Report from the conference 30 October - 1 November 2009 in Valletta, Malta, organised by the European Council of Artists (ECA) in cooperation with Zararti Foundation. The conference was also supported by the Maltese Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, AIR Malta, Grand Hotel Excelsior, Strickland Foundation and the Danish Arts Council.
About 60 artists, representatives of artists' organisations, cultural managers, researchers, and politicians from all over Europe attended the conference, which was moderated by the Austrian author and former president of ECA Ludwig Laher.
The report contains summaries of the following contributions:
• The Creativity of Lateral Thinking, by Edward de Bono, professor and researcher, Malta
• The Impact of Culture on Creativity, by Philippe Kern, KEA Institute of European Affairs, Belgium
• Artists' Contribution to the EU economy and innovation, by Edward Scicluna, MEP, Malta
• Romanian Theatre - its influence on society before and after 1989 by Ion Caramitru, actor and director, Romania
• Proposal towards the inclusion of Artists' rights in educational curricula, by Pia Raug, composer, Denmark
• Artistic Studies in Europe, by Maria Badia i Cutchet, MEP, Spain
• Combining Arts and Education, by Cecilia Keaveney, senator, Ireland
• Reader meets writer - a different day at school, by Ida Maria Rendtorff and Daniel Zimakoff, authors, Denmark
• Music change lives - the St Agnes School Violin Project, by Michael Burke, ECA President, Ireland MEP, Austria
The report was written by Anthony Attard and designed by Michael Piscopo.
The report "Experiencing the Arts" can be ordered from ECA office. The price for sending it within Europe is 12 Euro.