The International Conference Forum on Cultural Policies and Cultural Rights was held in Bogotá from November 19 to 23, 2007. Alongside other fora on interculturalism, culturally active communities, cultural sustainability, cultural landscapes and cultural information and indicators, it was part of Bogotá, Capital Iberoamericana de la Cultura (Bogotá, Latin American Capital City of Culture), appointment awarded to the city on October 11, 2006 in San José de Costa Rica, during the XXI Assembly of the Union of Latin American Capital Cities –UCCI–. Additionally, it was framed within Agenda 21, a tool that establishes guidelines for actions for sustainable development in economic, social, and demographic fields.
Among the papers presented by researchers and people responsible for public cultural policy such as George Yúdice and Paulina Soto, stands out Edwin Harvey’s presentation on the relationship between international legal instruments on cultural rights’ and national cultural policies in Latin America.
Harvey overviews the declarations, agreements and other international tools that make up the legal frame of reference of public cultural policies in Iberoamérica and the rest of the world from 1948 to the present. Then, he shows how they have been appropriated in national legislations of Latin American countries, giving rise to certain categories of cultural rights. Finally, he proposes three research topics on cultural rights that would lead to the formulation of a Latin American instrument on the subject, similar to those being projected in Europe with the support of UNESCO and the Council of Europe: 1) comparative analysis of constitutional, political and administrative, legal, financial and fiscal dimensions of cultural rights in Latin America, 2) a catalogue of good practices, and 3) studies on the legitimate limitations and violations to cultural rights.
Edwin Harvey has written, among other books: Estado y cultura: política cultural de los países de Occidente (State and Culture: Cultural Policies of Western Countries), Políticas culturales en Iberoamérica y el mundo (Cultural Policies in Latin America and the World), Derechos culturales en Iberoamérica y el mundo (Cultural Rights in Latin America and the World), Relaciones culturales internacionales: instituciones fundamentales (International Cultural Relations: Fundamental Institutions) and Derecho cultural latinoamericano (Latin American Cultural Rights).
The papers of the Conference Forum can be downloaded from:
www.bogotacapitaliberoamericanadelacultura.gov.co/documentos.php
To find more about Agenda 21, please visit:
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/spanish/agenda21sptoc.htm
To take part of the virtual fora, go to the Website:
www.bogotacapitaliberoamericanadelacultura.gov.co

http://www.bogotacapitaliberoamericanadelacultura.gov.co/documentos.php