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Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs Karen Hughes, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Remarks as prepared for the announcement of the Global Cultural Initiative Washington, D.C.
I am so honored to join our First Lady, our public and private sector partners and each of you today as we announce this major new State Department GLOBAL CULTURAL INITIATIVE. I've been privileged to be in this beautiful East Room a number of times to experience outstanding artistic performances. President and Mrs. Bush and Secretary of State Rice have shown a great commitment to the arts. Today's announcement builds on that commitment and recognizes the critical importance of arts and culture to America's public diplomacy efforts across the world. Arts and culture can play a vital role in helping achieve our strategic public diplomacy goals. The first is that America should offer a positive vision of hope and opportunity that is rooted in our values - our enduring belief in freedom, including the freedom of expression that is the lifeblood of the arts, our belief in the dignity and value of every human being, a dignity so often celebrated in art. Another objective is to foster a sense of common interests and common values between Americans and people of different countries and cultures, and shared exchanges of the arts are a wonderful way to cultivate those bonds. Our final objective is to highlight the differences between most civilized people of all nations and faiths, and the violent extremists we face in the war against terror. As we do so, the value and appreciation we place on art, culture and history stands in marked contrast to the extremists' destruction of precious treasures, from the Golden Mosque of Samarra, Iraq to the Bamian Buddhas and other cultural icons of Afghanistan. The arts inspire and illuminate; they challenge and sometimes chastise. The arts, visual and performing, express the full range of our human experience - and remind us that despite differences of language or race, politics or policy, our human experience is a shared one. The arts resonate in the hearts and souls of people everywhere - all ages, all education levels, across all national borders. Reaching out to people of other nations through American art, sharing the art and artists of other countries with Americans, embodies the spirit of respect and partnership that is at the heart of public diplomacy. As I think of my own international travel, it is often arts and cultural experiences that stand out. I remember a wonderful dance, Milagrimas, chronicling the diverse cultural origins of the people of Brazil, a chorus of voices in South Africa singing: "Thank you Lord for not giving up on me," the rich tapestry of exhibits at the Islamic Art Museum in Malaysia and the National Museum of Columbia, where we signed the first ever cultural property agreement between our two countries. Shortly after I arrived at the State Department, we asked our embassies to assess our cultural programs. They expressed both strong support for cultural exchanges and a strong desire for more of them, and through these new partnerships, we will deliver them. Today's announcement is built on four key initiatives in the areas of arts management, film-making, literacy --with a special emphasis on poetry -- and historic American landmarks. These initiatives will bring museum directors, artists, musicians, dancers, teachers, journalists and filmmakers from around the world to America and they will send American artists across the world. And we hope these programs will spawn many others. Working together with our diverse American cultural community, we will empower new generations of citizens committed to freedom of expression, rights for women and minorities, and citizen participation in government. As our Ambassador to Madagascar noted, "It is one thing to speak of American values of pluralism and openness. Demonstrating those values has far greater impact. Bringing American artists and athletes of different backgrounds, across the spectrum of race, religion and gender, and espousing a diversity of artistic and political views, models the ideal of our inclusive democracy." Through the years, many artists have participated in State Department cultural programs. Today, we will hear from two of them - two young musicians from Azerbaijan. Mrs. Bush mentioned our Jazz program - one of the first decisions that Assistant Secretary Dina Powell and I made when we arrived at the State Department last year was to send jazz musicians from New Orleans -- themselves victims of Hurricane Katrina - to 17 countries to thank them for contributing to America during that devastating natural disaster - who better than New Orleans's own musicians to speak to our sadness and loss, but also our resilience and our hopes for the future. Earlier this year, the State Department's Rhythm Road music program sent the Toni Blackman Hip-Hop Quartet to Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines. Through music and dance, they conveyed the message that young people can empower themselves and voice their own feelings through music and dance. Their theme was one of peace and overcoming life's obstacles without violence - and Toni's music delivered the message to young people in a way that another speech from a government official like me never could. Public diplomacy is not just the work of government. Every individual American who travels abroad or welcomes a foreign visitor can be an ambassador for America. That is why we are excited to expand opportunities for exchanges like those in our Global Cultural Initiative. We see our role as facilitator and catalyst, working with our public and private sector partners in ways that will allow Americans and people from across the world to share ideas and experiences, promote understanding and tolerance, and deepen appreciation of our common interests and values. The Kennedy Center, under the visionary leadership of Stephen Schwarzman and Michael Kaiser, has been connecting people of different cultures through international arts exchanges for many years. That's why I'm so pleased to introduce this active supporter of arts and cultural organizations, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Stephen Schwarzman.
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