“I find the lack of real participation by everyone quite surprising, especially given the security issues that have been repeatedly raised. Measures to reduce social tensions cannot be based solely on public order and security; these plans usually have very limited results. These tensions often stem from the feeling of not being heard or included. An emphasis on participation in a bottom-up approach will, in my opinion, help reduce frustration, as it helps everyone feel part of the social fabric.”
Preliminary findings and observations, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, Santiago, April 5, 2024
Much is said about the social value that culture brings to improving people’s quality of life. It plays a fundamental role in the expression/s of the diversities that make up our personal and collective experiences, in promoting social cohesion, in the construction of common meanings and experiences, in mental health and general well-being.
Culture per se suggests to us learning, experiences, reflections, debates, encounters… Intense discussions have recently begun at a local and global level about the integration of culture and heritage into public policies in a concrete way and with a long-term view, not only by providing a larger budget to the portfolios that “manage” it, but also by integrating these concepts into social policies as a right, into the value of culture as a public and/or shared good, and into the urgent need to provide the State with concrete tools where the analysis of the various symbolic systems that compose it can be incorporated.
For the above reasons, it is urgent to reflect on the important role that cultural spaces acquire from a collective perspective, contributing to the necessary well-being, benefit and value that they represent for the community/ies and the various groups that comprise them. It is known that, in our country, we have a robust cultural infrastructure network that is unique in Latin America, a public policy that has been executed as a State policy, beyond the governments in power and that has had different results according to the way it is managed.
There are also many private spaces and projects that have undoubtedly made a fundamental contribution to the development of our country, many of them (large and small) carried out with the simple conviction that culture and decent work are essential for our society, promoting a model of autonomous citizen participation, focused on self-management and local creation.
Today, we are witnessing a moment of analysis, where it is necessary to view cultural infrastructures as a public good, which promotes and contributes to the employability of cultural workers by ensuring decent and formal conditions – at present Chile does not have specific legislation for cultural workers – living entities that energize and contribute to the economy (some even incorporating into their models the encounter between tourism, culture and heritage), to the appropriation of public space as a safe and cared for place, where people go not only to see an artistic product, but to live a personal and shared experience.
Of course, we are also faced with big questions and challenges: how can we enhance the role of these spaces through management, financing and thinking? How do we encourage collective reflection and provide safe places for communities? How do we promote the continuity of public policies that put people at the centre beyond the immediate and effective? How do we reduce the gaps in work between the private and public sectors in order to manage spaces?
We live in times of abrupt and constant changes, where decisions must be made with a vision of the future and with a sustainable projection over time. Public policies should contribute with more tools and budgets to the management of cultural infrastructures, in this way they are dynamic and ensure adequate jobs and social security for creators (increasingly precarious), diverse content and programs, exchanges between artistic communities and citizens, among many others.
Institutions should also incorporate evaluation and constant reflection on their mission, to whom they are directed, and how they relate, understanding that they play, as a whole, a primary role in social encounter and respectful debate, so necessary in these times.
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