The EU-LAC Foundation, with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture of Portugal, the support of the European Union and in collaboration with the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), the Institute for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (IPDAL) and the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), organized on March 25th and 26th the Forum "Proposals and Recommendations for EU-LAC Cultural Initiatives", in the presence of prominent cultural operators and experts from both regions. Among them, personalities such as Ana Tomé, President of the Reina Sofia Museum Foundation, Susana Molina, Director of the San Antonio de los Baños Film and Television School, Natalie Urquhart, President of the Caribbean Museums Association, Philippe Kern, Founder and Director of KEA European Affairs, Milena Sandler, General Director of the Pap Jazz Festival of Haiti, as well as representatives of several Portuguese institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the National Museum of Archaeology and the University of Évora.
Dr. Cecilia Bákula, former Permanent Representative of Peru to UNESCO and former Director of the National Institute of Culture of Peru, gave the keynote speech of this conference. Teresa Ribeiro, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal, and Ângela Ferreira, Secretary of State for Culture of Portugal, led the opening ceremony, which was attended by cultural authorities and experts from more than thirty-eight countries of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of this Forum is to formulate proposals and recommendations whose conclusions will be transmitted to the High Authorities of both regions, and will be an input for a EU-LAC High Officials Reflection Forum on culture to be held next autumn.
"We are delighted to bring together relevant cultural actors from both regions to deepen the bi-regional dialogue, which is at the heart of the mandate given to us by our members," said Paola Amadei, Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation.
