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UNESCO World Forum on Culture a Success

Tom Aageson — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:00:37 +0000

The first UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries which was attended by representatives from 50 nations with a great success. Officials of the Italian and regional government of Lombardy, where Monza is located, created a magnificent event. Denise Bax of UNESCO played a key role in the success of the Forum. The Forum was held in the Ville Real, a beautifully restored 18th century palace which was the perfect setting for a gathering around culture and creativity.

The UNESCO Director-General, Mr. Matsuura, opened the World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries with insightful comments on how globalization can also work in the favor of cultural enterprises. The Italian Minister of Culture, Mr. Bondi, gave a stirring speech about the importance of culture in Italy. He pointed out that Italy has over 80,000 cultural enterprises. Clearly the Europeans understand that culture plays a huge role in economic development. Most countries have a Minister of Culture, and important budgets to support their activities. We do not have such a cabinet position for the USA except in New Mexico where we have a Cabinet Secretary for Cultural Affairs.

My presentation on “New Strategies for Cultural Enterprises” prompted good questions and it is viewable on slideshare.net. My co-panelists were Marcella Echevarria, CEO of Surevolution, and Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. Both are innovative designers and their presentations were excellent.

Many of the presentations from the Forum will be up on a UNESCO web site soon, and when they let me know, I’ll post about it here.

It is gratifying to see how we have progressed in five years to the point where we now have a global platform to discuss cultural enterprises, cultural industries and the important role of cultural entrepreneurs in the local and the global Cultural Economy.

UNESCO World Forum on Culture Memorable Moments

Tom Aageson — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:40:09 +0000

There were many memorable moments at the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries. It is clear that cities and regions are focusing on cultural clusters which means they are gathering cultural enterprises into close proximity to each other to promote synergy between them. From Milan to Zenchen City outside of Hong Kong, cities and regions are very dedicated to supporting specific cultural clusters. It seems the current thinking is that the best investment of public funds is in the culture clustural approach, which allows for innovation to flourish, synergy can occur and networks are created. It is a strategy for of us involved in building cultural clusters to consider.

The Fundacion Prada and the Hermes Foundation were present. The foundations are supported by luxury goods companies who to this day employ highly skilled artisans. What is significant to me is that both of these foundations promote culture and cultural industries.

It was good to reunite with Nilda Callanaupa of The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco whose work to revive Peruvian textiles is widely recognized and admired.

Felissimo was represented by the creaive and entrepreneurial Haruko Smith. Felissimo has supported young designers for years and continues to collaborate with UNESCO in order to promote promosing designers.

Tony Pigott of Brandaid Project spoke eloquently at the Forum about the importance of brand development for cultural enterprises. The purpose of Brandaid is to create a strong brand for individual artist groups. The first Brandaid Project was this past September with two Haitian folk artist groups. Brandaid Project created logos and marketing material for the artists of Jacmel and Croix de Bouquet. The introduction of the two groups was held in New York. The brand development for the two artist groups developed by Tony and his team caught the attention of the mainstream media.

Cultural Entrepreneur: A New Definition

Tom Aageson — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:04 +0000

What is a cultural entrepreneur?

New fields of development begin with ideas and then need the practical applied. With the practical comes the need for definitions. Over the last couple of years my definition for a cultural entrepreneur has evolved and I would like to share it with you now.

Cultural Entrepreneurs are cultural change agents and resourceful visionaries who organize cultural, financial, social and human capital, to generate revenue from a cultural activity. Their innovative solutions result in economically sustainable cultural enterprises that enhance livelihoods and create cultural value and wealth for both creative producers and consumers of cultural services and products.

This definition first appeared in Cultures and Globalization: The Cultural Economy published by Sage Publications. It is an important book that was just released a year ago. Raj Isar, the Jean Monnet professor of Cultural Policy Studies at The American University of Paris, a friend, edited the book with Helmut Anheier of UCLA.

Let me know your reaction to this definition.