DIRECTORATE TO THE 34th MEETING OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL IBERESCEN COUNCIL IN PANAMA

Representatives from 13 Member countries met at the City of the Arts to review the Programme's progress, strengthen cultural cooperation and prepare the Strategic Plan 2026-2030. 

The 44th meeting of the IBERESCEN Intergovernmental Council was launched on the morning of Wednesday, October 15. The meeting aims to review progress and to define the next steps of work of this Programme of cooperation, with the aim of promoting the exchange, creation and professionalization of Ibero-American performing arts.

Located in the City of the Arts, three jobs were initiated by the persons delegated from 13 of the 18 Member countries that make up the Programme and their technical unit as well as by representatives of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

In its nearly two decades of history, the Programme holds a meeting for the first time in Panama. Unlike what has been done in other Member Countries, the meeting will not only hold its sessions in the capital but will also be moved to the town of Colón, a pole that is currently opening up to the cultural activity of the country through the Colón Culture and Arts Center (CACCO).

That was emphasized by Gianni Bianchini, National Director of the Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Panama, who did not only remember his entry as a Member of Iberescenna 12 years ago but also noted that his meeting "was a matter of pride and an expression of gratitude." He also represented "a vital step in strengthening our cultural policy and building an Ibero-American united by art and cooperation among our nations."

For his part, Enrique Varga, Coordinator of the Ibero-American Cultural Space of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), emphasized that "at a time when the resources for international cooperation are undergoing very sensitive adjustments at a low level, we have reaffirmed the importance that a group of Ibero-American countries give to culture." He also appreciated these meetings, as they have been "reflect, evaluate, conduct and conduct and, more important, have been decided about today and the future of the performing arts."

On the same line, Javier Valenzuela, President of Iberescenna, made an important call: "We are living at a time when public investment in culture is often called into question and where the budgets for the arts are reduced as if art were a luxury or a frivolity. I think that today more than ever we have to reaffirm the profound sense of our work. Culture isn't an expense: it's an investment in citizenship, creativity, coexistence and collective well-being."

Until Friday, 17, the Intergovernmental Council will have an opportunity to discuss and discuss the progress of the Action Lines that have been developed by the Programme as part of the Ibero-American Year of Academic Arts and the key inputs for the development of the new Strategic Plan 2026-2030 will be established and will guide Iberescenna in the next five years.