François Matarasso var moderator på et to-dages seminar i Malmö den 14.-15. juni 2009. Videoklippet er optaget kort efter, at seminaret var slut.

François Matarasso er forfatter og konsulent med speciale i kunst og samfund, bosat i Nottingham i Storbrittanien. Han er æresprofessor på Gray's School of Art, Robert Gordon Universitetet i Skotland. Siden 2005 har han været formand for East Midlands Regional Council of Arts Council England.

François Matarassos hjemmeside:
web.me.com/matarasso/one/Home.html


Oversættelse
I interview-uddraget, som ses på videoklippet, siger François Matarasso:

“For mig at se er kultur menneskers måde at skabe mening på. At være menneske vil sige at skabe mening. Du har behov for at skabe mening i din tilværelse. Og du har brug for at finde noget, som kan forme dine værdier – for at udtrykke dem, sådan at de bliver synlige, og sådan at du kan dele dem med andre mennesker.

Nu er mit argument så, at du kan løfte det op i et demokratisk perspektiv: Alle har behov for at være i stand til at repræsentere sig selv, frem for kun at blive repræsenteret af nogle andre. I vores kulturliv er der marganaliserede grupper, som ofte omtales, men som aldrig selv kommer til orde. Et eksempel kunne være de, som p.t. er utrendy – folk med psykiske problemer, sigøjnere, unge mennesker... – grupper, som i store træk må nøjes med at se sig beskrevet af andre, blive snakket om af andre.
Kernen i denne sag er, at vi må se at få udvidet et kulturelt demokrati, sådan at folk kan få lov til at repræsentere sig selv.

Det er derfor, vi har et demokratisk problem i øjeblikket. For demokrati er en proces. Det er ikke en institution. Det er ikke bare noget, som sker hvert fjerde år, når vi går til valglokalerne for at afgive vores stemme.
Demokrati er noget, som sker i interaktionen mellem de forskellige kræfter og atomer indeni det demokratiske samfund. Mellem folk, som er i stand til at tale på vegne af sig selv – folk, som repræsenterer sig selv. Det er helt grundlæggende.

Så mit argument er ganske enkelt, at hvis du ser denne problemstilling som noget, der ikke bare handler om vores kulturliv eller om kulturel mangfoldighed i kulturlivet, men om et spørgsmål om demokrati, så åbner der sig nogle meget anderledes perspektiver.

Du kan føre det helt tilbage til Verdenserklæringen om Menneskerettigheder, Artikel 27 *, som garanterer enhver ret til at deltage i samfundets kulturliv og til at have adgang til kunsten. Nu er det jo sådan, at alle vores lande, alle vores regeringer, har skrevet under på den erklæring. Så det eneste, vi behøver bede dem om nu, er at leve op til det, som de har skrevet under på. Og at styrke den måde, som demokrati udspiller sig på. For det er jo helt i deres egen interesse.”



* I Artikel 27 står der: “Enhver har ret til frit at deltage i samfundets kulturelle liv, til kunstnydelse og til at blive delagtiggjort i videnskabens fremskridt og dens goder.”

Culture, meaning, diversity and democracy

François Matarasso was a moderator at a two-day seminar in Malmö, Sweden, on 14-15 June 2009.

In this video clip, recorded in shortly after the last session of the seminar, François Matarasso says:

“Culture, for me, is how people make meaning. To be human is to make meaning. You have to make sense of your life. You have to find something that shapes your values. expresses them, so that you can see it, so that you can share them with other people.

Now, the argument.. - if you can take a democratic perspective - it is about saying: Everybody needs to be able to represent themselves, rather than only be represented by others. In our cultural life, there are marginalized groups who are talked about, but never get to speak for themselves. A good example is the contemporary unfashionable people, people with mental health problems, gypsies, travellers, young people... who largely get described by other people, get talked about by other people.

The issue here is about extending cultural democracy so that people can represent themselves.
That is why it is a democratic issue. Because democracy is a process. It is not an institution, not just something that happens every four years when we get to vote. Democracy happens in all of the interactions between the different forces and atoms within the democratic society. People being able to speak on their own behalf, to represent themselves, it is fundamental. So, my argument is simply that if you see the issue about who is not part of our cultural life as a democratic one, rather than as a matter of diversity, then you have a very different perspective.

You can take it back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 27, which guarantees everybody the right to participate in cultural life in society, and to enjoy the arts. Now, all of our societies, all our governments have signed up to that. All we need to be doing is ask them to fulfill it. And to strengthen the way in which democracy happens. Because that is what they'd want.”



About François Matarasso
François Matarasso is a writer and consultant in community arts development, based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He is Honorary Professor at Gray's School of Art, Robert Gordon University in Scotland. Since 2005, he has chaired the East Midlands Regional Council of Arts Council England.

François Matarasso's home page:
web.me.com/matarasso/one/Home.html



Quote from François Matarasso's home page:
"Shaping your own cultural identity - and having it recognised by others - is central to human dignity and liberty. If people can’t represent themselves culturally how can they do so politically? If people are only imagined and portrayed by others, how can they be equal, autonomous and active members of society?
And yet, in every society, people’s access to culture is very uneven. Those who belong to or identify with dominant cultures have no problem creating and promoting their values. Others, passively or actively denied cultural resources, platforms and legitimacy, remain on the margins."



About the seminar in Malmö
The seminar entitled ‘Practice Exchange & Roundtable on Intercultural Capacity-Building in Organisations’ was hosted by The Nordic Forum for Interculture on behalf of the Platform for Intercultural Europe. It took place on 15-16 June at Spiritus Mundi’s house in Malmö, Sweden.

The meeting in Malmö consisted of two days with different approaches, - a practice exchange on the first day and a round table on the second day focusing on how to influence policy and politics. As a key perspective the meeting reflected on the Nordic strategies in a European context through mapping and distilling a number of experiences and projects.