Call for Papers - Special Issue 2025

Call for Abstract: Cultural diversity: which scenarios?

On the 20th Anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions


edited by Elena Sinibaldi and Alessandro Simonicca

On October 20, 2005, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This document represents the culmination of an international reflection on the need for legal instruments capable of safeguarding cultural diversity in the era of globalization, recognizing culture as a driver of sustainable development, cooperation and dialogue among peoples.

The 2005 Convention stands out for being the first to establish the demand and the opportunity for the States to adopt cultural policies aimed at supporting the production, distribution, and access to cultural goods and services. It emphasizes how cultural expressions, in their multiple forms—from cinema to music, from theatre to visual arts—carry identity and social values, in addition to having significant economic impacts.

Among the Convention's main objectives are:

  • Promoting the creation, production, and dissemination of diverse cultural expressions.
  • Strengthening international cooperation for the development of cultural industries, especially in developing countries.
  • Ensuring artistic freedom and the participation of communities and cultural actors.
  • Integrating culture into sustainable development strategies.

Over the nearly twenty years since its adoption, the 2005 Convention has become a global reference point for cultural policy, stimulating discussions on issues such as the balance between market forces and cultural diversity protection, the impact of digital platforms, the safeguarding of minority languages, and the role of culture in international partnership.

Today, the 2005 Convention represents a fundamental tool to address the challenges posed by contemporaneity, offering all actors and stakeholders involved (including institutions, civil society, cultural operators and brokers) a framework for the promotion of plural and inclusive creativity.

 

Possible thematic areas may include:

  • Cultural policies: Analysis of national strategies for protecting and promoting cultural diversity, including in relation to emerging cultural industries;
  • Cultural diversity in the digital age: Challenges and opportunities offered by digital technologies for the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural expressions; the impact of digital platforms on cultural plurality;
  • Intercultural dialogue and international cooperation: Experiences and practices of exchange between countries, with particular attention to the role of the Convention in promoting peace and mutual understanding;
  • Culture and sustainable development: Insights into the relationship between cultural diversity, economic growth, and social development, with a focus on developing countries;
  • Freedom of artistic expressions and community participation: Reflections on the value of freedom of expression and the involvement of local communities in the definition of cultural policies;
  • Challenges and perspectives of the Convention: Critical analysis of the effectiveness, potential, and shortcomings of the Convention in the contemporary context, also in light of new forms of creativity and transformations in the cultural sector.

 

These topics may be explored both from a theoretical perspective and through case studies, practical experiences, or international comparisons, aware of the multiplicity of meanings that cultural diversity represents for different communities.

Contributions focusing on other aspects of the Convention are also welcome and will be carefully considered by the Journal.

To submit a proposal, please send an abstract of no more than 2,000 characters (including spaces), along with a short biographical note (max. 1,000 characters), to the following address: antropologiaeteatro@unibo.it. The deadline for abstract submission is May 30, 2025. Proposals will be reviewed by the Journal by June 2025. Selected authors will be invited to submit the first full version (than 2,000 characters, including spaces) of their article by July 28, 2025.

 

For further information about criteria and author guidelines, see:

https://antropologiaeteatro.unibo.it/about/submissions

For more information, please contact: antropologiaeteatro@unibo.it

On October 17th, 2003, the 32nd session of the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The document was the result of a long debate concerning the concept of Cultural Heritage in a more comprehensive perspective and it introduced new safeguarding tools regarding the intangible dimensions of culture as an expression of cultural diversity.

For the first time, the performing arts obtained UNESCO safeguard as a living testimony and expression of intangible cultural production that we inherited from our ancestors, and we should transfer to the next generations: the Argentine tango, the theatre of Sicilian puppets, the Japanese Nōgaku, the Iranian Naqqāli, Ethiopian Timkat, or the Chinese shadow theatre (piyingxi) are some of the perfoming traditions that have been recognised by the 2003 ICH Convention.

In the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the revue «Antropologia e Teatro» promotes an international call for papers to reflect on the UNESCO initiative, focusing in particular on the relationship between the 2003 ICH Convention and the performing arts. The proposals should be written in English, Italian, or French, and will be included in a Special issue that will be published in the Fall of 2023.

The articles are expected to deal with the following topics:

  • Performing arts and international relations: laws and regulations before and after the 2003 ICH Convention;
  • Safeguarding, valorisation, and patrimonialisation: which effects on the performing arts?
  • Performing arts and intangibility: which approaches in different geographical contexts?
  • Relationship between intangible and tangible heritage (such as sound architecture): how can they relate?
  • Effectiveness, potentialities, and limits of the Convention applied to the performing arts;
  • UNESCO ICH inscriptions, performing arts, and national regulations.
  • Albeit proposals on other angles are welcome and will be thoroughly considered by the Revue.

 

Abstract proposals of max. 3.000 characters (including spaces). should be addressed to antropologiaeteatro@unibo.it, also including a biographical description of max. 1.000 characters (including spaces). The deadline for the abstract proposals is January 30th, 2022. The proposals will be evaluted by the Revue by February 2023. Selected authors will be invited to deliver the full article by May 30th, 2023.

 

For more information, please contact: antropologiaeteatro@unibo.it

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