International Cooperation and World Conference on Culture and Art Education 

Max Wyman, President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO

Max Wyman, a renowned culture critic and former president of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, first raised the issue of art education and was known as a representative expert for art education in Canada. Last May, he talked with us about art education in Canada and gave us the background to the World Conference on Culture and Art Education in Ottawa, Canada.

[Interview]

Su-min Kwak : Thank your time, Mr. Wyman.

Mr. Wyman: My pleasure, I am glad to have an opportunity to share ideas and information with other people and countries. It is very important.

Su-min Kwak : First of all, I want to know more about the historical background for the World Conference. How did the ideas about the World Conference first start to develop into concrete plans? Can you share your experience when you first joined the preparation process for the World Conference on Culture and Art Education?

Wyman: The World Conference was officially started in 1999 in Paris. The General Director of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, appealed in 1999 to develop art education and promote creativity as a part of an effort to peacefully establish culture. He suggested a comprehensive approach to art education that cultural entities, communities, and families can take part in. Art education has been defined to encompass all the words spoken and written, visual art, music, drama, dance, and films. At the same time, UNESCO decided to open the Link to Education and Art (Lea International) website for experts and performers to strengthen the role of art education in our general education programs. It also developed the ideas for opening the World Conference related to art education.

At that time that was not a completely new idea. The World Congress on the Status of the Artist held in Paris, 1977 and the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development held in Stockholm, 1998, reaffirmed the critical role of art education in terms of teaching the diversity of art and culture.

Canada had played a major part in the Stockholm Conference, and called on UNESCO to create an "international agreement for the protection and improvement of diversity in cultural expression." Canada is the only country to broaden the understanding of those ideas in the past decade. In 1997 the Canadian Music Educators Association and the Canadian Conference of the Arts Canada held a National Symposium on Arts Education for the first time in Cape Breton, Canada, and we are determined to start discussion on art education from a governmental level by supporting artists, educators, managers, and teachers.

The World Conference of Art Education served as a wakeup call for experts about art education to coordinate and consolidate. Under the common goal of "Arts and Learning: A Call for Action," an association was formed by several forums and conferences held at the start of 2003 in Canada: Canadian Conference of the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Public Arts Founders, and Canadian Council of Ministers of Education. Their mission is "to renew the awareness of the role and effect of art and creativity as educational strategy for schools and local communities in Canada and to explore and make a pool of partners who can provide new vision for art and education in Canada." The goal of the association is to continuously reflect the importance of these principles in public policies.

This group of experts opened a series of councils across Canada to lay some groundwork for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO from 2004 to 2005, the Europe Region Preparatory Conference in Vilnius in 2005, and the World Conference in Portugal in 2006. The council chose four themes: Advocate the value of art education, promote the effects of art education, create strategic policies for art education, and strengthen teacher education. The result of the discussion was published as a two-volume report and submitted to the Vilnius meetings and the World Conference. The reports have been highly appreciated and are now accessible on www.unesco.ca both in English and French.

At the same time, regional expert conferences were held in Finland, Fiji, Jordan, Republic of South Africa, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Trinidad and Tobago, Columbia, Australia, and Korea. Personally, out of all the events, the Asia Pacific Preparatory Conference was very meaningful as a highlight for all the processes. In fact, in terms of striking a balance of the ideas and action in execution, I think Korea and Canada along with Portugal, the venue of the previous conference, played the role of global leaders.

Eventually the World Conference of Art Education was a success, with about 1200 people from 100 member countries and several international NGOs participating, such as the International Society for Education through Art, the International Society for Music Education, and International Drama and the Theatre Education Association.

Su-min Kwak: Who took the central role in the preparatory activity and what did they do in detail?

Wyman: Teresa Wagner and her colleagues from UNESCO Paris did most of the preparatory work along with an international advisory board and support members. The Portuguese government supported them through the Portuguese National Commission.

Su-min Kwak: What kinds of difficulties did you face during the preparation and what are the major accomplishments?

Wyman: in principle, the challenge was to maintain a clear vision on the positive results from the World Conference. To talk about the major accomplishment of the World Conference, the aforementioned three NGOs formed an international partnership called the "World Alliance for Arts Education" or WAAE with over 1 million members through the World Conference and the conference was a bridge to connect the goals of the people in art education to UNESCO. Also, the "Art Education Roadmap" was drawn up at the World Conference to confirm and suggest the purpose, concept, strategy, and direction of art education. Above all, the good news is that Korea has announced it will host the 2nd World Conference on Art Education within five years to follow the recommendations of the roadmap in Lisbon and to further build on the momentum for common goals.

Su-min Kwak: Can you tell me what impacts did the 1st World Conference had on the art education in Canada?

Wyman: From a more comprehensive point of view, the Conference was very significant for building art education. Here I am talking about the importance of education for art, of the art, and by the art. It had also provided an opportunity to consider more urgent questions of not only the social role of art, imbued with creativity and imagination, the role of culture and cultural heritage, the coexistence of traditional, and modern practical art along with other issues but also promoting awareness, cooperation, and study.

In this context, the World Conference was very meaningful to reaffirm the actions of individuals and extensively related organizations to improve art education. The National Arts and Learning Symposium attended by the delegation from the Korean government was a direct result of our effort to continue the push for and promotion of art education that we started in Lisbon. That has advanced a step further when Queens University was announced as a UNESCO Chair in the area of art and education.

Su-min Kwak: I assume the 2nd World Conference would be in line with the 1st Conference. In what direction do you think the 2nd World Conference will take us?

Wyman: The first step in the preparation for the next conference in Seoul is to locate where we stand now. In cooperation with other UNESCO member countries, we can do some international research on the action and outcome after Lisbon and based on that information we would come up with an international action plan for the Lisbon roadmap.

Su-min Kwak: Do you have a roadmap or suggestions for art educators or the Korean government?

Wyman: It is obvious we need more effort and promotional activities to raise the awareness not only in Paris but internationally if we want art education to become a major factor in global education and part of UNESCO’’s education policies. Also, the basic agenda for the next World Conference should be to raise the awareness of the value of art education. I think during the preparatory process, reaching a consensus with some of the same minded member countries’’ representatives located in UNESCO headquarters in Paris on the budget allocation and detailed plans for the 2010 World Conference might also help. Thank you for your time.