On 30 October, ASEF Culture organised the webinar ‘Rethinking Cultural Diplomacy: Innovative Approaches and Collaborative Strategies’ to reflect on how the principles and ways of working highlighted in How Do We Navigate Cultural Diplomacy? Key Learnings, Challenges and Takeaways, can be applied to the current landscape of cultural diplomacy. 

Facilitated by Valentina Riccardi, Director of the Culture Department, ASEF, the session gathered insights from 5 speakers across Asia and Europe in the cultural sector, who revisited the definition and scope of cultural diplomacy, providing perspectives on what it can mean and what can be done around it. The conversation also touched on the future of cultural diplomacy, asking where we can go but also where we want to go. 

Here are 5 key takeaways and perspectives presented, as we look at rethinking cultural diplomacy. 

1. Are we cultural diplomats? 

One common thread which emerged was how the speakers saw themselves in the field of cultural diplomacy – what their role was and how they related to the term. 

While the terms ‘cultural diplomacy’, ‘cultural relations’, ‘soft power’ all belong within the same semantic field and share many common features, there was nonetheless a lack of a universally agreed upon definition of these terms. In the experiences of the speakers, this conceptual confusion often led to most not realising that they were already engaging and contributing to cultural diplomacy in a way, through their cross-border interactions and cultural exchanges. 

Regardless of definition, the speakers agreed that what was more important was how we approached cultural diplomacy, which should be underpinned by the principles of reciprocity, trust building and enhancing mutual understanding across different groups.   

With the understanding that cultural diplomacy will mean different things to different actors and will be practiced differently, the question then as posed by Malaya Del Rosario, an arts and creative economy consultant, was when one considers the power dynamics, histories and trajectories of Asia and Europe, ‘how do you build trust in an unequal context’? 

While there isn’t an easy and straightforward answer to this, cultural sensitivity is key when working across different contexts. Giannalia Cogliandro Beyens, Secretary General of the European Network on Cultural Management and Policy (ENCATC), suggests that through education and capacity building, the skills and competencies in developing a mindset of empathy and awareness of cultural differences can help ease cross cultural relations and collaborations. 

"And I believe that today, through education, we need to provide the skills and competencies, that allow to develop a mindset of culture external relations in our activities." –  Giannalia Cogliandro Beyens

2. Where is culture in strengthening ASEAN-EU ties and cooperation? 

Dr David Ocón offered some insights from his latest co-authored research, ‘Enhancing ASEAN-EU Relations through Cultural Cooperation Realities and Unexplored Potential’. He pointed out that while there is willingness and efforts to cooperate in fields such as economic, sustainable development and security amongst two of the most significant regional entities, the cultural dimension has nonetheless been extremely limited at the multilateral level, with lack of funding being cited as one of the main hurdles.  

Given the importance of multilateral cultural exchanges in fostering mutual understanding and addressing global challenges, why and how can culture strengthen and complement the cultural cooperation already present in the two entities?

With professional development, mobility and exchange opportunities, promotion of large-scale multilateral cultural events and more highlighted as priority areas for collaboration, the challenge with this though is, who leads on these initiatives?

collaborations. 

“Who will basically provide the space, the place, the mechanism to get the things going?” – Dr David Ocón

3. A strategic approach from the EU to international cultural relations

Dr Gaia Danese of the European External Action Service (EEAS), shares that the EU has shifted from a unilateral soft power approach, that connotes promoting a country’s reputation and attractiveness, to one focused on international cultural relations, prioritising co-creation, reciprocity, intercultural and mutual dialogue.

While it is an important acknowledgment that the EU values people to people relations and mutuality, Dr Gaia Danese stressed that international cultural relations can only work if they involve levels of stakeholders, from civil society and grassroots organisations to governments.

Keeping this multi-stakeholder approach in mind, the EEAS has been making attempts to ensure greater coherence and coordination in their work. For instance, creating an informal taskforce that manages cross-border initiatives of the EU, track funding and identify partners. 

Steps have also been taken by the EEAS to implement this multilateral approach in Asia and ASEAN, with training programmes aimed at strengthening the roles of cultural focal points of the EU delegations being developed.

“International cultural relations are key. But they can work only if they are done together with all stakeholders. And all stakeholders mean states, government, but also people, civil societies, private sector.” – Dr Gaia Danese

4. The role of vulnerability

In response to a question from the audience about whether cultural diplomacy uncovers deeper, intricate and social cultural realities within countries, Clymene Christoforou, director of D6: Culture in Transit, suggested that cultural diplomacy is a shorthand often framed as a carefully curated display of a nation’s ‘best’, rather than offering a space for a more genuine cultural exchange. Such a nation-centered and top-down approach can be limiting.

Clymene suggests breaking away from these entrenched patterns and instead embracing and expressing one’s vulnerabilities for more horizontal, trusting and authentic relationships to be fostered between countries. 

“But only by expressing our vulnerability, can we build trust and empathy with other countries. We very rarely do diplomatic projects that say, look how rubbish we've been on this, what our problems were, look at what our challenges were. We show the thing that we are most proud of at the end of the day. So these kinds of conversations are so important and we can see small examples.” – Clymene Christoforou

5.  Collaboration, openness and flexibility 

As the conversation drew to a close, there was a strong consensus that the future of cultural diplomacy hinges on collaboration, openness and flexibility. 

Malaya offered a critical perspective that cultural diplomacy in Southeast Asia and Europe often stem from differing motivations. Funding for international cultural exchange programmes in Southeast Asia tends to come from the foreign affairs office or international development agencies.  Cultural diplomacy in the region is hence often tied to foreign policy objectives and leaves little room for creative artistic expression. 

Such reflections point to a need for greater autonomy in the arts sector. Stronger conversations between civil society and governments should happen to ensure the celebration of culture for its intrinsic value remains central and less politically driven.

“What's stopping us from collaborating more?” – Malaya Del Rosario 

Barriers that impede international collaborations are also often related to the issues of cultural mobility, as highlighted by Clymene. Conversations with the government sector need to revolve around empowering the arts and culture sector, addressing impediments such as visas, financial support and access to international networks, to encourage cross border cultural exchanges. 

Meanwhile, Giannalia and Gaia emphasised the importance of resource sharing. We have to break down the silos that each sector works independently and instead look towards adopting a more cross-sectoral mindset from the outset. A more organised and accessible platform where to find information and knowledge in the sector could be a strong starting point.

A multilateral approach was a key point brought up by David, one that involves different voices and various levels of stakeholders, often helps soften the political agendas of cultural diplomacy. This was echoed by ASEF’s Culture Director, Valentina who agrees that multilateral platforms such as the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) can play a vital role in broadening the conversation to involve everyone, including the less represented and visible voices and groups.

Moving Forward

The discussions from the webinar pointed at early steps towards some sort of change in the future of cultural diplomacy. The session also raised questions for further exploration: How can cultural diplomacy evolve to be more inclusive of civil society and other non-state actors? How do we navigate and strike a balance between being less about showcasing 'the best' of a nation and more about sharing one’s cultural complexities and challenges? Who leads and serves as the right interlocutor to facilitate further cooperation? 

Instead of resisting change, perhaps new possibilities in the field can be found when more collective conversations happen.

Missed the webinar? Watch the recording and the transcript of the webinar is also available here:

ASEF would like to thank the following speakers for their valuable contributions to ‘Rethinking Cultural Diplomacy: Innovative Approaches and Collaborative Strategies’:

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