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Day 1- Morning
Americas Cultural Summit

May 11, 2018

Keynote Astra Taylor
Photo: Martin Lipman

Kuei

Welcoming remarks from Monique Manatch, member of the Algonquin Nation of Barrière Lake, resonated at the heart of the speeches and presentations.

Monique Manatch, Algonquin Welcome

Her creation story was well received as an invitation to understand who we are, where we come from and how we can contribute to our communities and to humanity. And her acknowledgment of the unceded Algonquin territory on which the Summit is taking place was shared by several speakers throughout the day.

Human rights begin at home

Karima Bennoune (UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, USA) broke the ice for presentations with the powerful question, “Why are cultural rights important?” Informed by her expertise on rights, her answer was simple and well reasoned.

Cultural rights are essential because they are part of human rights. Cultural rights must guarantee everyone’s participation in cultural life in an evolving, inclusive and participatory way. According to Bennoune, the protection of these rights builds bridges between individuals, communities, and nations and challenges the building of walls. And she succinctly argued that defending rights is both an individual and collective responsibility.

Why are cultural rights important?

Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, USA

Citizens First

The unravelling of received ideas, stereotypes, and normative institutions was strongly communicated by Eliza Chandler (Professor at Ryerson University, Canada), Mauricio Delfín (Director, Asociación Civil Solar, Peru) and Alonso Salazar (consultant, author and former mayor of Medellín).

Eliza Chandler, Cultural Citizenship Panel

Eliza Chandler drew parallels between the strategies developed by people with disabilities and of Indigenous peoples, which she described as inspiring. She believes the arts offer experiences that allow people with disabilities to immerse themselves in the world, and also to see and participate in that world.

This opening provided by the arts also demonstrates the extreme normativity of the world in which we live and of its social structures.

Furthermore, Eliza Chandler called for the implementation of disability culture and related policies within institutions and governments. Clearly, the debate on cultural citizenship requires the participation of all citizens.

Mauricio Delfín went on to call for institutional reform and open governance to strengthen the capacity of citizens to fully engage and collaborate in the cultural dimension of their social development.

Jesse Wente, Truth, Memory and Reconciliation panel

Cultural Connectors Panel

Alonso Salazar gave the participants a compelling example of a social movement that put citizens and culture at the heart of its action in order to change the city of Medellín. Places that give dignity to their public space and community, architecture designed to create links between people and their environment, music schools, libraries, parks - in short, a movement that put citizens and their culture back at the centre of the transformation of a city once known for its crime. The premise of his thought: isolation and fear of others generate crime. The reconstruction story is one of rebuilding in the spirit of sharing a communal life.

Inspiring presentations.