7 June 2022
Cultural and creative sectors are among the fastest growing ones in the global economy, yet they are also two of the most vulnerable. As of 2022, cultural and creative sectors account for 3.1% of global GDP and 6.2% of all employment. In 2019, worldwide exports of cultural goods and services reached $389.1 billion, doubling in value since 2005. Yet, people who create those goods and services still have many challenges to overcome.
A recent UNESCO report entitled “Re|shaping policies for creativity: addressing culture as a global public good” is calling this a paradox.
“Public investment in culture has been declining for the last ten years. Further, working conditions are getting more precarious and dangerous for artists, as fair and sustainable pay remain distant dreams while safe spaces for free artistic expression continue to shrink at an alarming rate,” said one of the authors of the report, Ms Anupama Sekhar, addressing the audience of female creative professionals from Central Asia, during an event organized by UNESCO Almaty on May 20 on the occasion of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Full presentation of Ms Anupama Sekhar is available on the YouTube page of UNESCO Almaty.
To address the challenges faced by professionals in cultural and creative sectors in Central Asia, UNESCO Almaty is implementing the “Strengthening Digital Literacy Skills and Competencies and Promoting Gender Equality in Cultural and Creative Sectors in Central Asia” project, supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea as part of the UNESCO’s “Digital Creativity Lab”. In its frameworks UNESCO Almaty is planning to identify digital skill gaps in cultural and creative sectors, establish an online training programme, and collect and analyze data on women working in these sectors.
As part of the same event, “Art of Her” creative media-platform held the first meeting of new initiative for creative women “Ónermen Kezdesý”. This part included the presentation of Ms Togzhan Sakbayeva (Director of the gallery of contemporary art “Esentai Gallery”) entitled “Travelling and working in art residencies: why is it important and what does it take? Artist and portfolio: tips and tricks” and Ms Mimi Ilnitskaya (visual artist, designer, illustrator) entitled “Is successful illustration an inspiration or a commercial calculation?!”
On May 21, UNESCO and creative professionals around the world celebrated World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. The purpose of this day is to highlight the richness of the world’s cultures and the essential role of intercultural dialogue in achieving peace and sustainable development.
The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development provides an opportunity to better understand the values of cultural diversity and to advance the goals of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions adopted on 20 October 2005.
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/unesco-promotes-digital-literacy-and-gender-equality-in-cultural-and-creative-sectors-in