Transcultura Programme

Event: Mobilising Women's Creativity

The UNESCO Transcultura Programme and UN Women will organise the online debate Mobilising Women's Creativity for for sustainable development and cultural policies in the Caribbean, that will take place on 19 May at 9:00 AM (GMT-5).

UNESCO Transcultura launches a call to bring young Caribbean hip-hop artists to Europe

The UNESCO Transcultura Programme is launching an open call to showcase the full creative potential of Caribbean hip-hop in Europe. The Programme will select three hip-hop bands or solo artists, who will perform at an international festival and symposium in Berlin, Germany, in July.

Transcultura promotes the training of 145 young Caribbeans in cinema and audiovisual creation

A total of 145 students from 15 Caribbean countries participated in 10 online training workshops, given in English, French and Spanish by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños.

Transcultura empowers creative women in the Caribbean to realize their full potential

On the occasion of International Women's Day, Nailet Rojas (Cuba) talks about her experience as a beneficiary of the UNESCO Transcultura course 'Scriptwriting for Women Creatives' and the contribution of the Programme to the empowerment of creative women in the Caribbean.

Open call for the second round of the UNESCO Transcultura course on writing grant applications

The UNESCO Programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, funded by the European Union, has launched the call for the second round of the online course FondosCultura: Writing Grant Proposals to Unblock Cultural Funding.

UNESCO - EU Transcultura Programme extends its Second Call for Applications for young Caribbean creative professionals

The Transcultura Programme: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity extends the Second Call for Applications to the Transcultura Scholarship Scheme, in partnership with the University of West Indies Open Campus (UWIOC).

UNESCO Transcultura Programme trains Caribbean facilitators for blended teaching

The UNESCO Transcultura Programme: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, in collaboration with The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus, has benefitted 150 cultural facilitators from training institutions in Cuba and the Dominican Republic who received the Blended Teaching Training Course.

UNESCO Transcultura programme supports Caribbean musicians at World Music Exhibition (WOMEX) 2021

The UNESCO Transcultura Programme, supported by the European Union, sponsored four groups of talented young musicians from the Caribbean, Azueï, Blvk H3ro & Reggae Soul Band, Yarima Blanco y Son Latino and Cimafunk, to participate in the World Music Exhibition (WOMEX), whose 21st edition took place in Porto (Portugal) from 27 to 31 October 2021.

Cimafunk: “Super happy and grateful for this UNESCO initiative”

To Cimafunk, music is medicine, "It can cure or intoxicate you. It can cure or intoxicate you. It may change your personality completely, making you evolve or regress. It can open your mind and show you other ways to see the world. Music is sound playing with time. That’s ancient and powerful magic!" With this conviction, Cimafunk and his band will arrive at the Worldwide Music Expo, WOMEX, to be held in Porto, Portugal, from 29 to 31 October.

Cultural creation is one of the most dynamic world markets, with a huge potential to foster entrepreneurship and resilience, improving social cohesion and well-being, developing freedom of expression and dialogue, and providing substantial economic growth and jobs worldwide. The Caribbean region is in a privileged position to tap into such rich potential, with its multiplicity of customs, traditions, languages and historical links, resulting from cultural exchanges and reciprocal influences from the pre-Columbian era to the present day.

Additionally, the region has a longstanding motivation to promote integration and cooperation to overcome the challenges presented by the small size and limited resources of individual economies and enhance competitiveness. As a result, a clear need appeared to strengthen capacities in the value chain of cultural and creative industries in the region and harness culture as an instrument for integration through intercultural exchange and dialogue.

In this context, the programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity was launched in 2020 by UNESCO, funded by the European Union, with the overall purpose to deepen cultural integration in the Caribbean and strengthen people-to-people cooperation and exchange in the region and with the European Union.

Beneficiaries include the 17 Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS): Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, as well as Trinidad and Tobago.

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It is this economic and professional potential that we value, for example, with the Transcultura Initiative, also funded by the European Union, which aims to build bridges between Cuban, Caribbean, and European cultures and which I had the honor to launch in Cuba during my visit.

Ms Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General

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17 May 2022

Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity