::: Krakowskie Reminiscencje Teatralne - KRAKÓW- PL
Festival dates: April 06-09, 2006
April 7, 2006, 10:30 – 14:00, Krakow
FIT-panel:
Festival As an Essential Element of the Cultural Policy of the State and the City
::: SHORT CUTS OF THE DISCUSSION
PARTICIPANTS
:: ROSE FENTON – Moderator
:: TILMANN BROSZAT
– Festival Director SPIELART, Munich (D)
:: JURGIS GIEDRYS
– Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of Lithuania in Poland
:: MAGDA GRUDZINSKA
– Festival Director KRAKOWSKIE REMINISCENCJE TEATRALNE, Krakow (PL)
:: JOHANNA HAMMEMBERG
– DramAgora, BALTIC CIRCLE Festival, Helsinki (FI)
:: PROF. DR. DR. LYDIA HARTL
– Director of the Cultural Department of the City of Munich (D)
:: JERZY JEDLINSKI
– Chairman of the Cultural Commission of the Sejmik of Malopolska Region (PL)
:: DARINA KAROVA
– Festival Director DIVADELNA NITRA, Nitra (SK)
:: JAROSLAW KISIELIŃSKI
– Department of Art of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (PL)
:: RENE KUBASEK
– Deputy Executive Director of the Visegrad Fund
:: GUNDEGA LAIVINA
– Program Director HOMO NOVUS, Riga (LV)
:: BARBARA TURLEJSKA
– Deputy Director of the Department of Culture
and National Heritage of the City of Krakow (PL)
:: NATASA ZAVOLOVSEK
– Festival Director EXODOS, Ljubljana (SLO)
TILMANN BROSZAT:
The FIT’s idea was born two years ago. The main concept is to exchange experiences, compare similar situations, contexts of different festivals and relations between organizers and public administration. The FIT’s events are focused on the common tendency to search within the contemporary art’s circle and even if they take on local dimensions we can still talk about the differences and similarities, we can look for the topics together, compare the results and the strategy of creation.
ROSE FENTON:
This is my fifth meeting of this kind. All of them have brought provocative and stimulating discussions. There is a huge diversity of what we bring in here. We are different but we are similar, too. Festivals have independent spirit, enquire what is new, amplify Europe without borders conception. Create the festival is to create the European culture.
Let’s try to think about why the festivals should be supported? Festivals that create city’s identify, stimulate of thinking about the social value. Today we are concentrating on what is the festival for the city also who and on which way support the festival.
LYDIA HARTL:
The supporting policies regarding artistic activity in Munich don't depend on tourism. They are an arena of try and experiments. This is time of cultural profile transformation. Constantly implementation of that idea is the task for the festivals.
Well-informed communities are growing and they are full of expectation cultural development. Unfortunately capitalism has stopped potential of cultural growth. Natural need of society is fulfilment the social needs on first. In the same society exists still a huge potential and explicit tendency to his development. European Union should be open not for participatory countries only. After the border’s opening succeed the emigration’s tendency. It helped in the culture informal flow. The consequence of this social effects is an obligation to new creative class; the young artists. Strategy of the culture supporting by Munich City Council based first of all on the contemporary art promotion and enlargement of cultural education’s program. Result of this kind of policies is a fact that sole traders know that they should to advocate of culture as a Munich City Council do. 70% of our budget is allowed for new projects, for create a dialog between institutions. This is a new strategy , full off risk, but risk in change’s enactment is necessary.
From the one hand globalization has brought us culture progress demise in the other social processes, from the other hand – it has brought a wide abilities for the technology and ideas dynamic exchange. For the society it most be pointed out three things: observation’s, education’s and expression’s possibility.
