2007 Universal Forum of Cultures - Historical Background

Historical Background

The Universal Forum of Cultures project was born in 1996 in the city of Barcelona, Spain. The mayor of Barcelona identified that, after the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, there was a large number of international events that fostered competition. On the other hand, there was no event dedicated to empowering civil society or focused on the celebrations of the arts and culture. The proposal to create such an event was then presented in 1997 to UNESCO by the delegation of Spain, and unanimously approved by all member states represented in the Organization.

In 1999, UNESCO signed a cooperation agreement with the Forum Foundation, that established the Organization as the chief partner and main sponsor of the event.

In 2004, Barcelona hosted the first Universal Forum of Cultures: Barcelona 2004, which lasted 141 days and established the event as the major global gathering for arts, culture and dialogues. Upon concluding the 2004 Forum, the Forum Foundation selected the city of Monterrey, Mexico to host the 2007 Forum. Other candidate cities in the race included important venues such as Amsterdam, Montreal, Durban, and Fukuoka.

In 2005, during UNESCO's 33rd General Conference it was decided that UNESCO would again be the main partner of the Forum providing technical assistance and promotion of the Forum with international governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO).