37/55 Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
Document Type: Final Report
Date: 2018 Jan
Session: 37th Regular Session (2018 Feb)
Agenda Item: Item2: Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, Item3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
GE.17-23493(E)
Human Rights Council Thirty-seventh session
26 February–23 March 2018
Agenda items 2 and 3
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High
Commissioner and the Secretary-General
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of
the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, pursuant to Council
resolution 19/6.
In her report, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights addresses how
actions in the field of arts and culture can make significant contributions towards creating,
developing and maintaining societies in which all human rights are increasingly realized.
By engaging people and encouraging their interaction through artistic and cultural
expression, actions in the field of culture can open a space in which individuals and groups
can reflect upon their society, confront and modify their perception of one another, express
their fears and grievances in a non-violent manner, develop resilience after violent or
traumatic experiences, including human rights violations, and imagine the future they want
for themselves and how to better realize human rights in the society they live in. The
increased social interactions, mutual understanding and trust that can be built or rebuilt
through these initiatives are essential to achieve a range of human rights goals and to
respect cultural diversity.
The Special Rapporteur considers how cultural rights, and other human rights, are
exercised through and affected by these actions in the cultural field; the specific challenges
artists and cultural workers face when engaging in initiatives that question the
representation of society and seek to address its contemporary challenges of discrimination,
exclusion and violence; the specific contribution these initiatives make to society; and the
responsibilities of State and non-State actors in creating and maintaining the conditions for
actions in the field of culture that contribute to achieving societies more respectful of
human rights.
United Nations A/HRC/37/55
Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
Contents
Page
I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3
II. Socially engaged cultural and art-based initiatives: goals and challenges .................................... 3
III. International legal framework ....................................................................................................... 5
IV. Specific contributions and challenges ........................................................................................... 7
A. Embracing cultural diversity ................................................................................................. 7
B. Overcoming fears and prejudices .......................................................................................... 8
C. Strengthening resilience ........................................................................................................ 9
D. Rebuilding trust and promoting reconciliation ..................................................................... 10
V. Exploring key questions ................................................................................................................ 13
A. Recognizing the roles of the principal stakeholders ............................................................. 13
B. Enabling and maximizing the positive impact of socially engaged cultural initiatives ........ 14
IV. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................... 17
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 17
B. Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 17
I. Introduction
1. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights focuses on
the potential of actions in the field of arts and culture to promote fuller enjoyment of human
rights, including by championing universality of human rights and dignity, embodying and
embracing cultural diversity, challenging discrimination, contributing to reconciliation and
addressing radical ideologies incompatible with human rights. She builds on the work done
by the mandate on cultural rights concerning historical and memorial narratives in divided
and post-conflict societies (A/68/296 and A/HRC/25/49) and the right to artistic freedom
(A/HRC/23/34).
2. The exercise of cultural rights is fundamental to creating and maintaining peaceful
and just societies and to promoting enjoyment of other universal human rights. Humanity
dignifies, restores and reimagines itself through creating, performing, preserving and
revising its cultural and artistic life. Throughout human history and in every society, people
have improved their lives through engagement with creative and expressive forms. Cultural
heritage, cultural practices and the arts are resources for marshalling attention to urgent
concerns, addressing conflicts, reconciling former enemies, resisting oppression,
memorializing the past, and imagining and giving substance to a more rights-friendly
future. People often express values and ethical commitments through aesthetic forms and
processes.
3. The transformative power of arts and culture lies in the nature of the aesthetic
experience, which links cognitive faculties with sense and emotions, creating platforms rich
in potential for learning, reflection, experimentation, and the embrace of complexity.
Artistic and cultural practices can offer experiences of non-coercive, constructive meaning-
making and empowerment that can contribute to reaching a wide range of human rights
goals.
4. It is because cultural and artistic expressions are powerful that they are at risk of
being targeted, manipulated or controlled by those in power or in search of power. Actions
in the field of culture can accordingly serve to maintain divisions in society or contribute to
overcoming them. Increasingly in recent years, policymakers, practitioners and educators
from diverse fields are recognizing the potential of culture and the arts in questioning the
representation of society and addressing its contemporary challenges such as exclusion and
violence. Excellent work in this field — excellent in terms of the strength of its contribution
to furthering human rights — is now being done the world over and includes artist-based
productions of great virtuosity, participatory and inclusive work with local populations and
public rituals and ceremonies, sometimes animated by cultural traditions.
5. In her report, the Special Rapporteur seeks to identify the contribution cultural
initiatives make to creating, developing and maintaining peaceful and inclusive societies in
which all human rights can be more fully realized. She also considers the necessary
preconditions for enabling and maximizing the contribution of these actions in the field of
culture. In addition, she examines the responsibilities of States, institutions and other
relevant stakeholders for creating and maintaining the conditions in which everyone can
shape right-respecting societies through their full access to, participation in and
contribution to cultural life.
II. Socially engaged cultural and art-based initiatives: goals and challenges
6. Not all artistic and cultural practices aim at shaping more inclusive and peaceful
societies conducive to the realization of human rights. Social engagement towards that goal
is a possibility for artists and cultural workers, but not a requirement. In some contexts,
including those characterized by violence and repression, extreme censorship, stigma
regarding artistic expression or discrimination against some artists and cultural
practitioners, such as women, merely engaging in artistic and cultural practice can have
deep meaning for and an impact on human rights, regardless of the specific content or aims.
7. In the context of the present report, the practices and initiatives discussed
consciously aim at addressing social challenges — such as tackling mindsets that create
exclusion, helping to restore understanding between groups and trust in society, seeking to
emphasize respect for cultural diversity or to contribute to reconciliation — and aim at
developing individual and collective capacities for empathy, self-reflection, critical
thinking, resistance to human rights violations and oppression, and acceptance of
differences, the universality of human rights and equality. In seeking to achieve these aims,
the initiators are often guided by ethical commitments, including to notions of reciprocity,
transparency about interests and intentions, and acknowledging multiple dynamics of
power. The impact of these initiatives on society is therefore not only a by-product of
artistic and cultural practice but the result of thoughtful and sustained social engagement
that needs to be recognized and valued as such.
8. Societies recovering from violence and deep divisions or wishing to address
discrimination in various forms and other human rights abuses have a plethora of needs that
are not easily met by formal institutions alone. Actions in the field of culture can address
some of these needs in ways that other approaches may not be able to.1
9. Relevant actions in the field of culture can be led by individual artists, ensembles,
small and large cultural institutions, and by collaborations among artists, cultural workers
and other stakeholders or institutions. They are versatile, and their form and size can be
adapted to the local context. Creative processes can be crafted for both individuals and
groups, can be as small as a neighbourhood festival or large enough to generate global
networks. Artists and cultural workers can operate in theatres and museums, but also in
refugee camps, kindergartens, women’s shelters, prisons, over the radio and in the streets,
depending on the situation and aim.
