Ambassador Tevdovski, prominent scholar, lecturer, diplomat and cultural manager, shares some important aspects of cultural diplomacy. Ljuben Tevdovski has two decades of experience on leading positions in educational, scientific and governmental institutions and nongovernmental organizations. Among his fields of expertise and research are cultural studies, cultural and public diplomacy, international relations, anthropology, theory and history of archaeology and classical archaeology. Ambassador Tevdovski served as: Macedonian Ambassador to Canada, Public Diplomacy Advisor and Member of the Foreign Policy Council of the President of Macedonia, Chief of the Department of National Priorities of the MFA, Deputy Director of Research of the Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, Director of the Museum of the City of Skopje, Member of the Governing Board of the National Dance Ensemble, Public Diplomacy on the Macedonian Diplomatic Academy…

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Culture as vehicle of global dialog

”Globalization will be a force for diversity and not uniformity.”[1]

Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States

 

Culture is the absolute imperative of our lives, the lives of our communities, and the relations we have with the others. And while we are convinced that culture is all around us, we are still unaware that it is in every word, or gesture, or thought of ours. Because, as Professor Holfstade suggests “culture is the software of our mind”; therefore culture is what we really are. Considering such transcendent dimensions of this unique global phenomenon, we are urged and obliged to constantly re-explore in depth its nature and characteristics, and its capacities to help and unite nations and people around the globe.

In the era of globalization, more and more scientists, and especially the sociologists and social psychologists, are strongly emphasizing the importance of culture and cultural identities in understanding global relations. The effects of the cultural globalization are shaping some of the most important global developments, and suggesting paths for the future of the world.

The cultural globalization is rapidly pluralizing and reviving the contemporary international cultural dynamics. It imposes a new pace of cultural exchange, where nations continuously and actively urge to present and propose their values, identity and aspirations, but in the same time they are exposed to the ideas, ideals and values of the others.

In this increased interaction, nations and cultures enter into dialogues and debates, and inspire each other, but they also misunderstand and misinterpret each-others’ messages and many times clash badly. This is why, culture has crucial role in the contemporary global relations, and all its careless and spontaneous forms and expressions carry great responsibility for the future of all nations and people in the world. In this context, the role and importance of cultural relations, and cultural exchange and understanding, has dramatically increased, and it is becoming one of the most prominent stages of the global interaction among states, but more importantly among the people themselves.

 

Understanding Culture: Culture through History!

 

The existence of all people, nations, states and civilizations on this planet are linked with the word culture. This makes culture one of the most important and most universal words, symbolizing the mankind.  This word, with its’ ambiguity and wide-range, expresses, often in the same time, the over-all life of a social entity (community, nation, state, etc.) and the high-lights and universal values that such a society is producing and projecting.

The recognized highlights of a particular culture were, for a long period, identified as the only legitimate representation and representatives of the Culture of a particular society. In the past, and especially in the more static historical periods, culture was equalized to the so-called ‘high culture’, closely related to the ‘elites’, the socially, economically and educational privileged layers in the society. This ‘elite’ culture, born in the castles of the kings and aristocrats represented the identity of the aristocrats, but also tended to represent the people and nations that they were governing. During many centuries the privileged groups in such societies were embracing, supporting and promoting the artistic and cultural life in the regions they were governing and many times in the neighboring regions and societies.

Thus, the development of the culture, art, drama, poetry, sculpture, theatre, music and many creative and scientific inventions, owes much to these privileged sponsors, and so do many contemporary nations and the civilization itself. Neither the geometry, nor the pyramids would be born without the pharaohs, nor could the Christian art blossom through Europe without Charlemagne, nor the genius work of art and science of Leonardo da Vinci, would be possible without the support of the French king Francois I.

While the elite was supporting culture to promote their honor, power and self-identification, many of them have also encouraged strongly and advanced the interaction among different cultures, and the promotion of new ideas and identities, as result of such amalgamation process. The ambitious imperialism of Alexander the Great has mixed cultures, art, religions and beliefs in the Mediterranean and in faraway lands, more than ever before in history; the might of the Arab rulers of Spain has created the most beautiful combinations and fusions of the Arabic and European (western) culture, producing marvelous examples of art, music, architecture, but also philosophy and mentality so specific for the Mediterranean region. Finally, the last and largest imperialism in the world, the British Empire, though born in the European royal geo-strategic contests, brought amazing intercultural proliferation through all continents, creating new nations and influencing the contemporary identity of some of the oldest civilizations in the world.

On the other hand, the wider anthropological understanding of culture incorporates a broad range of religious, ethnic, political, and creative practices, characteristic for the life of the wider community, or a society. It involves the life and interaction of the people in the community, their diverse personal believes and identities, reflecting also their social status, region, class and gender. Thus, for contemporary anthropologists and ethnologists the “pottery culture” of the people of Ancient Macedonia and Ancient Egypt, their art, trade, or burial customs, is equally engaging, subtle and complex as the temples and sphinxes of their rulers, or the gorgeous royal tombs near ancient Aigae and Thebes.

The frames of such understanding of culture are reflected in the United Nations’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its’ Article 27(1) states that: ‘Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.’[2]

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[1] Speech of President Clinton, The First White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy, (Washington DC, November 28, 2000), p. 4, available on http://www.state.gov/r/whconf/final_rpt.pdf, (accessed May 20, 2008).

[2] Kirsten Bound, Rachel Briggs, J. Holden, Samuel Jones, Cultural Diplomacy, Demos, London, 2007