I Have the Right to Culture

I Have the Right to Culture is a beautiful work of art telling young children, and their adults, that all children have the right “to take part in cultural and creative activities”.

When I first looked at this book, I wondered why this particular right of the child had been selected as the third book in the “I Have the Right” series. It seems like one of the lesser in significance of the rights.

Then I gave my head a shake, sat myself down, had a cup of tea and thought long and hard about my privileged life.

I truly had never imagined a world where the right to culture and creative activities wasn’t a given. My children’s activities were limited to what we could afford and how many carpools I could arrange, but it was never a choice between something and nothing.

In I Have the Right to Culture, artist Aurélia Fronty uses a very colourful naïve art style to accompany the poetic words of Alain Serres as translated by Shelley Tanaka. Together, this team has created a book that will encourage children to imagine a world of endless possibilities for themselves and others. But the true value of I Have the Right to Culture lies in the deeper discussions it can initiate about the right of all children to cultural and creative activities.

All children.

Perhaps everyone reading this review got to that point faster than I did. All children regardless of race or gender or socio-economic status or location in the world, or any other divisive category. All children have the right to culture and creative activities.

My one concern about I Have the Right to Culture is the title. Unfortunately, ‘I have a right’ is too often an actual battle cry among those who claim rights without also acknowledging responsibilities. Do not judge this book by its title and dismiss it without ever opening the cover. You will miss a treasure.

I highly recommend I Have the Right to Culture as an engaging work of art and as a discussion starter to talk about social justice for all.