Strengths and limitations of different approaches
10. The restorative and transformative power of arts and culture lies in the nature of
aesthetic experiences. They can embody dazzling creativity that invites states of wonder
and openness to new ideas. They can create vivid and enduring reminders of emerging
relationships and values through murals, plazas and memorials, and repeated enactments of
rituals. By recalling past suffering in works of breathtaking beauty, they can loosen the
stranglehold of memories of powerlessness in the face of violence and abuse, inviting
survivors to imagine and co-create a better future. They can present with great beauty the
stories of those who have suffered, restoring a measure of dignity to victims and helping to
ensure non-repetition. Art-making and culture-making foster connectivity between the
different dimensions of the individual person, within and between groups, and between the
local and the global. They create opportunities for exchange and interaction that do not rely
on verbal language alone.
11. To address social issues, artists and cultural workers must weigh a range of options
in terms of their approach and methodology. The most important characteristics of strong
approaches to arts-based and cultural initiatives include awareness of and responsiveness to
context: considering the local sources of resilience, the existing level of trust between
people and towards public institutions and the rule of law, and the degree of threat of
physical or military violence.
12. Other critical aspects include finding the most appropriate format between top-
down, structured approaches and bottom-up dynamics that cultivate local sources of
creativity and resilience, 2 as well as between short-term projects, which are easier to
1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Peace and
Reconciliation: How Culture Makes the Difference, Proceedings of the Hangzhou International
Congress “Culture: Key to Sustainable Development” (Hangzhou, China, 15−17 May 2013). 2 Medellín, Colombia, offers an example of an inclusive, top-down and bottom-up approach to
reclaiming a city afflicted with violence through culture, thanks to “a public sector that has embodied and supported the public interest in culture with tremendous forethought, intentionality, and caring;
and results to match that intention”. See the blog by A. Goldbard, available at usdac.us/news- long/2015/12/22/azdluulfj5imog2y995v5xuod09fof, and a description of the approach in
http://agenda21culture.net/sites/default/files/files/good_practices/medellin-eng_def.pdf.
monitor and fund, and long-term engagements, which allow the building of deeper trust and
may contribute to more sustainable change but are harder to fund. Another concern is to
avoid the pitfalls associated with overly instrumentalizing arts and culture at the expense of
aesthetic quality and cultural integrity.
13. Taking a human rights approach to evaluating the contribution that socially engaged
actions in the field of arts and culture can make requires further thinking about objectives
and methodologies.
III. International legal framework
14. Socially engaged actions in the field of culture come within the framework of
cultural rights, in particular under the rubric of the right of everyone to take part in cultural
life, without discrimination, and to access and enjoy the creativity of others, as well as the
right to freedom of expression, including expression through any artistic form.
15. The right to take part in cultural life, enshrined in particular in article 15 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and interpreted by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its general comment No. 21 (2009)
on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, establishes the right of all persons to
access, participate in, enjoy and contribute to cultural life. Cultural rights protect the rights
of each person, individually and in association with others, as well as groups of people, to
develop and express their humanity, their world view and the meanings they give to their
existence and their development.3 As stated in general comment No. 21, contribution to
cultural life is also to be understood as a right to take part in the development of the society
to which one belongs, and in the definition, elaboration and implementation of policies and
decisions that have an impact on the exercise of a person’s cultural rights (para. 15 (c)).
16. Cultural rights also include the freedom to join and leave any cultural groups and be
associated with different groups simultaneously, as well as the freedom to create new
groups of shared cultural values and new cultural meanings and practices without fear of
punitive action, including any form of violence. Everyone should have the freedom to
embrace or reject particular cultural practices as well as to revise and (re)negotiate existing
traditions, values or practices, regardless of their provenance. Active engagement in the
cultural sphere offers crucial possibilities to (re)shape meanings and helps to build central
traits of democratic citizenship such as critical thinking, creativity, sharing and sociability.4
Many actions in the field of culture also involve the exercise of the right to peaceful
assembly and association (article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights).
17. Cultural rights are important in and of themselves, and are also essential tools for
achieving development, peace and eradication of poverty and for building social cohesion,
as well as mutual respect and understanding between individuals and groups in all their
diversity, and enhancing the enjoyment of other human rights.5 More widely, cultural rights
require the implementation of policies promoting cultural interaction and understanding
between people and groups, the sharing of perspectives about the past and of visions about
the future, and the design of a cultural landscape that is reflective and respectful of cultural
diversity and universal human rights.6
18. The vitality of artistic creativity is necessary for the development of vibrant cultures
and the functioning of democratic societies. Freedom of artistic expression is guaranteed by
article 15 (3) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which
requires States parties to undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for creative
activity, and by article 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which asserts that everyone has “the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom
3 See A/HRC/14/36, para. 9; and A/67/287, para. 7.
4 See A/67/287, paras. 26 and 28.
5 See A/HRC/14/36, para. 3.
6 See A/HRC/25/49, para. 48.
to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either
orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through the media of [their] choice”. All
persons, without discrimination, enjoy the right to freedom of artistic expression and
creativity, which includes the right to freely experience and contribute to artistic
expressions and creations through individual or joint practice, to have access to and enjoy
the arts, and to disseminate their expressions and creations, as part of the right to participate
in cultural life. This also includes the right of individuals and groups, through their artistic
and cultural expression, to contribute to social debates, challenge assumptions about
accepted beliefs and revisit culturally inherited ideas and concepts.7
19. Controversial works are not excluded from the right to freedom of expression.8
However, article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that
any propaganda for war, as well as any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that
constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, shall be prohibited by law.9
The socially engaged actions in the field of culture discussed in the present report are
understood to be those which comply with such standards.
20. Protection of freedom of expression, including expression through the arts, is
especially significant for those artists and cultural workers who are contributing to
addressing intolerance and exclusion or rebuilding trust in deeply divided societies and in
the aftermath of human rights violations or violence because their cultural productions are
likely to be controversial, both to those whose understanding of the world is defined by
single, often rigid narratives as well as to members of institutions, Governments or non-
State actors who might prefer to leave past atrocities unexamined and unexplored.
21. While limitations to freedom of expression and artistic expression are allowed, they
must meet the high threshold of article 19 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and must be for the sole purpose of promoting general welfare in a
democratic society.10 In particular, decision makers, including lawmakers and judges, when
resorting to possible limitations to artistic freedoms should take into consideration the
nature of artistic creativity (as opposed to its value or merit) as well as the right of artists to
dissent, to use political, religious and economic symbols as a counter-discourse to dominant
powers and to express their own belief and world vision.11
22. Hateful ideologies, including diverse forms of fundamentalism and extremism,
represent grave threats to human rights and their universality in general and to cultural
rights and respect for diversity in particular.12 Ideologies based on monolithic world views
and enmity toward “the other”13 divide societies between those who adhere to the advocated
mindset and all the others, who are not to be tolerated. Full implementation of cultural
rights is a critical tool to counter the rise of these ideologies. Investments in the field of
culture and in the conditions that allow people to learn, develop their creativity, experience
the humanity of others and exercise their critical thinking are necessary to create cultural
democracies and foster civic engagement.14
23. In the aftermath of trauma or violence, including terrorism, and in deeply divided
societies, one important element of constructing relationships of trust is addressing legacies
of past violence. Processes of memorialization, reconciliation and historical narratives,
depending on how they are crafted, can either maintain divisions in society or contribute to
7 See A/HRC/23/34, para. 3.
8 Ibid., para. 38.
9 Note the discussion of related issues in A/HRC/23/34, para. 31.
10 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 19 (3); and International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 4. See also the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of
advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility
or violence (A/HRC/22/17/Add.4).
