Welcome to the Website on Artistic Education of the Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean!

“Mediation and creativity are lacking everywhere. Mostly in schools. Our lives are in lack of art and we allow violence to dominate ourselves.” With these words violinist and orchestra director Lord Yehudi Menuhin begins his Call for the Promotion of Artistic Education and Creativity presented by the Director-General in the UNESCO General Assembly in November 1999.

In this webpage, you can find everything regarding the topic in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially the issues related to the Regional Conference of Latin America and the Latin Caribbean, “Towards a Quality Artistic Education: Challenges and Opportunities”, held in Bogotá, Colombia in November 2005, which was organized by UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean based in Havana, and the Ministries of Education and Culture of Colombia.

Information on the II International Caribbean Symposium on Artistic Education is also available in this page. The Symposium was held in Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 to 30, 2005.

Furthermore, UNESCO and the Government of Portugal organized the World Conference on Artistic Education, “Building the Creative Capacities of the 21st Century”, held in Lisbon, Portugal, in March 2006. Some of the main documents of the Conference are also available in this page.

Through this page, the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Havana, Cuba, ratifies the Declaration of Bogotá on Artistic Education, which states: “All Member States in the Region shall encourage a quality artistic education for all, promote sensibility, capacity of creation of their respective peoples, aimed towards the construction of a future based on the assessment and protection of natural and cultural heritage as well as in solidarity and respect for cultural diversity.”