Culture

The Foundation's activities in this thematic area are primarily based on the recognition of the importance of cultural ties between the societies of both regions in bi-regional declarations. The 2015 EU-CELAC Brussels Declaration, for example, called on the Foundation to foster cultural cooperation between the two regions (paragraph 74), while, in the 2018 EU-CELAC Ministerial Declaration, senior officials from both regions were tasked to carry out "consultations with relevant partners on the role of culture and creative sectors in the bi-regional relationship" (paragraph 38).

Secondly, based on this mandate, two events organised by the Foundation in Lisbon and Genoa and subsequently in digital format through a webinar have highlighted the importance of generating proposals and recommendations between experts, cultural managers and CELAC-EU officials, from which the Foundation has focused on specific areas such as intangible cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries, as well as the role of cultural diplomacy and cultural institutions in raising awareness on global issues and promoting the principles and values of the bi-regional partnership.

In this spirit, the Foundation proposes, by 2022, to bring together actors from different areas of knowledge, government and civil society, to help reactivate ties that had been deactivated by the pandemic, and to involve them in an initiative to articulate around a Renewed Common Narrative on the value of EU-LAC relations that goes beyond the shared values and history between the regions and that highlights the relevance of the positive agenda of this relationship in the face of a changing dynamic of international relations.

Similarly, the Foundation will extend in 2022 its cooperation in cultural matters with other entities with high visibility and expertise in the field in both regions and actively involve them in issues such as heritage and cultural routes, cultural identities and expressions of contemporary bi-regional diasporas and the transfer of knowledge and good practices for creators, artists and cultural managers regarding new digital competencies, - also to reactivate cultural cooperation links between the two regions which, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, have been weakened.

Culture Forum in Lisbon (March 2019)