A joint document signed by all participants of the EFA meeting

A summit of the leadership of the European Festivals Association (EFA) and the representatives of regional EFA member festivals was held in Zagreb on 5 and 6 June 2010. The summit was part of the EFA's new project EFA Meets Its Regions, as well as its new European initiative entitled Open the Door. Click here for earlier reports on both initiatives.

The climax of the summit was the signing of a joint document, the so-called Zagreb Commitment. The signees have committed to encouraging and continuing a dialogue between political representatives and cultural workers, so that art and culture could become a priority in negotiations based on the EU's acquis communautaire (part of Chapter 26). The elements of this document primarily refer to improving the situation in the region, but they also apply to a wider area: the signees' goal is the recognition of the potential of culture and art in integration of new EU member states and candidate countries, but also in connecting European and non-European countries. The signees also call for greater mobility of artists and cultural workers within and between regions, wider possibilities of financing cultural projects and support for the development of independent cultural sector.

The President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipović, the EFA chairman Darko Brlek and the CEO of the International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA) David Baile, as well as the representatives of regional EFA member festivals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Croatia have expressed their support for the document by adding their signatures.

At a reception held in the Small Hall of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall the document was formally signed in the name of the participants by Kathrin Deventer (EFA secretary general), David Baile (CEO of the International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA)), and Antun Tomislav Šaban (General Secretary of the Croatian Composers' Society and the representative of the host). David Baile spoke of a common passion for arts and culture which they all share, but also of their new common passion - Zagreb - which they all fell in love with.

After the signing, the Cantus Ensemble, conducted by Berislav Šipuš, performed The Four Temperaments by Paul Hindemith, accompanied by the piano soloist Martina Filjak, followed by the Stravinsky's Renard / The Fox, with vocal soloists Domagoj Dorotić, Stjepan Franetović, Marko Mimica, and Goran Jurić.

A day before, the representatives of the EFA attended a working breakfast with President Josipović, a former delegate of the MBZ at the EFA, where they congratulated him on his election as president and discussed EFA's intiatives.