Anne Enger Lahnstein, Minister of Cultural Affairs

Opening Speech at the Symposium on “Promoting freedom of expression in the cultural field”

Holmenkollen Park Hotel Rica, Oslo, 14 September 1998

Dear colleagues, dear guests and participants.

I have the pleasure of opening the international symposium on “Promoting freedom of expression in the cultural field”.

On the agenda for the next two days are issues which directly affect the everyday lives and wellbeing of all people: the right to freely express one’s opinions, share one’s ideas and choose or create one’s own way of life without censorship or fear. Freedom of expression is a cornerstone in democratic societies, indeed it is a precondition for cultural vitality. However, freedom of speech can never be secured by constitutional rights alone. A society can be judged not only by the quality of its written constitution, but by the voices heard in the public spaces - the voices of its people, its artists and its cultural workers.

The right to free expression is not an easily defined right. Its boundaries cannot be laid down once and for all, but have to be constantly renegotiated, reconsidered and debated. Freedom of expression is only truly tested when it is challenged, and it can only be truly challenged by what we do not like. Freedom of expression is an individual human right. This frequently presents us with dilemmas. What do we do when one individual’s right to free expression, infringes on another individual’s human dignity? I am thinking in particular of racist and other expressions that run counter to the fundamental human rights.

What is certain is that there can be no free expression if we do not tolerate disagreement. We must try to foster a society of tolerance and respect, a society of responsible individuals, generous enough to accept the controversial, the foreign and the frightening, yet who never mistake generosity for indifference.

Culture lies at the core of human dignity, and secures our identities. Artists, authors, and cultural workers are the voices of our culture. They mediate our thoughts, comment on our behaviour and provoke our feelings. Society needs artists, not to say and do what we want them to say and do, but to keep us awake.

In some countries, artists and authors express themselves at the peril of their lives. One case in point is Salman Rushdie, whom I had the pleasure to meet last spring. There are many others. We should not be unaffected by their cases. We - governments and authorities, as well as each and every one of us - must not accept that artists and authors are persecuted. We have an important role to play. We can and should support the right to free expression in countries where free expression is openly repressed.

But if we live in a part of the world where the problems are less pressing, we should not become self-satisfied, and think that the job is done. Much is at stake. Without equality between different cultures, freedom of expression might be reduced to freedom of expression for the strongest.

The globalisation of the economy, as I see it, is placing local, national and minority culture at risk. Strong concentration of capital and ownership may run counter to the diversity and plurality of our cultures. The market forces are often detrimental to those cultural expressions that are not immediately profitable. As we all know, the market does not always opt for quality. Cultural standardisation - whatever its cause - is maybe the strongest threat to cultural diversity, pluralism and vitality in our societies.

What should be our strategy? We cannot shield our national and local cultures from all outside influence, nor do we wish to do so. Openness to change and creative encounters are the motor of cultural development. But change should be a matter of deliberate choice, and encounters should take place among equals. I am concerned that no dominant culture, no concentration of capital and ownership, shall be able to crush our local and national cultures and to level cultural differences.

Important tasks await us as politicians and public authorities to prevent this from happening, and to safeguard freedom of expression in general. We can pursue a cultural policy of positive incentives. We can establish viable legal frameworks. We can strive to create public spaces for artistic activity and exchange. We can make an effort to secure the livelihood of artists and cultural workers. We can provide access to the new technologies through public information centres. We must respect and nurse our local traditions. We must support and make space for our minorities, who are vulnerable to both national and global pressure.

We can provide ample space and fertile soil for the grassroots to grow, so that the next generation can reap the harvest of a society bustling with creativity, yet with a strong awareness of its traditions - a free, diverse, and flourishing society - into the next millennium.

I wish you all a fruitful conference. Thank you very much.