	BRICS Information Centre

The 4th BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting:
Curitiba — Culture for an Innovative Future

Curitiba, Brazil, October 11, 2019

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We, the Ministers in charge of Culture and assigned representatives of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Russian Federation, Republic of India, People's Republic of China and Republic of South Africa, having met in Curitiba, Federative Republic of Brazil, on 11th October 2019 to discuss the promotion of cultural activities among BRICS countries under the auspices of the theme "BRICS: culture for an innovative future", hereby agree to:

Recognize the important role of creative economy and innovation as drivers of economic growth and commend Brazil for hosting the BRICS Exhibition on "Open Borders" from September 2019 to March 2020, during the 14th Curitiba International Biennale of Contemporary Art, the IV BRICS Film Festival, and the special exhibition during the BRICS Summit, in Brasília, in November 2019;

Acknowledge and commit to the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Agreement between the Governments of BRICS States on Cooperation in the Field of Culture (2017-2021), signed on 6th July 2017 in Tianjin, People's Republic of China;

Re-affirm the commitments of the Declaration of Maropeng, signed during the 3rd BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting, in the Republic of South Africa, 2018;

Commit ourselves to the following:

1. BRICS Culture Working Group

1.1 Support the continuity of the dialogue established through the BRICS Culture Working Group comprising senior officials to foster greater cooperation between BRICS countries, encourage cooperation in the creative economy, and share knowledge, experience and best practices in the areas of arts, culture and heritage.

1.2 The Working Gropu will organize at least one videoconference per year, to review progress.

1.3 We agree to developing terms of reference for the Working Group.

2. Institution-to-Institution Collaboration(s)

2.1 Keep supporting the work done to expand and deepen relations among BRICS cultural institutions since the establishment of the BRICS Alliance of Museums, BRICS Alliance of Art Museums and Galleries, BRICS Alliance of Libraries and the BRICS Alliance for Theatre for Children and Young People.

2.2 We commend South Africa for hosting the Conference on BRICS Alliance for Theatre for Children and Young People, on 21st-25th August 2019 in Cape Town.

2.3 We look forward to India hosting the BRICS Joint Exhibition titled "Bonding Regions and Imaging Cultural Synergies" by the end of 2019, under the auspices of the BRICS Alliances of Museums and Art Galleries.

3. Cooperation in Creative Economy

3.1 Keep supporting actions in the field of creative economy, recognizing its importance for economic development.

3.2 Agree to continue discussing a BRICS Film initiative as a platform to promote and develop the film industry in BRICS member states.

3.3 Agree to work together in developing a thorough understanding of the creative economy of the BRICS countries, and to encourage participation of professionals in it.

3.4 Encourage collaboration in fashion and design, support participation in each other's premier fashion shows and continue hosting BRICS fashion forums.

4. Cultural Heritage Cooperation

4.1 View heritage as a cornerstone of cultural cooperation, we reaffirm our commitment to conserve and preserve cultural heritage, archeological sites or remains, archives and exchange of knowledge, expertise, skills and technologies in the field.

The Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Republic of India, and Republic of South Africa extend their appreciation to the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil for hosting the 4th BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting.

The English version of this Declaration has been signed on 11th October 2019 in Curitiba. This Declaration has been executed in five duplicate originals and all originals shall be equally valid.

For the Federative Republic of Brazil
[signature]
Minister of Citizenship

For the Russian Federation
[signature]
Director of the Department of Museum and Internatinoal Relations of the Ministry of Culture

For the Republic of India
[signature]
Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC)

For the People's Republic of China
[signature]
Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

For the Republic of South Africa
[signature]
Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

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Letter of Intention on Creative Economy

The Ministers in charge of Culture of BRICS countries

Conscious of the importance of the creative economy for economic development

Committed to the implementation of the "Agreement between Governments of the BRICS States on Cooperation in the Field of Culture"

Reaffirming their commitment to continue implementing the Action Plan for the years 2017-2021

Acknowledging the importance of professionals' mobility in the creative economy in order to stimulate opportunities for growth

Agree to

Exchange information about events on creative economy taking place in their countries
Exchange information on their respective statistics on creative economy
Coordinate efforts towards the mobility of professionals to those events on the other countries
Strengthen their cooperation in conducting joint cooperative activities, such as roundtables, during the events on creative economy in their respective countries
Establish an exchange of ideas on how to preserve the authenticity of heritage craft product, vis à vis, the contemporary, market-driven product
Participate in each others performing arts platforms.

General Clauses

Cooperation under this Letter of Intent begins on the date of signature
This Letter of Intent is intended to cover activities for the remaining period of the Action Plan 2017-2021.
This Letter of Intent is not legally binding and is not intended to give rise to any rights or obligations under either domestic or international law.
This Letter of Intent can be jointly modified at any time in writing.
Each Country intends to bear its own costs and expenditures incurred in connection with the activities under this Letter of Intent.
The best practices in developing creative economy initiatives would be incorporated in the next Action Plan 2022-2026 to be adopted.

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Source: Official website of Brazil's 2019 BRICS Presidency