Brussels, 04/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - The second Brussels debate on Wednesday 2 April, organised as part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, focussed on arts and culture and 'Negotiating differences - a responsibility of artists and cultural institutions'. The debate was organised in Brussels in cooperation with the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (EFAH) and was attended by EU Education, Training, Culture, Youth and Sports Commissioner Jan Figel and MEP Claire Gibault (ALDE, France). The debate focussed on the responsibility of artists and cultural institutions in challenging, overlapping, hybridising and fusing elements of society where the identity of individuals is ever more difficult to perceive and define. The invited speakers Jette Sandahl, Director of the City Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Dutch-Turkish photographer Ahmet Polat explained their experience. The former used her long experience within cultural institutions to explore their role as guardian and developer of cultural and personal identity, talking about the shift in thinking as cultural institutions adjust to the new obligations of culturally diverse societies. The latter shared his insights on dealing with intercultural dialogue in an artistic sense. Both agreed on the need to develop a new language, new environments and new mechanisms for promoting cultural diversity and contributing to the respect of human rights. Five other Brussels debates will be organised in 2008 on issues like religion, languages, education, the media and the workplace. (I.L.)