Restrictions

Restrictions Paralyse Cultural Exchange
Commentary by Peter Pannke, Berlin
as published in the India Instruments newsletter on May 31st
www.india-instruments.de

« Entering Germany has never been easy for musicians from Eastern European and third world countries. I have given a dramatic example in my book Singers Die Twice. Indian as well as other artists have to undergo absurd and humiliating procedures in German Embassies, whose only purpose seems to deter the applicants. Moreover, Germans who invite foreigners from non-European countries, are obliged to produce an income statement of bizarre height since 1997. Former German Interior Minister Schäuble even demanded a central record of all people inviting more than two foreigners in two years, because he considered them suspect of organising human trafficking and prostitution.

«It was long to be expected that the Indian side would be responsive to this. Early this year India tightened its rules for tourist visa, because – according to the website of the Indian Embassy – they had been abused in the past. Tourists are not allowed to re-enter India any more within two months after leaving the country. They are not supposed to take a deeper interest in the country, it seems. They should just spend their money and simply disappear and not come back too soon. You are even asked to provide a travel plan before you enter the country. There is no room for spontaneity anymore – which is so necessary to develop an artistic vision.

«How do these restrictions affect cultural exchange? In the world view of the bureaucrats, artists do not even exist. You have to be either a tourist, or a businessman, or maybe a visiting scholar with an official invitation. However, Indian musicians coming to the EU to play concerts don’t fit into any of these categories. Nor do Europeans, who go to India for music studies within the traditional master-disciple framework outside any institutions. Indian musicians in Europe are therefore forced to pretend being tourists, while European music students either have to register with official institutions or to commute between India and Europe. The personal connections between enthusiasts at grassroot level are thus dragged into a grey area. Concert organisers, musicians and music students have no choice but to bypass visa rules, foreigner’s tax laws and other regulations and thus slide over the rim of illegality. And since years, the governments have tried to close the remaining loopholes.

«All this is not an Indo-German problem, but a problem of Europe with the rest of the world. Musicians and concert organisers are hit particularly hard by the current restrictions of free travel. Freemuse, a worldwide organisation for the freedom of musical expression, has published a white paper on travel restrictions for musicians, which is available for free download at http://freemuse.org The right to choose where you want to go was once proclaimed as a basic human right. Those times are obviously gone.»

R. Those times are obviously gone

Je ne peux guère confirmer ces difficultés et trouve le propos un peu excessif ou réducteur. Depuis que j’invite des musiciens indiens, cela s’est toujours assez bien, voire très bien passé pour leurs visas, à condition de s’y prendre à temps. J’ai même bénéficié plusieurs fois de manifestations évidentes et spontanées de bonne volonté de la part des administrations concernées.

Je partage néanmoins le dégoût fondamental qu’inspirent les frontières, les drapeaux et leurs gardiens, et jamais je n’oublie cette réponse irrévérencieuse fait par Yehudi Menuhin (que je cite ici approximativement pour la lettre, mais fidèlement pour l’esprit) à quelqu’un qui lui vantait les mérites de l’Union européenne : «Votre Europe, j’y croirai le jour où un Tzigane pourra voyager librement et sans encombre d’Istamboul à Dublin»

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