Creativity and cultural policies in the digital era this year at Gnaoua Festival’s Human Rights Forum
The National Human Rights Council (CNDH), jointly with the Gnaoua and World Music Festival hold on 30 June -1 July, 2017 in Essaouira, Morocco, their sixth Human Rights Forum on Creativity and cultural policies in the digital era.
Artists and experts in digital and contemporary art froms from Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Belgium, Norway and Senegal, will take part at the debates of the forum.
The world of culture has become very digitally influenced. As with all other sectors of public life, cultural creativity now passes through digital tools, imposing new ways of reading, listening, watching and consuming art. But this is not the only revolution in progres.
Our daily lives have become very digitally influenced. Today there are applications for almost everything; health, education of children, citizen mobilization, fundraising, etc. The world of art and culture is no exception. Signs are everywhere.
A few years ago, Google launched a huge project to digitize, at very high definition, 57,000 major artworks, from 230 of the most prestigious museums in the world.
In 2013, Amazon launched an online marketplace for fine art. In all, 40,000 artworks from 150 international galleries are on sale ... just one click away!
In Morocco, more than 18 million Moroccans have access now to the internet. The whole African continent is catching up. Different speed, different rates, in each country through, CNDH President Driss El Yazami said.
But “We cannot just be satisfied with the overall numbers of people connected to the internet”. This actually says nothing about the great economic, geographical and socio-cultural disparities that lay behind. “The digital divide is real”, he concluded.
The forum discussions will evolve around four main points: the digital influence in areas such as live arts, publishing, cinema, music, etc.; diversity in the digital era; the new art forms in the digital era; and public policies and actions of all stakeholders concerned.
In addition to music and arts, the Ganaoua Festival has partnered with the National Human Rights Council, since 2012, to create a space for debate and discussions at the Festival, an opportunity to exchange with national and international stakeholders on current issues.
The two first forums were devoted to youth and culture in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Africa was the theme of the forum for the last three years: history in 2014, African women in 2015, and African diasporas in 2016.