Ask the right of mobility for artists

[from _XavierL on nettime-fr-raw.nm]

I say:
May be to sign, please (for my part I did it)
Louise


In order to protect the artists rights to mobility, and in reaction to the
ongoing multiplication of incidents at the European Union borders, the
Schengen Opera Collective and its 70 companions ask you for joining them by
signing the online petition just launched on the following website:
  http://schengenopera.free.fr
Please circulate it as much as possible
Thanks for them
------------------

4 translated versions:
http://schengenopera.free.fr/index.php?lang=fr
http://schengenopera.free.fr/index.php?lang=de
http://schengenopera.free.fr/index.php?lang=es
http://schengenopera.free.fr/index.php?lang=uk

Schengen Opera
schengenopera-GANU6spQydw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 -  -  - 
the petition 
signatures 
sign the petition 
the petition

 

Let us call him Ahmed... or Mamadou...
It could be Angeline, as well... They have outstanding voices, they are
well-known and respected in their countries. The organiser of a festival in
Bretagne... or in Lorraine... has invited her/him for a spring festival on
this side of the globe. Everything is ready: all administrative documents
have been provided. But Mamadou (or Angeline) will not come. We will not be
hearing their song. Her/his visa has not been provided. Why? Because of the
Work Regulations, the Ministry of Culture, the Ambassador, even the Border
Police, none of these count when faced by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs...
 Indeed, one has to know that, in French consulates abroad, so far as
entering France or Europe is concerned, the civil servant representing his
Ministry there always has the last word.
These incidents are becoming more and more frequent. They interfere badly
with all programming involving one or several artists coming from outside
the European Union.
 We, professionals and audiences, are more and more often subject to
unexplained arbitrary decisions, which conflict with professional
commitments. They go against cultural exchange policies of local
authorities, against formal initiatives of national departments (including
the ones being subsidised by the ministries of Culture or Foreign
Affairs...)
 We believe we have the duty to inform the largest possible number of
citizens about these facts: visa refusals, last minute administrative
impasses, physical internment in border prisons, and military forced return
to their countries. This is what an increasing number of non-EU artists (
and their compatriots) have to endure.

 We love music from all over the World, we would like to hear the voice of a
poet from the South, we would like to host, for some weeks, a theatre
company, some visual artists, dancers from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe,
Latin America....
 And we believe that we can hear and see them, since some are on the top of
the bill... But this apparent diversity is an illusion.
 We can clearly see that these police attitudes, following discrimination
without any logic, pollute the process of producing Art. This eventually
leads to some kind of perverse self-censorship, as it gradually becomes the
norm for producers, European artists, patrons....
 And we are increasingly anxious when hearing the announcements of an even
more selective immigration policy. It is firmly bound to the logic of
exploitation of the poor by the rich, very far from accompanying the
development effort (including cultural) that many countries legitimately
expect.

 This is why we have decided to gather our forces in an informal collective
action group, called "Schengen Opera", in order to make public these facts
and to call all concerned individuals or institutions to join us.

 We call all private persons, all political parties, international
institutions, professional unions, NGOs, media, all who feel concerned, to
insist with us:

 - that the administration should respect its own rules
 - that clarification and harmonisation (so far as issuing visas for non-EU
artists is concerned), should be seriously brought together at the EU level,
 - that there must be an immediate stop to instant "return to the border"
for non-EU artists when they are in possession of a working contract with a
cultural employer based in Europe
 - that discussion should immediately be organised, with all concerned
administrations in all countries concerned, in order to submit to national
and European parliaments as soon as possible,clear, fair and democratic
regulations about the issue of such visas.

The right of mobility is a fundamental freedom for artists.

 Schengen Opera, 1st may 2006