11 See A/HRC/23/34, para. 89 (d).
12 See A/HRC/34/56, para. 94; and A/72/155.
13 See A/HRC/34/56, paras. 3–4.
14 Ibid., paras. 19 and 25.
overcoming them.15 Memorialization might take the form of physical monuments, but can
also refer to artistic and cultural expressions. The contributions of artists and cultural
workers in these processes must be broadly acknowledged.
24. As stated by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation
and guaranties of non-recurrence, cultural interventions can significantly contribute to the
cause of transitional justice. Explicitly integrating cultural elements and citizen
participation in truth and reconciliation commissions has proven, in the cases of Peru,
Timor-Leste and Sierra Leone, to increase their effectiveness. The Special Rapporteur
noted that conflicts could be stopped by those he called “cultural entrepreneurs”, who were
deeply aware of the importance of making victims visible.16
IV. Specific contributions and challenges
25. Creative approaches in the field of culture contribute in many ways to creating,
developing and maintaining peaceful and inclusive societies in which all human rights can
find increased realization. Some of these contributions are analysed below. However, the
Special Rapporteur notes that further research and discussion are needed to assemble a
more complete picture of best practice in these areas, and to increase awareness of how this
work can enhance the enjoyment of human rights in general and cultural rights in particular.
A. Embracing cultural diversity
26. Many artistic and cultural approaches aim at promoting and embodying values
associated with pluralism and respect for human rights and cultural diversity and act as an
integrative factor in society, creating opportunities to meet and dialogue across gender,
class, ethnic, religious, age and other divides; spaces to overcome the fear of the unknown
“other” and to recognize commonalities, equality and human dignity.
27. Because artistic and cultural expressions inevitably carry multiple meanings and
invite multiple interpretations, they nourish capacities to tolerate ambiguity and embrace
paradox, the ability to imagine innovative solutions to problems and the willingness to
attune to others’ perceptual sensibilities. Such initiatives contribute to promoting a human
rights culture and constitute opportunities to exercise and bolster cultural rights.
28. Cultural initiatives to strengthen norms of freedom of expression and cultural
vibrancy take many different forms. For example, Arterial Network, a dynamic pan-African
civil society network of artists, cultural activists, entrepreneurs, enterprises, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), institutions and donors, is active in Africa’s creative
and cultural sectors. Its mission is to facilitate partnerships within civil society, beyond
national borders and between African and international partners so as to develop a
sustainable creative sector in a manner that contributes to development, human rights,
democracy and the eradication of poverty on the African continent. Arterial Network also
monitors freedom of artistic expression. Its project Artwatch Africa aims to assess, promote
and defend rights to creative expression for artists and cultural practitioners in Africa. The
organization also publishes many practical resources for those working in this field,
including a template to support government and civil society actors in developing cultural
policies mindful of context.17
29. Another relevant initiative that advocates for inclusive cultural policies that respect
universal human rights is the grass-roots “people-powered” action network known as the
United States Department of Arts and Culture. It issued Standing for Cultural Democracy:
the USDAC’s Policy and Action Platform, which invokes the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and calls for investment in the cultural sector, focusing on support for artists
15 See A/HRC/25/49, paras. 13–14.
16 See A/HRC/28/36, paras. 24–27.
17 See www.arterialnetwork.org/artwatch.
and cultural workers who address people’s needs and for cultural programmes to challenge
systemic human rights abuses in the United States of America.18
30. Cultural and artistic initiatives can also advocate for values of diversity, secularism,
inclusion, tolerance, gender equality, human rights and peace through the themes they
choose to address. Ajoka Theatre, 19 a company based in Lahore, produces socially
meaningful, aesthetically refined and dynamic theatre tackling difficult issues, including
gender-based violence, fundamentalism and terrorism, thereby embodying the vision of a
more secular, humane and just society in Pakistan. Its membership derives from varied
class and social backgrounds, and it maintains close ties to women’s organizations and with
international theatre groups such as Theatre Without Borders. Ajoka offers performances in
theatres, on the streets and in public spaces that promote critical thinking. In addition,
Ajoka offers training and technical workshops, and supports cooperation between theatre
groups in India and Pakistan.
31. Another important example is Free Women Writers, a non-profit, non-partisan and
all-volunteer women’s rights organization composed of writers, students and activists based
in Afghanistan and the diaspora. Its mission is to improve the lives of Afghan women
through advocacy, storytelling and education. One example of its work is the publication of
“Daughters of Rabia”, a collection of Afghan women’s writings in defence of human rights,
which has been distributed in schools, universities, libraries and to people in six provinces
in Afghanistan and has reached thousands online. Its books are available in local languages
free of cost and for sale in English. The books’ proceeds are used to provide educational
opportunities through scholarships, and to increase access to “consciousness-raising
literature”.20
32. Governments and intergovernmental entities must provide robust support for the
right to take part in cultural life and freedom of expression for these kinds of actions to
thrive. This entails accepting that some of these artistic and cultural works will inevitably
be critical of the Government and of society, and sometimes of aspects of cultural and
religious practices, and requires that Government refrain from trying to control, censor or
orient these works. States must also respect and ensure the human rights of the artists and
cultural practitioners working in these areas.
B. Overcoming fears and prejudices
33. Actions in the field of culture can mediate against fears that exist between people
along various lines of division, create spaces where people may be able to go beyond the
stereotypes they have of each other, and facilitate the expression of thoughts and feelings in
a non-threatening manner.
34. Featuring what unites different people despite their diversity is an important
contribution that art and cultural initiatives can bring to a variety of contexts. For example,
Caravan, an international intercultural and interreligious peacebuilding arts organization,
creates opportunities for people to come together to develop, organize, curate and host
exhibitions, festivals, lectures, concerts, exchanges and collaborations. One of their
projects, “THE BRIDGE”, is a travelling exhibition showcasing the work of 47 premier
Arab, Persian and Jewish contemporary artists from 15 countries, featuring works that
explore the theme of what they hold in common across their creeds and cultures and what
therefore “bridges” them together. It was exhibited in venues across Europe, Egypt and the
United States.21
35. Another example is the Barenboim-Said Foundation, established in 2003 by the late
Palestinian intellectual Edward Said and Israeli-Argentine pianist and conductor Daniel
Barenboim. The Foundation aims to make classical music education accessible to
18 See https://usdac.us/platform.
19 See www.ajoka.org.pk.
20 See Freewomenwriters.org.
21 See www.oncaravan.org.
Palestinian children and young adults, regardless of social or economic background. 22
Barenboim and Said likewise established the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to bring
together Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab musicians to “meet, talk and play alongside
each other”.23
36. Governments have the responsibility to preserve existing spaces and institutions for
the exercise of cultural rights as well as create new ones, and to support voices of tolerance,
equality and diversity so as to promote universal human rights and peace.24
C. Strengthening resilience
37. When faced with violence, oppression and hardship in various forms, every society
searches for ways to make sense of the experience, to cultivate resilience, mourn losses and
move forward. This is particularly true in the immediate aftermath of conflict. Artistic and
cultural initiatives provide tools to understand suffering and means of expression for
individuals, groups and entire societies, and hence can help to increase capacity to recover
from human rights violations.
1. Mourning losses
38. As Joseph Montville points out, “the psychological work of grieving is often
required before victims can look to the future rather than try to recoup past losses”.25 If
groups or individuals fail to mourn, their self-esteem is bound up with images of what has
been lost. If the circumstances of the losses generate intensive anger, rage can interfere with
the ability to complete the cycle of mourning, in turn leading to more violence and human
rights abuses. In addition, losses that have not been mourned may also be passed on to
future generations, leading to the intergenerational transmission of trauma.26
39. Resistance to remembering and to mourning is understandable, as memories of
trauma can be shattering in different ways, both for those who are victims/survivors and for
those who committed violations themselves. The challenge consists in finding ways for
memories to serve to heal rather than exacerbate trauma, and for acts of mourning to go
beyond victim/victimizer dichotomies. Understanding the suffering of one’s own group —
and mourning its losses — is also a critical step towards reconciliation.
40. Processes of memorialization encompass a variety of engagements, which do not
necessarily become concretized through the erection of physical monuments, but can also
take the form of numerous activities and cultural expressions. Artists can shed new light on
the past, enhance the ability of people to imagine the other and widen debate regarding the
meaning of memorials. Artists have contributed to negotiating the meanings attributed to
events being memorialized, in some cases by challenging State authorities or calling into
question the parameters of “calls” for memorials. These actions have opened spaces for
important conversations that in themselves have been construed as acts of
memorialization.27
2. Resisting oppression and terrorism
41. Individual artists, groups and cultural institutions have in many places been on the
front line of resisting oppression and upholding the values of diversity, human rights and
inclusion in difficult contexts.
22 See www.barenboim-said.ps.
23 G. Bedell, “Daniel’s codes of conduct”, Guardian, 17 August 2003.
24 Rabat Plan of Action, paras. 23 and 25.
25 J. Montville, “Psychoanalytic enlightenment and the greening of diplomacy”, Journal of the
American Psychoanalytic Association, vol. 37, No. 2 (1989), p. 305.
26 D. Bar-On, “Attempting to overcome the intergenerational transmission of trauma: dialogue between
descendants of victims and of perpetrators”, in R.J. Apfel and B. Simon, eds., Minefields in their
Hearts: The Mental Health of Children in War and Communal Violence (New Haven, Yale
University Press, 1996).
27 See A/HRC/25/49, paras. 66–69.
42. A striking example is the Belarus Free Theatre, an international theatre company
operating underground in Belarus and led by artistic directors in exile in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who were forced to flee after repeated
arrests, including, on one occasion, the arrest of the entire ensemble and its audience.28 The
company uses the power of art to inspire people to take action to defend human rights and
bring about systemic change. By way of example of the kind of repression those engaging
in such work sometimes face, reports indicate that theatre members have suffered repeated
arrests or police beatings and have been blacklisted, which means they cannot work in
official arts institutions.
43. Artists can play a leading role in responding to violent conflict and displacement as
spokespersons, conveners (building trust between refugees and host societies), facilitators
(supporting the vulnerable and marginalized) and correspondents (telling their own stories).
“Syria: third space”29 is an exhibition that featured works by displaced Syrian artists who
embrace this role. “Culture matters”, says Graham Sheffield of the British Council, which
provided small grants for many of these artists, “for social cohesion and resilience, for
economic development and sustainability, for dialogue and for mutual understanding”.
44. Actions in the field of culture can also help people reclaim public space and speak
out after violent attacks. Following an Islamic State terror attack at the bus terminal in
Jakarta, Indonesian artists, together with the Australia-based platform Microgalleries,
created eight large-scale artworks to spread the message that Jakarta stands united against
acts of terrorism.30 A similar action was organized in Sri Lanka, where colourful street
murals were painted on the sites of suicide bombings, each demanding society to “secure
the sanctity of life”.31
D. Rebuilding trust and promoting reconciliation
45. Reconciliation processes aim to restore and increase trust and trustworthiness in the
aftermath of violence and/or exploitation. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of
truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence recognizes that trust “is the
foundation for the development of a rule of law culture, an environment that fosters
reconciliation and a necessary precondition for effective communication between the
victims and the authorities, as well as within society”.32 However, to strengthen a culture of
dialogue, to increase empathy and visibility and to address trauma, he insists that actions in
the fields of education, arts and culture are required.33
46. Ideally, reconciliation emphasizes change at the level of individuals and groups,
whether victims or perpetrators, engaging emotion, imagination and creativity, along with
cognitive and analytic faculties, to first restore the relationship with oneself, and then allow
relationships with others to be built and rebuilt with a view to a better future.
47. The precise activities that comprise reconciliation work, and the order in which they
are undertaken, must be developed in each particular context, taking into account the nature
of the alienation or violence, the trajectory and stage of any conflict, the leadership
resources available, and the larger systems within which the conflict and peacebuilding
processes are embedded.
1. Rehumanizing self and the other
48. Violent intergroup conflicts and abuses of human rights are almost always
associated with enemies’ dehumanization of each other. In these contexts, children learn to
28 See www.belarusfreetheatre.com.
29 See www.britishcouncil.org/arts/syria-third-space/.
30 See http://microgalleries.org/events/reclaim-jakarta; and R. Perez-Solero, “Jakarta street art aims to
eliminate fear of religious extremism”, Agencia EFE (Spain), English edition, 11 July 2017.
31 “Fighting terror with paint brushes”, Frontline World, May 2002.
32 See A/HRC/30/42, para. 99.
33 Ibid., para. 32.
externalize good feelings onto the symbols of their own groups and bad feelings onto the
symbols of the groups that are enemies.34 States have an important responsibility to ensure
that educational systems do not reinforce antagonisms that question the universality of
human dignity but instead actively challenge these assumptions and nurture a culture of
human rights, tolerance and respect for diversity.
49. Reassessing the humanity of one’s enemy involves acknowledging the complexities
of one’s own group as well. In contexts of slavery and long-standing oppression, discourses
about identity generally become singular and thin, crafted in the service of the collective
narratives through which claims are justified, the conflict is waged and repression is
exercised. It is often the case that both victims and perpetrators, oppressed and oppressors,
may have lost a sense of their full humanity. Artistic and cultural initiatives can allow
people to transcend particular identities and reinforce identities that unite rather than divide.
50. In Burundi, drumming groups of boys in which all ethnic groups were represented
existed before the ethnic violence of the 1990s erupted. The participants had built groups
around the shared practice where they experienced values of inter-ethnic trust and
solidarity, and chose to emphasize their identity as drummers over their ethnic origin.
