Internationell visumpolicy för artister
Under ITI:s nyligen avslutade världskongress i Jerevan antogs på svenskt initiativ en resolution om en internationell visumpolicy för artister. Många vittnade om den okunskap och misstänksamhet som leder till att artister utanför Schengenområdet nekas visum till deltagande i festivaler och internationella möten. Till kongressen nekades visum för ITI-delegater från Kongo, Sierra Leone, Elfenbenskusten och Nigeria. På Teaterunionen har vi har erfarit detta många gånger och uppvaktat kulturdepartementet i frågan.
Här följer deklarationen i sin helhet:
DEMAND FOR FAIR VISA POLICY TOWARDS ARTISTS
We, the General Assembly of the International Theatre Institute, gathered in Yerevan/Armenia from 17 to 22 November 2014, are demanding a special and fair visa policy for artists.
As a global theatre organisation the ITI experiences very directly the obstacles for transnational mobility. For the 34th World Congress of the ITI in Yerevan, Armenia, the visa for the delegates from Congo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have been denied.
The ITI expresses it’s protest to the Armenian authorities. We also protest against the ongoing exclusion by governmental agencies for artists to conferences, festivals or other events they are invited to.
To ensure a fair and appropriate visa application for traveling and touring artists the ITI demands to the European Commission, and to the decision making political bodies worldwide to create a special visa application for artists which respects their social and economic status.
Submitted by ACAR, the Swedish centre, the German centre, supported by the US centre and the Algerian centre.