The 34 ITI World Congress in Yerevan is over. ACAR will go on and was happy to welcome new people during the meetings. We aim to have one contact person for artists rights at every ITI centre. The official congress report will take some time. In between the keynote for the congress opening by Alfons Karabuda (UN Human Rights Council) is accessible at the ACAR website. As well we have some motions and declarations which have been adopted by the congress: the declaration on artists’ visa and the motion to support the consolidated UNESCO report on the status of the artists which ACAR both brought to the congress. See also the congress declaration “On the international trade negotiations concerning free intellectual exchange and their implications for the performing arts” (English and French).

ACAR is an active part of the 34th World Congress programm in Yerevan/Armenia. We have invited an UN expert on Human Rights Council as keyword speaker and an open seminar will inform about recent obstacles and challenges in artists mobility.

Global expenditure on development over the next 15 years will be defined by the final goal document to be agreed by UN Member States in coming months. If culture is not mentioned, it will be extremely difficult for countries to elaborate policies and provide funds for projects that rely on culture's role as a driver and an enabler of sustainable development.'Culture' was completely absent from the Millennium Development Goals document. ITI and many other culture NGOs have signed already, you can join the campaign online.

On Monday morning 9th June 2014 the premises of Trans Europe Halles Member Izolyatsia Foundation were forcibly occupied by the DPR, a terrorist organisation operating illegally and without sovereign authority within the city of Donetsk. Izolyatsia, a non-governmental organisation was established in 2010 to provide a catalyst for change offering opportunity for all genres of creative expression. The foundation, based on the site of a former insulation factory aims to provide a hub of cultural excellence delivering social, economic and ecological transformation to a post-industrial hinterland.