Between March 1994 and March 1998, the drummers continued playing and performing in
different neighbourhoods, supported each other and saved each other’s lives repeatedly.35
The peacebuilding NGO Search for Common Ground worked along the same lines through
the end of the 1990s to counteract dehumanizing stereotypes that scarred the relationships
between Hutu, Tutsi and Twa people. 36 Through music, dance, drumming and the
production of radio programmes, they provided spaces where it was possible to recognize
the humanity of the other and contributed to a new understanding of the conflict in terms of
a political struggle for power rather than in ethnic terms.
2. Listening to and telling stories and empathizing with the suffering of the other
51. The previous holder of the mandate in the field of cultural rights has noted the role
historical narratives play in shaping collective identities. She also noted that self-expression
through artistic creativity was indispensable to making victims visible.37 The capacity to
shape experience into narrative is one important way that victims can determine the
meaning surrounding hurtful and traumatic events such as human rights violations, and
thereby regain a measure of empowerment. Violence, however, can strip people of their
capacities to compose and tell their stories, as well as their capacities to listen and be
receptive to the stories of others.
52. Artists and cultural workers can serve as listeners, help people once deemed
adversaries compose their stories in ways that “others” can hear and raise questions about
the possibility of forgiveness, even of oneself. Loosening the grip of a particular monolithic
narrative (of victimization, for instance) opens possibilities for more nuanced stories and
more complex understandings of history.
53. The potential of story-sharing to restore relationships across economic and racial
divides has been made apparent in a recent project in the Western Cape, South Africa. In
order to involve the people living on his newly inherited land in planning the reorganization
of his wine farm, Mark Solms, a white South African, first had to find a way to establish a
respectful dialogue. With the help of historians and archaeologists, the workers and Solms
literally and figuratively excavated the farm’s land and its history of past slavery and
apartheid that linked their families together, and constructed a heritage/oral history project
through which everyone shared and listened to each other’s stories and memories. This
34 V. Volkan, “An overview of psychological concepts pertinent to interethnic and/or international
relationships”, in The Psychodynamics of International Relationships, vol. I, Concepts and Theories,
V. Volkan, D.A. Julius and J.V. Montville, eds. (Lexington Books, 1990).
35 L. Slachmuijlder, “The rhythm of reconciliation: a reflection on drumming as a contribution to
reconciliation processes in Rwanda, Burundi, and South Africa”, Recasting Reconciliation through
Culture and the Arts, Brandeis University Programme in Peacebuilding and the Arts, 2004.
36 See www.sfcg.org.
37 See A/HRC/28/36, paras. 9−10.
process allowed them to develop sufficient trust to enter into a new economic relationship:
a mortgage on Solms’s farm provided credit for the workers to acquire an adjacent farm
that operates as a consortium with Solms’s farm. With the increased income, they improved
their housing situation and the educational opportunities of their children.38 The cultural
initiatives provided the opportunity for all to come to terms with the history of exploitation
and contributed to the restoration of dignity.
54. Listening to and telling stories opens the path to empathy with the suffering of one’s
enemy, which is another important step towards reconciliation. This “involves the ability to
recognize the physical, material and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves
‘inside the skin of the other’”.39
55. The capacity for empathy is particularly rare during violent conflicts and in their
aftermath, both on the side of perpetrators and of victims. An example of cultural initiatives
that have engaged in the difficult work of grappling with these questions is the play Hidden
Fires.40 In this play, the same actors portray the stories of Muslims victimized during the
horrific 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, India, as well as Hindu rioters describing their
own brutal acts. Through theatrical turns, the audience is invited to acknowledge the harms
committed and the role of the Government, media and police in creating the conditions that
gave rise to the atrocities, and to empathize with all the suffering which was inflicted.
While not offering guarantees, better understanding of the impact of past violations
contributes to making the recurrence of human rights abuses less likely.
3. Acknowledging and addressing injustice
56. Processes of reconciliation seeking to re-establish relationships of trust in a
sustainable manner cannot ignore questions of responsibility and accountability.
Conciliatory processes can include judicial processes that focus on prosecution and
punishment for perpetrators. However, they often also emphasize reparative, historical,
symbolic and restorative justice, which encourages individuals and groups to acknowledge
and take responsibility for the injuries they have caused and to restore or create agreed-
upon cultural, legal and moral frameworks for moving into the future.
57. Through processes of truth telling, acknowledgement, memorializing and art-
making, people and societies can begin to restore the dignity of those whose rights have
been violated, contributing to the overall sense of justice. They can prevent the additional
assault to victims’ dignity when injuries remain unacknowledged and atrocities remain
hidden. This work is sometimes undertaken on a symbolic level, for example, when a
perpetrator acknowledges responsibility by drinking a bitter tea from a gourd, as has been
done among the Arusha people in the United Republic of Tanzania.41 Artistic and cultural
activities can also be designed to support and challenge perpetrators and help others to
acknowledge harms done in their names and to take action to avoid repetition of such
violence.
58. As an illustration, in 2008, two national-level formal ceremonies in Australia
addressed aspects of the divide between descendants of settlers and indigenous peoples.
The ceremonies included the performance of a traditional Aboriginal “welcome to the
country” at the opening of Parliament and a public apology from the Prime Minister for
government policies that resulted in great suffering and in the decimation of indigenous
peoples and cultures. Hundreds of thousands across the country witnessed the apology.
These ceremonies allowed for the symbolic inclusion of Aboriginal people and the
38 M. Solms, “Land ownership in South Africa: turning neuropsychoanalysis into wine”, TEDxObserver
Talks, 1 April 2011, available on YouTube.
39 T. Nhat Hahn, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (Bantam, 1992), p. 82.
40 See www.theaterofwitness.org. See also R. Margraff, “Hidden Fires: Peaceworks’ invocation as
Žižekian response to the Gujarat massacres of 2002”, in C. Cohen, R. Varea and P. Walker, eds.,
Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflilct, vol. I, Resistance and
Reconciliation in Regions of Violence (New Village Press, 2011).
41 H.P. Gulliver, Disputes and Negotiations: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York, Academic Press,
1979).
deceased members of the Stolen Generations in the custodianship of the land and facilitated
a type of restorative justice. 42 However, the limitations of such actions must also be
recognized, as this symbolic action reportedly did not change some other fundamental
aspects of policy vis-à-vis indigenous rights, and follow-up is urgently needed.
59. States must consider what kind of public spaces should be made available for
remembering past violations of human rights and allowing for a plurality of views to be
heard, including through artistic and cultural expression. Human rights norms and
principles, including those in the field of cultural rights, should guide all decisions in this
field to ensure the credibility of the process as a foundation for more inclusive, peaceful
and just societies.
4. Imagining and substantiating new futures
60. The notion of reconciliation includes the assumption that at some point in a trust-
building process, former adversaries come together to imagine and give substance to new
futures. Imagination is required to contemplate acceptable alternatives and construct road
maps of realistic paths pointing to resolution. 43 Enactments or embodiments of these
alternatives — through ritual, art-making and performance — can offer evidence of what
might be possible, long before new constitutions can be written, new laws enacted or new
policies adopted.
