The Salzburg Statement on the Future of Cultural Democracy
From July 4 to 8, 2022, Salzburg Global Seminar hosted a session titled Currents of Change: Redefining Cultural Diplomacy for the Future we Need. Following this session, its participants have drafted a Salzburg Statement setting out the priorities and recommendations for the future of cultural diplomacy. Volodymyr Sheiko, the Director General of the Ukrainian Institute participated in the session and drafting the statement.
Salzburg Global Seminar
Salzburg Global Seminar is an independent non-profit organisation founded in 1947 with a mission to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. The event brought together over 60 artists, diplomats, policymakers, and academics, representing 30 countries. Together, they considered the potential for art as a force to improve the world and provide recommendations for reimagining the role of cultural diplomacy.
Recommendations of the Salzburg Statement:
- Bridging divides across professions in designing cultural diplomacy
- Valuing integrity to avoid misuse of cultural diplomacy as a tool of disinformation and manipulation of public opinion
- Centering the artist in the conversation about relations between art and cultural diplomacy
- Being self-critical so that all parties recognise their own positionality and flaws
- Utilising the power of democracy for promoting the wellbeing of society
- Aiming to be reciprocal between actors regardless of their position in global hierarchy
- Representing and leveraging domestic diversity
- Recognising the power of technology in the cross-border promotion of cultures and art
The Statement also includes specific calls to:
- governments, policymakers and diplomats
- artists, cultural producers and cultural institutions
- NGOs and civil society
- researchers and academics
- all people
Read the full Salzburg Statement here.