EUNIC Cultural Diplomacy Seminar
30 June and 1 July 2011 @ Europe House in London

Following on from last year's Cultural Diplomacy Seminar, EUNIC London is delighted to announce the second edition of the CD Seminar at Europe House, organised in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in the UK.

This year the Cultural Diplomacy Seminar will introduce inspiring and creative initiatives and offer stimulating reflection on a series of challenging issues: culture and commerce, cultural leadership, culture and conflict resolution, the Eastern Partnership and artistic mobility. We will explore the current evolution and strategic perspectives of the arts and cultural world for the 21^st century, in a very open cross-disciplinary approach.

Our panels will bring together a wide range of personalities from the UK and international arts sectors, artists, experts, academics, professionals from the creative industries diplomats and journalists.

Join us for two unique and exciting days of debates, reflection and networking!

Agenda

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ Europe House / 1^st day

13.15 – 13.30 Registration

13.30 - 13.45 Introduction speech by Jack Lohman, director of Museum of London

13.45 – 15.15 Panel discussion “Culture and Commerce” chaired by Jo Burns (Burns & Owen Partnership)

15.15 – 15.30 Coffee

15.30 – 17.00 Panel discussion “Cultural Leadership”, chaired by Sue Hoyle (Clore Leadership Programme).

Friday 1  July 2011 @ Europe House / 2^nd day
09.00 – 09.15 Coffee and registration
09.15 – 11.00 Panel discussion “Culture and Conflict resolution”, chaired by Shelagh Wright (Culture+Conflict)
11.00 – 11.15 Coffee
11.15 – 13.00 Panel discussion “Eastern Partnership” chaired by Kasia Madera (BBC)
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.45 Panel discussion “Creative Mobility” chaired by Ghislaine Boddington (body

Full programme

1^st day:  Thursday 30^th June 2011

13.30 Seminar opening: Keynote speaker Prof. Jack Lohman - director of Museum of London.

First panel: Culture and Commerce  

13.45 – 15.15

Our first debate will explore the flourishing exchanges between culture and commerce. What kind of innovative strategies should be adopted by arts professionals in a context of precarious funding? How could creative industries’ mixed economy be an inspiring model for arts organizations? How can an organization find the right balance between public and private funds?

Chair: Josephine Burns – BOP Consulting

Panelists:

-         David Dixon – CEO, DDa Associates

-         Mark Ball – artistic director and chief executive, LIFT

-         Haidee Bell – programme manager, Creative economy, NESTA

-         Jane Marriott – director of development, Royal Academy of Arts and director of RA Trust

Second panel: Cultural Leadership

15.30 – 17.00

We will discuss the necessity for visionary and creative leaders in the field of culture especially in the international context. The greatest challenge today for a cultural leader is to navigate an art organization to a new funding environment of lower dependency on state funding. We also want to discuss how dedicated training programs can strengthen the development of cultural leadership excellence.

Chair: Sue Hoyle – Director of Clore Leadership Program

Panelists:

-         Pal Hatos – director, Balassi Institute, Hungary

-         David Jubb – Artistic Director, Battersea Art Centre

-         Graham Sheffield – Head of Arts, British Council

-         Alistair Spalding – CEO, Sadler’s Wells

2nd day:  Friday 1^st  July 2011

3^rd Panel: Culture and Conflict resolution

09.15 – 11.00

We will start our second day with a very exciting issue, debating culture as a key factor in the evolution and resolution of conflicts. How can artistic initiatives bring some alternative and positive outcomes in situations of conflict? How can creativity and artistic development succeed where classical diplomacy “failed”? How can artists get purposefully involved in sustainable reconciliation and rebuilding processes? What consequently are the urgent policy implications for national and transnational cultural institutions to close the gap between theory and practice in conflict and post-conflict zones around the world?

This session is curated by Culture+Conflict.

Keynote speaker: Stojan Pelko, Secretary of State for Culture, Slovenia  

Chair: Shelagh Wright– Culture + Conflict

Panelists:

-         Maysoon Pachachi - filmmaker

-         David Cotterrell  – artist

-         Moukhtar Kocache - Ford Foundation Middle East and North Africa

-         Robin Davies - Head of Brussels Europe Team, British Council EU Office

4^th Panel:  Eastern Partnership  

11.15 – 13.00

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is the first comprehensive initiative introduced into the system of the European Union’s external relations, addressed to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.  The EaP works in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). This debate is designed to provide an insight into the role of the cultural aspect of the initiative, its importance for the cultural sector, NGOs and ordinary citizens.

This session is curated by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Lithuanian Embassy in London.

Keynote speaker: TBC

Chair: Kasia Madera, BBC journalist

Panelists:

-         Marcin Łapczyński - senior expert on Eastern Partnership programme, Department of International Relations, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland

-       Vitalie Ciobanu - President, PEN Centre in Moldova, writer and journalist, editor-in-chief of Contrafont magazine

-         Kęstutis Kuizinas - Director, Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, curator of the recent exhibition Opening the Door? Belarusian Art Today in Vilnius

-      Lukasz Strusinski - Music Programmer and Co-ordinator, I, Culture Orchestra, Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw

-      Pawel Kotla – Artistic Director of the Orchestra, leading young conductor

5^th panel:  Creative Mobility  

14.00 – 15.45

Mobility projects are not only an opportunity for artists to enlarge their audience and develop their potential, but they also create space for the exchange of good practice and the sharing of experience between different co-producing partners in Europe and further afield. What are the challenges for 21st century artistic mobility programmes? What could be a sound professional co-production model for the future? How can new interactive technologies aid the evolution of the collaborative management and creation processes inherent in such co-productions? How can new technological tools, such as telepresence and social networks, strengthen, develop and give more visibility to a mobility project?

Chair: Ghislaine Boddington Creative Director, body>data>space

Panelists:

-         Colin Hicks – cultural broker

-         Ferdinand Richard – Chairman, Roberto Cimetta Fund

-         Annette Mees - Coney social medias theatre group

-       Gerald Lidstone, Director, ICCE, Goldsmith University

Practical information

Please RSVP by 27 June to Marie Proffit, specifying if you would like to attend the full seminar or any panel in particular at: contact@eunic-london.org

Seminar venue:

Europe House
32 Smith Square
London SW1P 3EU

Nearest Tube stations: St James Park or Westminster

EUNIC London:
e-mail: contact (at) eunic-london.org 
phone: +44 20 7240 8448   

http://www.eunic-london.org