61. By the late twentieth century, in Yakima Valley, Washington State, United States, a
number of cultural groups which had become alienated from each other were invited on the
occasion of the millennium to create, together with the Chinese-American visual artist
Wen-ti Tsen, an installation to “reflect on the last thousand years and to view the next
thousand”. The “sculptural plaza” that was created through the project incorporated the
historical narratives, grievances and contributions of the region’s various cultural groups
and has continued since to be used as a place of gathering by all.
62. When trust between individuals and groups and in society’s capacity to protect
human rights and the rule of law has been broken by violence and oppression, the processes
of rebuilding trust are delicate and multifaceted. They require years, and sometimes
decades or centuries. Creative, artistic and cultural forms and processes — such as music,
dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, urban design and ritual — offer opportunities to
exercise cultural rights as a way to address past human rights violations and facilitate the
development of the capacities necessary for relationships of trust and trustworthiness to
(re)emerge.
V. Exploring key questions
63. For actions in the field of culture to contribute to creating, developing and
maintaining peaceful and inclusive societies in which all human rights can find fuller
realization, those involved, including artists, cultural workers and other stakeholders such
as institutions and local populations, need to be recognized and legitimized. They must also
be provided with the conditions necessary to exercise their right to take part in and
contribute, through these actions in the field of culture, to shaping the societies they live in.
It is essential that States respect and ensure their human rights, including their cultural
rights.
A. Recognizing the roles of the principal stakeholders
64. Artists and cultural workers who seek to address social challenges of discrimination,
exclusion, human rights violations and violence through the exercise of their cultural rights
42 P. Walker, “Creating a new story: ritual, ceremony and conflict transformation between indigenous
and settler peoples”, in Acting Together.
43 C. Mitchell, “Conflict, change and conflict resolution”, in B. Austin, M. Fischer and H. Giessmann,
eds., Advancing Conflict Transformation: The Berghof Handbook II (Budrich, 2011), p. 19.
face many challenges. One such challenge concerns the risk of being politicized or seen as
aligned with a party to a conflict. This is particularly true if funds for initiatives come from
public agencies. In some cases, artists and cultural workers have been able to increase their
credibility, reinforce the legitimacy of their actions and protect themselves from
instrumentalization by grounding their work in cultural rights and human rights norms and
standards.
65. In the aftermath of violent conflict, in deeply divided societies, in societies governed
by repressive and/or fundamentalist regimes or where fundamentalist and extremist non-
State actors are prevalent, artists, cultural workers and all participants in their actions face
risks of harm because of their visibility and the attention that arts and cultural projects
invite. Artists face risks of exile, imprisonment, torture and assassination; successful and
visible institutions face risks of extremist attacks. 44 They need to conduct careful
assessments of risk impacts on the choice of venues and security arrangements for the
organizers themselves, but also for participants who might need to travel through zones
unsafe for them. Some artists and cultural workers engaging in such endeavours function
as, and see themselves as, human rights defenders; their efforts should be fully protected in
line with the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and
Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (Declaration on Human Rights Defenders).
66. Artists and cultural workers engaged in this field may face increased difficulty in
communicating about their work. This comes in part from the fact that the methods and
language used in one context can often be misunderstood elsewhere, and that the impact of
their work may be difficult to measure using traditional indicators. Artists and cultural
workers too often feel isolated, without opportunities for rigorous, critical reflection, for
knowledge sharing and reflection on ethical dilemmas, all of which are crucial for the
advancement of their own practice and for the field. This is further accentuated by the lack
of appropriate and shared assessment schemes to evaluate their actions and demonstrate the
positive contribution they can make to society.45
67. Many artists, cultural workers and cultural organizations — even those engaged in
globally recognized, groundbreaking and effective initiatives — face enormous difficulties
in generating needed financial resources, especially for the long-term commitments that are
necessary to address sensitive issues and contribute to trust building. They may also face
threats to their livelihoods, economic rights and social security.
68. Accordingly, international agencies, States and local governments, transitional
justice entities such as truth commissions, NGOs and cultural institutions need to recognize
the potential contributions of artists and cultural workers to creating, developing and
maintaining societies in which all human rights can find increased realization and take steps
to support their efforts as well as to create more conducive conditions for them to do their
creative work, including full respect for their human rights.
B. Enabling and maximizing the positive impact of socially engaged
cultural initiatives
69. Under what conditions can actions in the fields of arts and culture make the greatest
contribution to the exercise of cultural rights and to achieving more inclusive, peaceful and
human rights-respecting societies? The following are a few significant contributing factors
to be considered.
44 A recent example of attacks on artists working in this field, their audiences and the cultural
institutions that host them was witnessed on 11 November 2017 in Bangui, when 7 persons were
killed and 20 injured, including 6 musicians, when persons on motorcycles threw grenades into the
audience at a café where a peace and reconciliation concert was being held. See Freemuse, “Central
African Republic: seven killed, 20 injured after concert attack”, 16 November 2017.
45 Some efforts have been made to gather scientific research demonstrating the impact of artistic and
cultural work. See culturalcase.org for examples.
1. Respect for human rights
70. For such initiatives to be possible, the right of each person to freedom of artistic
expression and creativity must be respected and ensured, in accordance with international
standards. Accordingly, right-respecting public policies and vibrant institutions that support
cultural engagement and political participation in accordance with international norms are
essential. These are necessary preconditions for nurturing best practice in the field.
Violation of the human rights, including cultural rights, of those working in the fields of
arts and culture, including because of their socially engaged work, are intolerable and must
be ended as a matter of urgency. The Special Rapporteur echoes the “call to action” on the
issue of attacks on artists recently issued by new Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey
Azoulay, who noted the rise in the number of such attacks from a documented 90 in 2014 to
340 in 2015 to 430 in 2016.46
71. Initiatives such as the Artists at Risk Connection, a collaborative project led by PEN
America to increase resources available to at-risk or persecuted writers and artists, heighten
awareness about their situation and build networks, should be supported and multiplied.47
The Special Rapporteur likewise endorses the suggestion made by Freemuse that
international donors should establish specific support programmes for artists and cultural
industries victimized by terrorism.48
72. With regard to infrastructure, public and outdoor spaces have to be made or kept
accessible so that a variety of artistic and cultural initiatives can become part of the
ordinary flow of people’s lives. This contributes to artistic and cultural education and
fosters the development of a range of capacities for expression and building bridges across
divisive lines in society. States have a specific role in ensuring that both institutional and
public spaces are made available for a plurality of cultural initiatives, including those that
may express critical views, and that increased opportunities exist for people from a
diversity of backgrounds to engage with each other through these spaces. Promoting the
notion that public space “has to be inclusive, egalitarian, and guided by issues that revolve
around the common good” helps to ensure that a democratic debate takes place among
citizens.49
73. Increasingly, stakeholders in the field recognize the extent to which effectiveness
depends on collaboration and an “ecosystem” of interdependent actors with complementary
approaches. Funding schemes that instigate competitive rather than cooperative
relationships among local players seeking access to the same pools of money are
detrimental. The need for adequate funding in this area is critical, as engaged artists report
that funders sometimes shy away from them.
