Holding of 7th BRICs culture ministers’ meeting
The 7th BRICS Culture Ministers Meeting was held by video on May 24. Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism Heping Hu presided over the conference and delivered a keynote speech, which was attended by the Vice Minister of Tourism of Brazil, the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the Minister of State for Culture of India, and the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture of South Africa. Moreover, with the theme of “Building an Inclusive and Mutually Appreciative Cultural Partnership”, the ministers exchanged ideas on promoting digital development and cooperation in the field of culture, further strengthening cultural heritage protection and cooperation, and continuously promoting the construction of cultural exchange platforms in BRICS countries. At the end of this meeting, all parties made an agreement and signed the Action Plan for the Implementation of the BRICS Intergovernmental Agreement on Cultural Cooperation (2022-2026). On September 9, 2021, Chinese President Jinping Xi pointed out at the 13th meeting of BRICS leaders that BRICS countries should strengthen their conviction and solidarity, and promote BRICS pragmatic cooperation towards higher quality. He stressed the need to adhere to mutual learning and appreciation, and strengthen humanities exchanges and cooperation. During the meeting, the leaders reached a consensus on addressing challenges to show the BRICS role and promoting the building of a community of human destiny, which pointed out the direction and drew a blueprint for the new journey of humanities exchanges and cooperation among BRICS countries.
Humanities exchange is the “third pillar” of BRICS cooperation. BRICS countries insist on promoting diversified cultures, facilitating exchanges and mutual understanding, and enhancing people’s friendship. Additionally they have achieved remarkable results in improving cooperation mechanisms, expanding cooperation space, and organizing activities for the benefit of the people, which has laid a deep foundation for deepening practical cooperation and consolidating partnership.
Furthermore, Hu put forward five initiatives to deepen humanities exchanges and cooperation among BRICS countries.
First, adhere to inclusiveness and mutual appreciation; create a new situation of people-to-people, cultural intermingling and humanities exchanges, and join hands to promote the progress of human civilization.
Second, adhere to pragmatic cooperation, continue to optimize the operation of existing platforms in the field of culture and the arts, expand the scope of humanities exchanges and cooperation, and inject humanistic momentum into the BRICS mechanism.
Third, adhere to innovation and development, adapt to the requirements of digital, networked and intelligent development, vigorously develop digital cultural industries, public digital cultural services, and promote digital cultural exchanges and cooperation.
Fourth, insist on sharing obligations share and learn from the experience and practices of cultural heritage protection and utilization, strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural heritage, and jointly safeguard the cultural treasures of all mankind.
Fifth, keep an eye on the future, carry out more youth cultural exchange activities, implement more training programs for young talents, and promote cultural exchange and communication among young people.
The ministers of the four countries thanked China for hosting the meeting and said that they would seek more cooperation through mutual tolerance and mutual learning, so as to make BRICs countries become a model for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and contribute “BRICs strength” to the progress of human civilization and world peace and prosperity. The ministers highly affirmed the implementation of the last round of implementation plan and the work carried out by the alliance of cultural professional institutions, and expressed appreciation for the successful holding of BRICs cultural festivals, film festivals and other activities. All parties agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation in promoting the protection and utilization of cultural heritage, combating illegal trafficking in cultural relics, developing digital culture and giving full play to the cultural creativity of young people, so as to continue to inject new impetus into the cultural exchanges of BRICs countries.
By Josie
