Cultural Debates

The Cultural Debates: A Vision for an Egyptian Cultural Policy (The 3rd Workshop)

In collaboration with the European Union, and within the framework of the Support to Cultural Diversity and Creativity in Egypt program, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is organizing a new workshop under the theme of “A Vision for an Egyptian Cultural Policy”. The event will be held between 1-2 of October, 2015 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center.

The event acquires its major significance from being the third in a series of workshops which aim to draft a cultural policy for Egypt, to be further presented to the Egyptian authorities for discussion and adoption. As the Support to Cultural Diversity and Creativity in Egypt program nears completion, the drafting of a national cultural policy for Egypt emerges as one its main assets; brought to fruition by the Cultural Debates activity which discusses ways of improving the cultural sector in Egypt, and where experts and policy makers are invited to discuss and make recommendations regarding drafting a national cultural policy for Egypt.

Through its scheduled 12 debates, which examined various themes from the Egyptian cultural scene, the Cultural Debates project successfully managed to create a think-tank consisting of young and senior intellectuals, cultural operators, artists, ministry officials and public authorities amongst others, to assess the current cultural situation; the main players in the country and the challenges to be addressed. Whilst these debates form the main activity of the Cultural Debates, the workshops emerge as a key-element in the project and as an important follow-up to what has been achieved, as they are specifically designed to discuss the results of the cultural debates; with each of the four scheduled workshops focusing on examining three previous debates. Taking the results of the debates into account, participants at the workshops will engage in a structured dialogue to make recommendations on drafting an Egyptian cultural policy. Furthermore, a final workshop will be conducted for final review and discussion of the produced draft.

Focusing on strategies for promoting culture diversity as its main theme, the workshop will discuss the “Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS): Egypt’s Vision 2030” policy document, developed by Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform with the aim of providing a long-term vision and a sustainable development strategy for the country until the year 2030. In addition to reviewing the results of three of the cultural debates that have been previously implemented within the project, the workshop will also address a number of topics including: the future of culture in Egypt, creativity and the contemporary Egyptian character, and the role of civil society and cultural institutions in the promotion of culture.