Collaboration of bil – federation of icelandic artists with the icelandic government on the issues of the arts and culture

Bil has not been directly entrusted with carrying out any tasks related to the convention, in fact bil has not been formally informed of the provisions of the convention and therefore has not taken it into account in its work. bil has therefore not requested to be included in meetings or the work of "the governing bodies", however, bil received a request from the ministry of education and culture to contribute to the 2020 global report of the convention. this is a request that bil wholeheartedly accepts and regards as an opportunity to broaden its scope, taking the provisions of the convention into account in the near future. it must be noted that the measure/initiative detailed below has no direct correlation to the government’s commitment to the convention, but bil feels that it encompasses the aim of goal 1: “support sustainable systems of governance for culture”. it is rooted in a 30 year collaboration between bil and the government on artists' issues, including a dialogue around strategical decisions and public policy in the fields of arts and culture along with public funding of art and cultural activities. this collaboration is based on a written agreement between the parties (bil and the government), the current one dated nov. 24th 2018, valid until dec. 31st 2020. its main goal is to ensure the progress of the state's policy in culture and the arts, as well as to support bil's activities in general. it is defined as a consultation on issues of art and artists, support for policymaking, new art forms, promotion of icelandic art abroad, communication with sister organizations in neighboring countries and participation in multinational collaborations. the agreement does not mention the provisions of the un convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural expressions. in this respect, it can be argued that bil’s collaboration with the government does not entirely adhere to the cultural policy for iceland, approved by althingi in march 2013, since the cultural policy emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity in all aspects. these inconsistencies between the two documents become apparent when they are both examined. a similar inconsistencies appear when the cultural policy is compared to chapter (18) in the state budget’s financial plan 2020-2024, approved by althingi in june 2019, since there is only a single mention of cultural diversity in the financial plan and no mention of the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. any ambivalence in these basic documents and the execution of iceland’s cultural policy should be addressed, and it is definitely something bil will take into consideration when our agreement with the government will be renewed later this year.