Press release
National Workshop on Artistic Freedom
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2021 (Windhoek, Namibia), UNESCO is organizing a two-days’ workshop for civil society and government officials on policies and measures to protect, promote and monitor artistic freedom. The workshop seeks to facilitate a better understanding of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and its overall goal to promote human rights and artistic freedom.
The workshop will examine existing laws, policies and measures that promote and protect artistic expression, and challenges that countries face in designing and implementing them. It will discuss, through presentations, case studies and group exercises, what works or not and what could be improved to support artistic freedom. It will also debate obligations that governments (in close cooperation with civil society) have in terms of reporting to UNESCO on policies and measures taken to promote artistic freedom, in particular though the “Quadrennial Periodic Reports” that countries submit every four years on progress achieved in implementing the 2005 Convention.
The 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is an international legal instrument ratified by 149 Parties, including Namibia, which ensures, through various provisions, that artists, cultural professionals and creative practitioners, as well as all citizens, have the capacity to create, produce, disseminate and enjoy a broad range of cultural goods, services and activities. In 2019, artistic freedom became a reporting requirement in the quadrennial periodic reports that countries submit every four years to UNESCO on cultural policies implemented, as well as challenges faced.
The first day of the workshop will introduce participants to the concept of artistic freedom and help to engage a discussion on global challenges to artistic freedom, the international legal frameworks regulating artistic freedom, social and economic rights of artists and data collection mechanisms.
The second day will focus on how to report on artistic freedom worldwide and in Namibia. Through group works, the participants will qualify how Namibia may report on artistic freedom as part of the forthcoming quadrennial periodic report submission to UNESCO on the implementation of the 2005 Convention.
The workshop will take place in Windhoek from 28-29 April 2021 at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) Hotel School.
The workshop will examine existing laws, policies and measures that promote and protect artistic expression, and challenges that countries face in designing and implementing them. It will discuss, through presentations, case studies and group exercises, what works or not and what could be improved to support artistic freedom. It will also debate obligations that governments (in close cooperation with civil society) have in terms of reporting to UNESCO on policies and measures taken to promote artistic freedom, in particular though the “Quadrennial Periodic Reports” that countries submit every four years on progress achieved in implementing the 2005 Convention.
The 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is an international legal instrument ratified by 149 Parties, including Namibia, which ensures, through various provisions, that artists, cultural professionals and creative practitioners, as well as all citizens, have the capacity to create, produce, disseminate and enjoy a broad range of cultural goods, services and activities. In 2019, artistic freedom became a reporting requirement in the quadrennial periodic reports that countries submit every four years to UNESCO on cultural policies implemented, as well as challenges faced.
The first day of the workshop will introduce participants to the concept of artistic freedom and help to engage a discussion on global challenges to artistic freedom, the international legal frameworks regulating artistic freedom, social and economic rights of artists and data collection mechanisms.
The second day will focus on how to report on artistic freedom worldwide and in Namibia. Through group works, the participants will qualify how Namibia may report on artistic freedom as part of the forthcoming quadrennial periodic report submission to UNESCO on the implementation of the 2005 Convention.
The workshop will take place in Windhoek from 28-29 April 2021 at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) Hotel School.
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15 April 2021
Last update:20 April 2023
Workshop Facilitators
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