Community radio, arts council & mobility fund for artists - Goa promotes a stronger cultural and creative industry sector
Setting up a new community radio station, cultural industry market infrastructures such as book fairs, or a mobility fund for artists to travel and exchange their work globally are some of the main recommendations highlighted in the final report issued as a result of a special pilot workshop held in the Indian State to strengthen policies for the cultural and creative Industries.
The workshop organized by UNESCO Delhi and Goa's Directorate of Art and Culture on 20-21 August 2016, brought together decision makers, artists and civil society and was a starting point for attempts to lay the foundations for re-modelling cultural policies countrywide.
India is currently rooting out new ways of benefiting better from the creative industries and on how integrate them into supporting sustainable development across the continent. Workshop participants were given a better insight into the workings of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and were shown how it can support them.
As part of the recommendations from the workshop, Prasad Lolayekar, Director, Directorate of Art and Culture Goa, emphasized the need for an Arts Council to be established. Future plans for the Directorate were also outlined, including having a larger group of people involved in making recommendations for the creative sector and bringing in other government departments to ensure concrete action on recommendations. Participants also agreed on devising policies and schemes for the sector only after recommendations from a larger more representative group, including civil society and creative professionals, are made. Other plans include making corporate social responsibility mandatory for companies in Goa so that the creative industries can benefit from private partnerships and strengthening book fairs and art spaces in the state.
Encouraging arts and culture organizations to reinforce the role and representation of women in the culture industry sector was also considered as one of the main priorities for the future.
UNESCO New Delhi plans to support the Government of Goa in establishing innovative tools such as co-working spaces and will provide technical advice on the setting up of Community Radio. It will also pursue consultations in different States in India on the role of the creative economy fueling sustainable development.
Talks with the Secretariat of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is held in Goa, to introduce film screenings for visually impaired people on the occasion of the next festival in November 2016 are also underway. In the long term UNESCO New Delhi will also be collaborating with the Government of Goa to monitor and review its cultural policy in line with the monitoring framework developed for the implementation of the 2005 Convention.
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