address culture as a whole, whose various components echo each other, and should constitute an active commitment to this holistic vision of culture. I would like to assure you that UNESCO will remain at the side of the Iraqi people to support it in defining a national strategy on culture, the guarantee of a fertile exchange among all stakeholders in respect for cultural diversity. I am convinced that this initial meeting, which will be followed in the autumn in Baghdad by a meeting extended to include a greater number of Iraqi participants, will help bring us closer to this objective. It will be the occasion, I hope, for the endorsement of the preliminary outline of the charter you will produce over these two days, whilst exploring further the various segments in which efforts must be made, thus enabling the formulation of a genuine cultural strategy at the national level. I remain firmly persuaded, as I have said so often in the recent months, that culture will not wait and that if Iraq wishes to give itself every opportunity to reconcile past, present and future, and take a decisive step towards its reconstruction, it must treat culture as an urgent matter in the same way as it treats humanitarian assistance and health and education needs. I know the extent to which you share this conviction, Minister. That is why I would like to wish you every success in your work.