The right to mobility is a fundamental freedom for artists - please sign the petition and add your voice. The initiative was created by the “Schengen Opera” collective who wish to draw the attention of the European Parliament and other decision makers to the issue.
SIGN HERE: http://schengenopera.free.fr
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
Chers amis,
Comme vous pouvez le constater, vous êtes nombreux (et très divers) à avoir signé la pétition Schengen Opera.
Mais avant que notre collectif définisse une action auprès du Parlement Européen, il serait utile d’augmenter encore le nombre des signataires (qui, il faut le rappeler, ne se limitent pas aux seuls professionnels de la culture).
Merci de réactiver vos réseaux et amis.
Le collectif Schengen Opera
http://schengenopera.free.fr
Dear friends,
As you know, you have been quite a lot (and quite diversified) to sign the Schengen Opera petition.
Nevertheless, it would be very useful to augment the number of signatures (bearing in mind that they are not limited to the sole culture field), in order to facilitate the type of action our collective would like to launch at the European Parliament.
Re-activating your networks and friends woudl be deeply appreciated…
The Schengen Opera collective
http://schengenopera.free.fr
