The 2017 plenary meeting of IETM, the International network for contemporary performing arts, met in Bucharest in April to consider the current position of artists in cultural policies.
In 1980, UNESCO adopted a recommendation to protect the rights of artists to establish unions and professional associations and for these associations to inform cultural, employment and professional training policies. The same recommendation expressed the principles of freedom of creative expression and a public right of access to art.
Thirty seven years on, the IETM plenary asked : “Is it possible to construct a legal framework which would scaffold and protect the inalienable rights of the professional artist?”
Considering this question they compared cultural policy development in Australia, Romania and Nova Scotia, arguing that artists need to take a more confident advocacy approach if their UNESCO rights are to be protected.
The Plenary report is available at: https://www.ietm.org/en/system/files/publications/the_art_of_drafting_cultural_policies_final.pd
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