91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ

In November 2023, UNESCO and the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and Arts (SNICHA) launched the second phase of the UNESCO-Aschberg programme, which aims to strengthen the legal protection and freedom of expression for artists and cultural professionals in the country through the development of a new law on the status of the artist. 

UNESCO’s technical advisors facilitated consultations with artists, cultural professionals, arts agencies, artistic associations, and government stakeholders. The consultative meetings took place in Mahe on 28 November, Praslin on 29 November and La Digue on 30 November and provided an opportunity to reflect on a baseline study on the specific conditions faced by Seychellois artists and cultural professionals.

In particular, the study provides an overview of conditions of work, social protection, norms and standards, copyright, and freedom of expression for artists and cultural professionals in the country, SIDS in Eastern Africa.  The report recommends the necessity of a new law as Seychellois artists and cultural professionals who currently fall outside of existing laws such as the Employment Act, the Social Security Act and the Income Tax Act. The legal landscape as it relates to the arts and artists is therefore deficient and urgently calls for legislative reform that takes into consideration the circumstances of artists. For these purposes, the UNESCO Recommendations for the Status of the Artist adopted in 1980 have been used as a benchmark together with good practices from other developing countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). 

In vibrant and robust consultations in the three main islands, the Seychellois artistic and cultural community has provided critical guidance for SNICHA, with the support of the UNESCO’s technical advisors to advance towards the development of a new law granting artists equal rights as all other professionals. Over 80 artists including visual artists, musicians, crafters, and designers, among others, as well as representatives of artists’ associations and a wide range of government cultural agencies, joined the three consultations and engaged in interactive discussions. There was agreement on the need to adopt an inclusive definition of artists that takes into account the diverse nature and modalities of work contributing to a diversity of cultural productions and expressions. Establishing clear criteria and standard categories for defining and licensing artists - from emerging to professional, from part-time to full-time, among others – is a priority, to ensure artists and cultural professionals benefit from social welfare and other provisions. These important recommendations constitute the core of the new policy document and law, to be finalized in early 2024. 

Through the UNESCO-Aschberg programme, guided by the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist, UNESCO strives to protect and promote artistic freedom, the status of artists and cultural professionals, and to facilitate a balanced flow of cultural goods and services, by providing technical assistance to government institutions and civil society organizations to revise or design regulatory and policy frameworks and build capacities to foster the emergence of environments conducive to creativity, especially in the Global South. This process will also ensure that Seychelles is able to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8, namely promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.