OUR CHARTER

For centuries and until the middle of the fifties, the Mediterranean has been a central location in economy – world of political, ideological and financial exchanges – a melting pot.

Today, especially with the acceleration of the European construction – the Mediterranean appears more every day like a fractured danger zone, one of the two regions in the world – with the Rio Grande which borders the USA and Mexico – where North and South meet in a frontal way, wealth and poverty, rapid population growth and declining population growth.

Concurrently, increase of sources of tensions and war, ethnical and religion identity with drawls which dangerously jeopardise peace and development of bordering nations and way beyond, to such a degree the interpenetrating is numerous.

Cradle of our cultures, the Mediterranean is today a space with unmistakable character with its very ancient roots, its unceasing human mingling, its ethics and behaviour often widely divided.

Wall or bridge ? It becomes a major stake where we find directly and indirectly the strong lines of the international situation with as backdrop this contradiction between on one side the fantastic progress, developed these last decades by the scientific and technical revolution, acceleration of knowledge, transformation of life, work and customs, the liberation of colonised people, and on the other side the threat of the huge decline in civilisations with more chaotic societies increase in inequalities between men and between nations, the increase in sources of war.

From the oldest one's and still not resolved to the ones of to day. The list of mediterranean conflicts is long.
It tends to get longer dangerously.

The war are becoming worse, the embargo’s but also the economic, social and political fractures expanding in both most of the Southern a Mediterranean countries and in the ones of the Northern shore, mortgaging our common future in a dangerous way.

The European construction, the way it is functioning today is shifting vital and determining centers towards Central and Northern Europe, relegating to its periphery the Mediterranean regions and their populations, which leads to their asphyxiation.

Like everywhere else in the world perhaps more than elsewhere, because the human and historical ties are closer here, the Mediterranean nations need to construct new international relations, to transform their common sea into a “lake of peace” in converging the solidarity’s not only on tremendous injustices but also on the basis of their mutual interests and struggle led on the whole by the Mediterranean countries of the European Community towards a way-out of their own problem's, unemployment, daily difficulties.

It is becoming urgent that the work and cultural forces construct from necessities and respecting the originality and identity of each of the many bridges over the Blue Sea.

Such is the object and the purpose of the TransMediterranean Festival, permanent forum and cultural educational, human and social tool at the service of Mediterranean people.