The UN Charter of Human Rights was proclaimed 75 years ago. What does it mean today? Students and lecturers at the university are reflecting on this together with cultural professionals in a series of events.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." These are the opening words of the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt, then Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, proclaimed to the UN General Assembly in the early hours of 10 November 1948.
Eight women and men from several countries had worked on the declaration for two years and, in the face of war and horror in the first half of the 20th century, formulated rights for the first time that should apply equally to all people. 75 years later, the declaration is as relevant today as it was then. Even today, wars and conflicts cause people hardship and rob them of their dignity.
"This affects us," says Christiane Abt, Artistic Associate at the University's Institute of Music. Together with other teaching staff and students from her Institute and the Institute of Art and Visual Culture, and in co-operation with the Kulturetage and the City of Oldenburg's music school, she has therefore initiated a project in which artists and students explore human rights: How does the UN Charter connect people from different cultures today? And what do human rights actually mean for me personally?
Standing up for values as a community
"The result is a programme that encourages people to think about these questions in different ways," explains Abt. On the anniversary of the actual declaration, on 10 December, students will be showing their designs for a poster competition on the topic of "75 years of the UN Charter of Human Rights" in a travelling exhibition in front of the university auditorium. The posters, which the students designed in a course taught by Thomas Robbers, reflect the topic in very different ways.
"For me, human rights mean that every person anywhere in the world can be exactly who they are," writes student Berit Kaiser, for example, in the brochure that accompanies the exhibition. Jana Wemken's poster reflects on the fact that the preservation of human rights is a long road worth climbing. For Arndis Oeynhausen, solidarity is an important aspect: "When we stand up together as a community for the same values and visions for the future, it creates hope."
Right to participate in culture and science
On the same evening at 6 p.m. in the university auditorium, the HUMAN Suite for Orchestra by composer Helge Burggrabe will be performed - a tribute to human rights. The concert, says Abt, is at the centre of the events. The organisers are also focusing on Article 27 of the Charter: "Everyone has the right to take part in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific progress and its achievements."
The programme will conclude on Tuesday, 12 December at 7.30 pm with an interfaith choir concert in the Garrison Church as part of the Leo Trepp Teaching House Annual Programme 2023. The concert will be conducted by the regional church music director Beate Besser.
Music should make it clear "that most people want to live in peace, regardless of the source of their longing. And we want to stand together and sing." This is the message that the organisers - the Leo Trepp Teaching House and the University's Intercultural Jewish Studies Centre - want concertgoers to take away with them on this evening.
