The Minister of Cultural Affairs Mrs Ellen Horn

International Peace Conference Norway 2000 and International European Youth Music Festival

Royal Garden, Trondheim, May 31st 2000

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to begin by telling the Trondheim Solistene how much I enjoyed their performance just now. This ensemble is one of the best groups of young musicians we have in Norway. I would also like to mention how proud I am that almost everyone of these young musicians began their musical careers as students at the Norwegian municipal music schools.

Norway is a country with many names – "the land of oil", "the birthplace of skiing", "the land of the midnight sun", "the land of the trolls".

Today I would like to welcome you to "Norway, the home of the music school", or even, in time, to "Norway, the home of the school of music and the arts".

One of the reasons we feel that we deserve this title is because Norway is the only country in all Europe where every municipality is required by law to make music and the arts available in its school system.

This legislation ensures that all children and young people, wherever they live, will have access to a music school or a school of music and the arts which is run in cooperation with the school system and the cultural community as a whole. This legislation is based on the social-democratic view of equal educational opportunities for all children throughout the country. And this view is, of course, very welcome to a minister in the Labour Government.

The goal of the Norwegian school of music and the arts is to promote talent, diversity and quality, and we are confident that the European Youth Music Festival 2000 will faithfully reflect this goal.

A cultural event like this devoted to young people is far more than just a gigantic music festival. It involves 10 000 participants between the ages of 12 and 25 from over 20 European countries, who are meeting in Norway’s fourth largest city.

Music and other cultural modes of expression are an international language that can be enjoyed and understood by everyone. An event like this can help make contact across cultural and national boundaries, and can, by virtue of its special nature, help to promote friendship, peace and understanding between people.

This past Easter I was invited to Israel on an official visit. While I was there I spoke a great deal about the key role I believe culture can play in efforts to build peace between people, including the people of the Middle East. I would like to repeat what I said then:

"Peace cannot be brought about only through treaties, it must be written in the hearts and minds of men and women, and especially in the hearts of young people throughout the world. This is why I believe in the crucial role of culture as a force promoting integration and peaceful coexistence of people in societies. The arts and the cultures have at their core knowledge and values. They evolve and grow in a process of creative interchange. Culture – in all its forms – is not only tradition but also creation. This is why it has a part to play in pre-empting conflict. Culture in its most meaningful sense implies tolerance, since openness to others is the condition of creativity and spiritual development. Tolerance involves recognition that the essential feature human beings share is their uniqueness and creativity.

Peace cannot simply amount to the void left by the end of violence or the absence of war. Peace is only conceivable as a result of effort and mutual recognition, of constant understanding and respect."

On this basis I believe that by giving children and young people the opportunity to learn how to express themselves through music and other art forms, we can make a vital contribution to creating a world built on greater respect for other human beings and cultures, thereby creating a more peaceful world.

We constantly receive news reports from all over Europe about the growing use of narcotics among young people, and about the violence, the gangs and a world that is becoming harsher and harsher for everyone. The political authorities in each country are paying a high price to reverse these trends, and large sums are being paid out for emergency measures to repair the damage that is being done. An additional problem is that politicians and political groups cannot agree on the best way to combat these problems.

In my position as Minister of Cultural Affairs, I would like to emphasize how essential I feel it is to give cultural efforts the prominence they deserve as a major area of investment. This applies especially to providing educational opportunities for future generations. I regard the cultural sphere as an absolutely vital priority for the future – an area that will have great influence in both the short term and the long term. I believe that by building a society where culture is allowed to flourish, society as a whole will benefit economically.

I presume that those of you who work with music and the cultural sector share my view that extra funding should be invested in cultural projects for young people as a preventive measure.

Students at schools of music and the arts have realized that it is exciting to work together across cultural borders, and that it is satisfying to feel part of a group that shares one’s interests. It is also rewarding to draw inspiration from an educational atmosphere and a school that does not emphasize only grades and scholastic achievements, but quality of life, individual development and positive experiences.

These are precisely the qualities that the Norwegian school of music and the arts is trying to encourage, and this is why we do not doubt for a moment that the development of this type of school will be one of the most important challenges we will face as we embark upon the new millennium.

In "Norway, the home of the music school", it is widely accepted that investing in music for young people will make a vital contribution to the world of tomorrow, both in Norway and in the rest of Europe. There has been little debate on this subject, but there is a big difference between agreeing on the importance of music and the arts and actually spending money on giving individuals the opportunity for aesthetic experiences. There are still some people who claim that culture is a luxury that should be reserved for those who can afford to pay the full cost.

We hope and believe that this festival will convince these people that they are quite wrong. We want the festival to direct attention to the importance of devoting resources to the development of schools of music and the arts, and we believe that the money invested in these schools will yield a profit far beyond anything that a bank could hope to offer.

The thrill of playing a musical instrument, the sense of community, the meaningful use of leisure time, and "good vibrations" – all these are qualities that an event of this kind can promote. Because this is about more than merely learning how to play an instrument, just as music education in Norwegian music schools involves more than mere technical proficiency.

Learning how to master cultural modes of expression promotes empathy and adaptability, because the performer must try to define what he or she wants to communicate to the audience, and how this can be accomplished in a personal and creative way.

Music and other creative modes of expression stimulate and intensify our feelings, help us to know ourselves better, and give us the courage to investigate our own untried talents.

Investing in culture promotes a better quality of life and encourages joy and spontaneity, whether you come from Spain, Germany, Poland, Liechtenstein or for that matter Norway.

If all this is true, it is obvious that increased investment in children’s and young people’s encounters with music and other creative modes of expression could have a decisive effect on future developments in Europe.

In the contemporary world, all sorts of leisure activities are competing for children’s attention, and the media and modern information technology are gaining ever greater influence. This means that creativity and a sense of quality are more and more important if we are to cope with the massive doses of information that are constantly overwhelming us.

Investing in the school of music and the arts will give us additional benefits. Research has shown that cultural skills serve to develop people’s personalities, and that children and young people are particularly receptive to these benefits. Accomplishments of this nature make the individual versatile, strengthen his or her identity, are socially inclusive, have a preventive effect as regards health, and even improve children’s and young people’s motivation to go to school. Significant results can be achieved in these areas by investing in culture for children and young people.

We not only believe, we know that this youth music festival will help to increase our understanding of why the combination of culture and young people is so effective. This is why we have worked so hard to make the European Youth Music Festival 2000 a success, and to ensure that this event is as enjoyable as we expect it to be.

Listen to the concerts, see the exhibitions, meet the participants and their various modes of artistic expression with an open mind, and let yourself be swept away by the sensory impressions that 10 000 young Europeans will be offering to you.

Welcome to Norway, welcome to Trondheim, and welcome to an international arena highlighting international children’s and young people’s culture.