It cannot be overstated how essential culture is in our lives. It penetrates most of our daily actions, it binds us together with our community, it helps to constitute our identity and is especially important when we represent a cultural minority. A visit to venues such as the cinema, theatre, museums, festivals, monuments and heritage sites quite obviously qualifies as participation in cultural life. However, we also take part in culture by communicating a shared language and engaging in various intercultural activities. Since it is clear why culture is so important, it should not be difficult to understand why the right to take part in cultural life needs special protection in the present world of complex borders, ethnically and culturally diverse societies, and rising xenophobia (Belder and Porsdam, 2017; Mende, 2016; Porsdam, 2019).

Defining culture as rights

Cultural rights are considered an integral part of human rights and are as important as civil, political, economic and social rights. The promotion of and respect for cultural rights is fundamental for the maintenance of human dignity and positive interaction between individuals and communities in such a diverse world. The first international legal document to underline their importance was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Article 22 of the UDHR proclaims:

Adoption of the UDHR was a milestone and the first step in the process of formulating the International Bill of Human Rights, which consists of two other elements: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Both were adopted in 1966 but entered into force in 1976 after a sufficient number of countries had ratified them.

Whereas the ICESCR still remains the central treaty in the area of cultural rights, both are referenced in numerous UN treaties that deal with discrimination – for example, in the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in 2005, and in protocols such as the 2007 Fribourg Declaration.