2. Recognition of the importance of participation and contextualization
74. While an international figure with star appeal can attract more attention and funding
in the short term, commitment to local forms of expression and artistic production fosters a
more sustainable process and sources of resilience, and helps strengthen local means of
expression.
75. Participation is a key factor in any human rights approach and is particularly critical
to ensure ownership of any cultural processes seeking to address societal challenges of
discrimination, human rights violations, exclusion and violence. The forms and levels of
participation in artistic and cultural initiatives can vary greatly. For many of these
initiatives, the impact does not stop at the end of the performance: people continue to
internalize, reflect and feel emotions that may change their perception. Being part of the
46 The call to action was on Twitter, on the @unescoNOW page on 14 December 2017, citing
Re|Shaping Cultural Policies: Advancing Creativity for Development 2018 (Paris, UNESCO, 2017), p.
29.
47 See https://artistsatriskconnection.org/. See also www.icorn.org for another laudable example and
links to similar networks.
48 Statement by Freemuse at the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural
rights, held during the thirty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council, 3 March 2017.
49 See A/HRC/25/49, para. 72.
audience, receiving and witnessing cultural and artistic actions should therefore also be
considered an important part of taking part in cultural life. This too is a core part of
freedom of artistic expression.
3. Cultivating diversity and combating discrimination at various levels
76. Many successful initiatives benefit from thoughtful integration of diversity: diversity
of actors and disciplines, members of concerned groups and local partners, and
collaborations between institutions in the fields of the arts, culture, education, truth and
reconciliation, human rights, peacebuilding and development, all bringing different
perspectives to the process and lifting up dignity. Outsiders can also help local actors take a
step back and learn from different experiences. Because people have different sensibilities,
diversity is also needed in the means of expression, spaces and opportunities for
exploration, encounter and discussion in order to involve a larger number of people.
77. A prerequisite for the needed diversity is actively combating discrimination in the
field of cultural rights in accordance with international standards, including discrimination
on the bases of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, migrant
status, disability or poverty. There is also a need to ensure involvement of rural people.
Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur recognizes the need for future work on the rights of
persons with disabilities to participate fully in such initiatives.
78. One key concern is that of pervasive gender discrimination. For example, UNESCO
has noted that a “multifaceted gender gap persists in almost all cultural fields in most parts
of the world”.50 This must be tackled so that women can be equal participants in socially
engaged artistic and cultural initiatives. Required initiatives include the full recognition of
and encouragement for women as creative persons, the removal of impediments in their
paths towards fully participating in and enjoying arts and culture, and the prevention of
gendered attacks on artistic freedom. Such gender-specific attacks include women
performers being penalized for their dress, banning of women performing or of broadcast of
their performances, particular attacks on feminist art, and suppression of art and culture
with lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual themes.51
79. Another essential step is effectively and urgently combating sexual harassment in
the fields of art and culture, which has begun to come to light in part through the brave
#MeToo, #BalanceTonPorc, #AnaKaman, #YoTambien and other related social media
campaigns in diverse languages around the world, through which many women in the fields
of arts and culture have spoken out. These are crucial campaigns for equal cultural rights. In
order to promote socially engaged arts and culture that can have a positive impact on
society and the enjoyment of human rights, the production practices in these sectors must
themselves respect human rights and equality. In the words of Mexican actor Salma Hayek,
writing of the sexual harassment she faced while filming the story of socially engaged artist
Frida Kahlo, “why do so many of us, as female artists, have to go to war to tell our
stories …? Why do we have to fight tooth and nail to maintain our dignity? I think it is
because we, as women, have been devalued artistically to an indecent state …. Until there
is equality in our industry, with men and women having the same value in every aspect of
it, our community will continue to be a fertile ground for predators.”52
80. The Special Rapporteur salutes initiatives such as #WakingTheFeminists in Ireland
which challenged the dearth of female directors and playwrights represented in the
commemoration of the 1916 rising by the Irish national theatre, the Abbey.53 This artistic
civil society campaign, with an important social media component, called on boards and
artistic directors of publicly funded theatres to pay more attention to gender balance, and
50 A. Joseph, “Gender equality: missing in action”, in Re|Shaping Cultural Policies: Advancing
Creativity for Development 2018 op. cit., p. 189.
51 Ibid., p. 199.
52 S. Hayek, “Harvey Weinstein is my monster too”, New York Times, 12 December 2017.
53 Joseph, “Gender equality”, p. 193.
led the national theatre to adopt guiding principles for gender equality and the Irish Film
Board to adopt a 50/50 gender equality plan.54
4. Developing clear objectives and adapted assessment schemes
81. Insufficient infrastructure focused on the multiform restorative and transformative
potential of actions in the field of arts and culture results in the absence of recognized
protocols for assessment and evaluation that are adapted to the particular objectives and
adequate to measure the accomplishments. These include the long-term relationship
building required to address violations of human rights, embrace cultural diversity and
equality, foster trust and contribute to reconciliation. Many of the existing assessment
strategies involve time-consuming work to produce measures required by donors and
contributors but that are not aligned with the nuances of the work. Focused attention on
these problems related to improving modes of funding, assessment and evaluation is
needed.
82. Scholars, practitioners and policymakers need opportunities to collaborate. Centres
of innovation and knowledge generation based in universities, large cultural organizations,
foundations and other stable organizations could help cultivate multidisciplinary teams —
including artists and workers in the fields of development, urban design, trauma recovery,
social work, human rights and transitional justice55 — and operate as regional nodes linked
with each other and with local, national and regional initiatives in their region. They would
be positioned to facilitate exchanges, apprenticeships and mentoring opportunities within
and between regions.56
83. Agencies, NGOs and public institutions sponsoring and supporting such initiatives
can educate their staffs about human rights and cultural rights standards relevant to artist-
based and participatory applied works, in particular standards regarding the right to take
part in cultural life and the development of one’s society and freedom of artistic expression
for all. They can also encourage collaborations between artists, activists and all other
relevant stakeholders seeking to reach similar goals.
IV. Conclusions and recommendations
A. Conclusions
84. Because of the nature of aesthetic engagement, initiatives in the field of culture
can make robust and distinctive contributions to creating, developing and maintaining
more rights-respecting societies, especially in the aftermath of violence and in deeply
divided societies. They provide crucial opportunities to build capacity for critical
thinking and respect for cultural diversity, equality and the universality of human
rights. Cultural processes and art-making based on the exercise of cultural rights,
participatory and inclusive work with local populations that aims at building bridges
across social divisions, and public rituals and ceremonies that increase recognition of
human dignity can often be essential to reaching a wide range of human rights goals.
It is critical for all relevant actors to consider the benefits of adopting a cultural rights
approach — which centres universal human rights and cultural diversity as well as
non-discrimination and equality and the critical components of participation and
54 See the resulting study, Gender Counts: An Analysis of Gender in Irish Theatre 2006–2015, June
2017.
55 For instance, see J. White and C. Cohen, “Strengthening work at the nexus of arts, culture and
peacebuilding”, report for Search for Common Ground, Brandeis University Program in
Peacebuilding and the Arts, February 2012; and M. LeBaron and C. Cohen, Breathing Life Into the
Ashes: Resilience, Arts and Social Transformation, final report of the Peter Wall Institute for
Advanced Studies international round table, University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of
Law, October 2013.
56 In accordance with art. 15.4 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
consultation — in the design, support, promotion, funding and evaluation of all such
initiatives.
B. Recommendations
85. States should ratify and fully implement the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and adhere to the Optional Protocol thereto.
86. National, subnational and municipal governments should:
(a) Uphold international standards on the right to take part in cultural life,
on the diversity of cultural expressions and on freedom of expression, including by
recognizing that incitement to hatred and violence should not be tolerated;
(b) Respect and ensure the human rights of artists and those engaging in the
cultural field, and their audiences. Take urgent steps to investigate threats to and
attacks against such persons and bring to justice alleged perpetrators in accordance
with international standards. All artists jailed for exercising artistic freedom must be
immediately released;
(c) Provide adequate support and security for artists, cultural workers,
audience members and participants; create and promote networks of support for
artists and cultural workers taking risks in zones of violent conflict and facing
repression;
(d) Offer asylum to those whose artistic or cultural work, including that
which is socially engaged, has led to their persecution, and facilitate the continuation
of their work in exile;
(e) Gather information about socially engaged arts-based and cultural
initiatives, as well as local artistic and cultural resources, so as to recognize their
contributions to society, and support them effectively;
(f) Involve artists and cultural workers, especially those active in socially
engaged work, in the planning, execution and evaluation of initiatives to counter social
divisions and address human rights issues, as well as in transitional justice initiatives;
(g) Minimize risks of self-censorship and instrumentalization of arts and
cultural initiatives, by:
(i) Focusing resources on funding for local infrastructure needed for
art-making, such as local theatres and cultural centres and public spaces for
arts productions, as well as training programmes in the various art forms;
(ii) Creating opportunities for a multiplicity of actors to engage
positively with artistic and cultural productions;57
(iii) Undertaking awareness-raising about the importance of artistic
expression and cultural production, including that which is socially engaged, so
as to heighten public support for such work and those who take part in it;
(iv) Establishing a transparent process and explicit criteria for
selection of artists and cultural workers eligible for publicly funded grant
support, or for arts initiatives that will take place in public space;
(v) Creating review panels or other structures for accountability that
have broad representations of respected civil society leaders and can maintain
the independence of artists;
(h) Create opportunities for exchange among artists from countries with a
history of conflict or animosity, as well as for their participation in multidisciplinary
teams and local, regional and global networks;
57 See also A/HRC/25/49, para. 72.
(i) Build partnerships and promote collaboration between educational
institutions, cultural organizations and socially engaged artists;
(j) Take effective steps, in accordance with international standards, to
combat discrimination, including against women, and promote diversity in the
cultural and artistic fields, including by urgently tackling sexual harassment in these
fields;
(k) Increase their budgets for culture as much as possible, and at a
minimum comply with the UNESCO recommendation that Governments use 1 per
cent of total expenditures for culture.
87. Transitional justice mechanisms and legal processes that develop reparation
schemes for victims of gross human rights violations should:
(a) Coordinate efforts with artistic and cultural organizations with long-
standing grass-roots commitments while respecting the integrity and independence of
these organizations;
(b) Enlist the talents and perspectives of the artistic and cultural fields,
particularly in relation to processes of remembering and memorialization, to
strengthen the reflective and communicative capacities necessary to foster peace and
build trust.
88. Cultural institutions should:
(a) Adopt a cultural rights-based approach;
(b) Commit to featuring a variety of socially engaged perspectives, including
the works of artists and marginalized voices, in their exhibitions, performances and
public programmes to facilitate interactions among people holding different views, in
accordance with international standards;
(c) Invite creative collaborations featuring artists and cultural productions
from different sides of any social and political divides and representing multiple world
views, including non-religious and religious, as well as different interpretations of
religions;
(d) Facilitate convenings of stakeholders involved in the field of culture
where they can safely reflect on the ethical dimensions of their practice and establish
networks;
(e) Organize activities and take steps to increase public access to cultural
institutions, and bring arts and culture beyond institutions and into the public space
when conditions and security allow;
(f) Promote the establishment of cultural institutions in disenfranchised
regions and neighbourhoods.
89. Educational institutions should:
(a) Ensure the exposure of students in the arts, social work, legal studies,
conflict transformation and all other relevant disciplines to cultural rights norms and
standards, as well as to examples of socially engaged cultural and artistic initiatives
that contribute to making societies more respectful of human rights;
(b) Invite artists, cultural workers and related organizations engaged in
reconciliation processes for residencies that allow them to contribute to the education
and training of the next generation of practitioners and that afford them space and
support to document and reflect on their practice, to collaborate with scholars in the
creation of new work and to consider the adoption of cultural rights approaches;
(c) Host symposiums, festivals and conferences that provide opportunities
for artists, scholars, transitional justice experts and others to reflect on their work and
methodology together and to establish networks. Consider the creation of centres of
innovation for this field;
(d) Create educational and training materials that incorporate examples of
best practice and adopt a cultural rights perspective, and disseminate these materials
widely;
(e) Increase arts and culture education with a view to enhancing technical
excellence and to promoting human rights, increasing the acceptance of equality and
diversity, and recognizing complexity and layers of meaning;
90. Non-governmental organizations, including those in the fields of development,
conflict transformation and human rights, when engaging the arts in their work,
should:
(a) Recognize and respect the aesthetic dimensions that grounds the
strength of these initiatives;
(b) Involve artists and cultural actors, including those working at the
relevant local levels, in all stages of their work;
(c) Aim for sustainability of initiatives so that work can continue should
external funding become unavailable.
91. Funding organizations at the national, regional and international levels should:
(a) Seek opportunities to convene and support multidisciplinary teams to
work together over time;
(b) Support documentation of work in this area and the development of
regional nodes, opportunities and infrastructures for the field, including
apprenticeships and the development of educational and training materials;
(c) Involve artists and cultural advisors in defining clear and flexible
assessment plans that take into account changes in conditions and assess impact upon
and accountability of all parties, as well as involving them in reviewing calls for
proposals and proposals;
(d) Support translation of cultural initiatives into multiple languages.
92. International organizations and bodies should:
(a) Build and strengthen “coalitions for culture” and integrate culture into
all international peacebuilding processes;
(b) Advocate for and educate about arts-based and cultural initiatives
aiming at promoting human rights, targeting in particular the multiple stakeholders
whose policies and actions influence the context for this work and its outcome;
(c) Advocate for and support the use of arts and culture in policies aimed at
dealing with past and current human rights violations, discrimination, exclusion,
fundamentalism and extremism, and trauma caused by violent events;
(d) Create opportunities for multidisciplinary engagement on approaches to
improve society’s respect for and implementation of human rights, including cultural
rights, and ensure that the perspectives and knowledge of artists and local culture
actors are taken into consideration.