CAF participates in opening of IFACCA 8th General Assembly

In the context of the opening of the World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mondiacult) 2022 to be held in Mexico this year, the 8th General Assembly of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) was kicked off at Mexico City’s National Museum of Arts (MUNAL).

Ángel Cardenas Sosa, Manager of Urban Development and Water and Creative Economies at CAF—development bank of Latin America—, was joined on the opening panel by Canada Council for the Arts Director and CEO and IFACCA President Simon Brault, IFACCA Executive Director Magdalena Moreno Mujica, among others.

The main topics discussed included: how to rethink the cultural and creative sectors to make them become drivers of sustainable development and inclusion. While the pandemic reaffirmed the relevance of the cultural sector in job creation, exposed its vulnerability due to the size of the informal economy, it also demonstrated how arts and culture are resilient in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic.  Furthermore, Ángel Cardenas noted that work with governments is necessary to devise policies that help reverse informality, and affirmed that “culture and creativity cannot be survival jobs.”

“Latin America needs to capitalize on its two main assets, namely biodiversity and cultural diversity. Both assets, when well used, make us competitive for the transformations arising from the fourth industrial revolution, the same transformations that are arriving,” said Angel Cardenas. He acknowledged that creative and cultural industries should be regarded as an option for inclusion as they create decent, competitive jobs. “Our aim should be to develop the sector and foster more creative and cultural jobs,” he said.

IFACAA represents public institutions that aim to promote arts and culture through economic investment, public policies and promotion. IFACCA members share the vision that arts and culture represent a public asset that should be promoted and valued.