CCA Bulletin 06/08
February 29, 2008
Follow-ups to Symposium on the Role of the Arts in Public Diplomacy
Just the Facts
The CCA is releasing the summary of proceedings from the Symposium on the Role of the Arts in Public Diplomacy (PDF 874 KB) that was held on November 22, 2007 in Montreal. The background paper prepared by Rachael Maxwell (PDF 552 KB) has also been posted on the CCA website and the recording of the Symposium proceedings is available upon request.
Following the Symposium, the CCA has gathered Canadian and foreign cultural diplomacy experts to form a Steering Committee on the internationalization of Canadian artists, creators and arts professionals. The Committee met recently to consider the next steps that the CCA should take on this issue.
The Board of Governors has already expressed its determination to persevere on this issue in a rigorous and constructive manner. The Steering Committee will be presenting a number of activities and research projects to enable the arts and culture sector to provide a better framework to the debate on the inclusion of the arts in any public diplomacy initiative by the federal government. The CCA Board will be considering an action plan to move this issue forward when it meets in March 2008.
Tell Me More
The Steering Committee* sees the release of the summary of proceedings and the background paper as a framework for further discussion and research on the role of the arts in public diplomacy.
The Steering Committee has identified several key issues that must be addressed in order to elaborate a long-term strategy. They include:
- Why should Canada encourage public diplomacy in the current international environment?
- Why should the arts be part of a national public diplomacy effort?
- Which delivery models are the most effective in attaining our national public diplomacy goals? What can we learn from the experiences of other countries?
- How can we best reconcile foreign policy objectives with cultural objectives?
- What is the best way to achieve coherence among the various federal funding programs that support international activities by Canadian artists, creators and arts professionals?
- Some provincial governments also have developed programs to promote the arts as part of their international outreach. An inventory of these programs is underway.
The CCA will continue to pursue the suggestions put forward by the Steering Committee and work with federal officials and their provincial colleagues to advance our collective understanding of the complex relationships behind current Canadian efforts in this area.
* Members of the Steering Committee are:
Robert Spickler, President of the CCA
Joyce Zemans, Professor at York University
Michael Brock, Retired Diplomat
Jean Fredette, Retired Cultural Attaché
Martin Rose, Director Canada of the British Council and Cultural Attaché to the British High Commission
Aimee Fullman, Project Advisor and Consultant, USA
What Can I Do?
The CCA and the members of the Steering Committee would welcome any input on any provincial programs that support artists, creators and arts professionals in their international outreach.
Any documentation or evaluations of these or any international programs in Canada or abroad would also be most helpful as we develop our research activities in this domain.Please send such material to Guillaume Sirois, Cultural Policy Advisor guillaume.sirois@ccarts.ca . Your help is most appreciated.
Link to the Symposium Website
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