Culture and Democracy in the Baltic Sea Region
With the aim to inspire and encourage cultural actors to lead the way towards sustainable, resilient democracies in our region, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and the Swedish Institute (SI) organized a livestreamed roundtable discussion on September 12.
The event revolved around culture, cultural diplomacy and transparent democracies. Three key speakers from fields of culture and politics catalyzed the discussion by presenting their viewpoints, experiences, and specific perspectives. Audience members were invited to contribute to the discussion and pose questions to the speakers at the conclusion of the event.
Speakers:
Dr Evan Fein, a graduate and current faculty member of the Juilliard School, USA, as well as a composer. He will talk about the transformation of young artistic talents into compassionate professionals through the school’s many socially oriented programs
Ms Ellen Sarkisian Åkerman, intern with the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. With a background in Russian art and feminism Ms Sarkisian Åkerman will, among other things, talk about the societal hub that culture and politics create in Russia
Mr Stefan Ingvarsson, Senior Analyst with the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, has a background in diplomacy, culture, publishing and journalism. He will focus on how Poland’s neoconservative and nationalist turn has affected artistic freedom in practice and the understanding of what free art is and should be
The discussion was facilitated by Ms Hedda Krausz Sjögren - Director, Producer and Government Official, former cultural attaché to South Africa.
Links to the projects mentioned during the event:
Pavel Otdelnovs site for the project industrial zone his project about toxic waste lakes and footages of toxic lakes from above and video on the handling of garbage as well as his art project regarding the garbage handling.
Ellen Sarkisian Åkerman's master thesis can be found here and information about Juilliard’s various Community Engagement projects here.
This event was organized in collaboration with the Baltic Sea Festival, a festival for musical experiences and inspirational talks which takes place September 9-18. It includes the musical piece “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Watch the webinar here.