Yesterday as a Candidate Minister of Culture I organized a meeting on zoom:
You will find hereafter the synthesis of this meeting:
Synthesis:
1- Introduction by myself:
The indispensable necessity of a Ministry of Culture in Asgardia!
A- On the Diplomatic level:
Asgardia is a new nation, it's a humanist nation motivated by the human unity and peace. For this reason, we play a war game on a geopolitical level and economic level (Donald Trump wants to develop a space force to maintain the US dominance in Space).
Our Nation is overall, and it's pushing the edges of our world. We played to the United Nations by playing with diplomacy.
What are the biggest resources of our nation? What is our best diplomatic weapon?
- Our greatest resources are our citizen knowledge, intelligence, culture. Many citizens in our nation are great artists, writers, philosophers, scientists, architects and so on ...
- Our Best diplomatic weapon is our Culture!
The greatest nation or the greatest civilization is not defined by its army, but by his Cultural development, by its artists, scientists, intellectuals and all the greatest talent it may have. And this can be done by offering the best to the best artists and scientist of our world. By attracting them in our nation, we are developing, we are developing with other countries on the peaceful way, we are improving through cultural relations with different nations!
By developing a partnership with other countries Ministry of Culture, we are enforcing de facto our diplomatic link.
Look at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi to quote a French example, where the greatest museum has a double in Saudia by Architect Jean Nouvel!
On the other hand, it had the Economic and Diplomatic link in Between France and Saudia.
The United States of America has the second world war with its music and movies industry.
Russia has done the same in Eastern Europe and some of the world's best African movie makers as Souleymane Cissé has been in Moscow Cinema university!
Asgardia as a new nation has a great opportunity and position to take care of the United States of America and the United States.
B- On our Nation Level:
A ministry of culture can improve and stimulate, and support new cultural form emergence.
Imagine when we will leave in a space colony, our brain will need a new horizon to build its feeling, its emotion, and its enlightenment to kill boredom, melancholia and suicide drive.
I am very serious on this point by having stayed on the Polar Polaroid of the Polar Fleet at Ny Alesünd in Spitzbergen!
Before my arrival, 2 scientists during the Polar winter have committed suicides:
They were a brilliant scientist, doing their job in extreme conditions, they were exhausted with no mental escape, just they work, and by being lonely, they kill themselves!
This phenomenon is not rare in a Polar base, so now they're inviting an artist in residence, as I was, to organize art workshop, to organize a debate on Art and Literature, Philosophy just to save them from a deadly depression!
I am talking about this, because we want to keep in mind, if we want to build a nation in space, the Cultural Dimension is not only essential but a Life necessity.
Our Brain needs music, visual art, poetry, literature, and creation to be stimulated and develop new cognitive patterns.
That's why it's possible for us to have a Ministry of Culture to improve our national culture!
And that's why this kind of Ministry of Education, Foreign Affair, and so on
There are two ways to define a Ministry of Culture:
- A directive way, imposing the rules of creation and practicing the censorship, what one characterizes like a ministry of the Propaganda
- An open and inclusive way of defending freedom of expression, including all forms of cultural expression while stimulating and supporting them, and defending the freedoms of all expressions
B- The Artist expectations:
It has been said that there is a lot of frustration from the citizens of Asgardia.
- Especially at the political level with the exclusions of some MPs without this being clarified at the public level!
- The Fakes news that run in the press, and which are in contradiction with the speeches of our President:
-> The IQ tests at Asgardia's admission that have not been confirmed or disputed by Asgardia's central authority
-> The process of nominating candidates to the government, supposed to be elected, now being appointed without knowing how and on what basis? Democratic, or co-opted by the Power?
-> The appearance of the Ministry of Culture, its disappearance and its re-appearance
In short, all this indicates an immense amateurism on the part of Asgardia in terms of political communication and press which is very damaging to our Nation in terms of images, and that many citizens by the thousands come and go disappointed feeding this image that is harmful to us.
We expect the Ministry of Culture to define a coherent image of our Nation for the better by harmonizing our press and visual communication. That this Ministry not only brings us visibility within Asgardia but also an international visibility around the World by forming partnerships with the different countries of residence of the creators ...
That this Ministry invests in the basics before embarking on major projects ...
That Ministry of Culture may improve also our National Economy
And That's through this ministry in partnership with a Minister of Communication should have a partnership to define a coherent and an efficient Press communication, bringing a bright image and not a dirty image in the press as today!
That more competent people from outside Asgardia should be implied in this development in a freeway...
Our Nation needs oxygen and energy!
My Answers:
This is true partially true that there these kinds of issue in our Nation, but we need to understand that we are very young and saturated by a huge number of demands from everywhere (over 200 countries) with over 200 000 different expectations for each citizen of our Nation.
On the other hand, we have a small NGO facing all of these issues and these demands.
A Parliament was just nominated and is working very hard to define a government. On my side I may hope that very competent and mature people will be nominated and there is a positive sign in the 2 first nominations already done with the Prime Minister and the Head of Justice.
That's is true that we may have a very bad communication, and we cannot complain about bad press without solving the issue because there is no smoke without fire. And this issue may be normal regarding the youngness we have and the speed with which we are developing ourselves.
And when a Government will be nominated, that is true that its main function at the beginning will be to define all the basics through pragmatic and not cost full and expensive policies with simple rules:
- To clarify our communication policies on internal way and external way and to make it efficient
- To homogenize our National image, and press communication by not letting fake news circulating that the days after Hofburg: IQ Test, Disappearance of Ministry of Culture in Room article...
- To have an efficient and coherent positive communication to have a good and positive image in the press, and the Cultural policies on a simple way and cheap way may be the best tools to do that, through pragmatic practice, such like valorizing our cultural national resources, by making cultural partnership with different countries, to bring the media to focus on our cultural activities, scientific activities and technological activities in place of bad gossip...
And of course, I understand all the frustration, but all of you have to know and Rome was not constructed in one week.
We have already done so much, and we have so more to do, that we will step forward gaining in maturity, and be more efficient and have a better image outside.
Conclusion:
I was pleased to meet all the participant, and I have to thank all of you for your contributions and your honesty in your talking. Nothing is done yet, count on me If I am nominated to keep in mind all your expectation not to bring your frustrations but satisfaction.
Long life to Asgardia
Valéry Grancher
Candidate Minister of Culture
;-)
