Niterói hosts the 2nd International Seminar Culture and Democracy with 12 countries, IberCultura Viva network and support from Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa.
Niterói at the center of Latin American cultural debate
Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa (FCRB), an institution linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Culture, is supporting the 2nd International Seminar Culture and Democracy: Latin America for Cultural Rights. The meeting will take place from December 2 to 4, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state. Activities will be held at the Caminho Niemeyer Auditorium, the Teatro Popular Oscar Niemeyer and the Centro Cultural Cauby Peixoto.
The seminar will bring together representatives of local governments, researchers, artists, producers and cultural managers from 12 countries. In doing so, it consolidates itself as a key international forum for discussing cultural rights and community-based public policies. The focus is on social participation and culture as a driver of transformation.
The program highlights structural policies such as Niterói’s own Charter of Cultural Rights. The event encourages the exchange of methodologies, sharing of experiences and articulation of local actions. It also reaffirms communities as protagonists in cultural production and in recognizing culture as a fundamental right.
According to Alexandre Santini, president of FCRB, “the second edition of the International Seminar Culture and Democracy is very significant. The first one was held in 2019, at a time of great threat to Brazilian democracy and the extinction of the Ministry of Culture. In a way, that seminar was a response to what we were experiencing in the country.
Niterói played a decisive role in that context, with cultural policies that became a reference for Brazil, Latin America and the world. Today, we are able to hold this meeting in a different scenario, marked by the reconstruction of the Ministry of Culture and cultural policies, while challenges to democracy remain very present in Latin America and in Brazil. This seminar seeks precisely to reflect on the role of culture in strengthening, defending and expanding democracy.”
IberCultura Viva network and cities as key actors
The event will also host an in-person meeting of the IberCultura Viva Network of Cities and Local Governments, returning after several years. Niterói is the only Brazilian city in the network, which reinforces its international position. The dialogue between governments, territories and communities will be a core topic.
Seminar participants may follow the meeting as listeners, which broadens the global circulation of experiences. Over three days, roundtables, dialogues, case presentations and methodology exchanges will address social participation, public innovation, collaborative management processes and culture of life policies.
Instruments such as cultural rights charters will also be discussed as key tools to guide the guarantee of culture as a structural policy. The aim is to strengthen culture as a pillar of citizenship and regional integration across Latin America and Ibero-America. Theory and practice will be closely connected.
Márcia Rollemberg, National Secretary for Cultural Diversity and president of the IberCultura Viva program, emphasizes that “our continent advances when we recognize it as a shared territory. Culture has historically been the most solid and resilient bridge between our peoples: it crosses political and economic borders, builds trust, mobilizes participation and sustains truly living, rooted democracies.”
For Márcia, the gathering of the IberCultura Viva Network of Cities and Local Governments in Niterói reinforces a collective, non-negotiable commitment: to connect cities, strengthen communities and expand exchange as the basis for integration grounded in cultural diversity. The network currently has 32 members and remains open to new subnational governments that share this transformative vision.
Niterói and its Cultural Rights Charter
Organized by the City of Niterói, through its Municipal Secretariat of Cultures, with support from FCRB, the seminar places the city at the heart of global debates on cultural democracy. Culture is addressed both as a right and as a structural public policy.
According to Leonardo Giordano, Niterói’s Secretary of Cultures, the city is the only one in Brazil to have developed a Cultural Rights Charter. This document guides cultural actions and policies while consolidating cultural rights in an official framework. Hosting the seminar strengthens Niterói’s commitment to good cultural governance practices.
The meeting will bring together experiences and specialists from Latin America and Ibero-America. As a result, it expands dialogue with initiatives that place cultural rights at the center of global debates. Niterói is presented as a living laboratory for participatory cultural policies.
Program: roundtables, conferences and network meetings
The 2nd International Seminar Culture and Democracy: Latin America for Cultural Rights begins on December 2, at the Teatro Popular Oscar Niemeyer. The panel “Culture and sports as instruments of pacification” will take place at 5:10 p.m.. At 6:30 p.m., the FoMerco Special Conference will address the role of cities in Latin American integration and sustainable development in Mercosur and the region.
At 8:30 p.m., the public will attend the Cultural Manifesto: Latin American Embrace for Cultural Rights, with a performance by Paulinho Moska. Closing the first day, the group Songorocosongo performs at 9 p.m. at Caminho Niemeyer. The opening mixes political debate and artistic expression.
On December 3, activities start at 9 a.m. with the Meeting of the Mercociudades Culture Thematic Unit, at the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation dome, as part of the 30th Mercociudades Summit. At the Caminho Niemeyer auditorium, the first IberCultura Viva Working Meeting takes place at 11:30 a.m..
At 2:30 p.m., the panel “Connecting experiences: local governments and community-based living culture” will feature IberCultura Viva representatives. Then, at 5 p.m., the panel “From management to gesture: democracy, cultural rights and citizenship in dialogue” will bring together former Ministers of Culture from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica.
On December 4, the second IberCultura Viva Working Meeting will be held at 9 a.m., at the Centro Cultural Cauby Peixoto. At 11:30 a.m., the official group photo will be taken, followed by the signing of the Forwarding Charter. In the afternoon, at 2 p.m., the official opening of the 30th Mercociudades Summit takes place at Teatro Popular Oscar Niemeyer.
To close the seminar, the third IberCultura Viva Working Meeting will be held at 5 p.m., at the Caminho Niemeyer auditorium. In this way, the program articulates local, regional and international agendas around cultural rights. Networks and institutions converge to build shared strategies.
Free registration open to the public
The seminar is free of charge and open to the public. Registrations are available until November 28, at 10 a.m.. Participation is aimed at managers, researchers, cultural agents, students and all those interested in cultural policy and democracy.
With this second edition, the meeting consolidates itself as a space to reflect on the role of culture in defending and expanding democracy. Niterói takes on a leading role by linking local practices and global debates. The goal is to strengthen networks and build common paths for cultural rights across the region.