FIT is not only financial exchange urgency’s consequence. For the Europe experience exchange and mark’s comparison is very important. It makes an ability to general situation and tendency insight. It help to find another conceptions for improvement, coexistence and cooperation between festivals and artists, between festivals and institutions. Without international festivals it’s impossible
RENE KUBASEK:
General assumptions of our Fund before five years had been supporting participant countries cultural exchange common with the tourism progress too. Presently, in case about 15% of supported projects, doesn’t matter if they are relevant with us. We have a six kinds of grants. This year budget has had 3 200 000 euros and we hope that next year, according to Ministry’s promises, it will grow up to 5 000 000 euros; it is not too much for the number of supported events. For us it doesn’t matter an event’s profile. It may be film festival, theatre festival; the most important is that it has to focus around our fund countries. Projects of the other countries has a tides chances to get a support; basic criteria is include Visehrad element. Our financial help doesn’t cross 15%, so the other means an applicant has to find individually or with his other partners. Lot of events we have support from a long time ago. It’s, for example, Divadelna Nitra.
DARINA KAROVA:
Festival Divadelna Nitra has been established fifteen years ago. There have ensued lot of changes during this time, in the financial zone too. Presently we have only one source of financing actually. It is Ministry of Culture and City Council somewhat.
Relation between organizers and institutions has changed in time of fifty-years old history. Firstly it wad been frightfully. Situation has radically change after 1995 with the change of government. We started to organise official meetings and promote our activity in all country. It was very hard to find some partners for us as an independent institution. Ministry had allowed that the organizers have stolen the festival’s many and started to evade from support us. Support came from the abroad. From 1998 it has started to get better in relation between festival and government. Ministry of Culture has built subsidisation up, the City Council has maintained his help level. Presently our festival is include in city’s budget. We have enter into communication international cooperation for the large scale. In this way we has enabled the our artists to perform in the other festivals. Ministry has allowed a necessity of support Festival Divadelna Nitra. Unfortunately in Slovakia culture isn’t priority topic. Primary error of system is a fact, that it’s basing on the personal relations.
JERZY JEDLINSKI:
In Malopolska region the culture is very important and we allocate for it lot off many. Much more we allocate still for the infestations, road’s repair for example. In Poland the basic principle of the public life’s organize is a help rule. There is a need to the institutions supporting culture has they own vision of her progress. We don’t wont to interfere in the art., we want to use it for the external city promotion. In Poland lot of problems with financial of public life is unsolved. One of them is a one year budget, which prevents of planning long lasting projects. We have occurred to the Ministry of Culture whit the project of program, which can enable to long time planning. It is very important because of the international calendar. For get in there promotion of event has to be done two – three years before this event. Our cultural politic base on the district’s promotion with help of the interesting artistic events. As a regional institution we have to support other cultural institution what takes us major piece of budget. For the independent events we have developed support basic on the competition lead according to city’s cultural politic. Until now public administration has posed on the number of the cultural events with the damage for the organizers, which could get not so high grants. Changes I was talking about will help us in gradation, what will bring a mayor support. It must be change a regulations relevant a processes. Administration should be more flexible and not corrupted.
BARBARA TURLEJSKA:
Cultural landscape of the city create the artists not officials and when this awakens accompany both of them, cooperation may be get quite positively.
Financial zone is the biggest difficulty in all projects realizations. The budget is definite every year and depend from the general city’s purpose; education, city progress, social help for example. Culture support base on the mecenat and is compatible with the promoting line of the city. We can support events on the city’s and commune territory only. The base for this support is maintenance of cultural institutions with different artistic profile but we put lot off attention on the cyclical events too, which in Krakow is number. It is very hard to reconcile all of it so we have made up our mind to support generally proven events with suitable goodwill.
One of the basic criteria which decide about grant’s receiving abilities from City Council it is an enterprise of organizers. Subsidisation can take 50% of festival’ budget, so we want to frogmarch to the cooperation’s between institutions development. For ensure more of the stability and planning abilities we want to incoming the three years agreement project, which will basic on the three year’s contract with yearly negotiation of grant’s altitude on the basis of the valuation the applications. In Krakow it makes place lot off things.
Ourdilemma is how to fulfil all with our level of resources and favour of local government and which strategy we should use.
Beside of the competition’s abilities, which is very rigorist, there we have other form of the aid which can take an abilities to exist. Creators and organizers can establish communication with independent theatre associations, which has ensured constant support or make use from the transcript about the service purchase. Unfortunately we are limited in this case too, because of the tidy number of monuments, which we have to care about. Additionally we want to float two new programs: for private and clerical initiatives.
The biggest expense absorbs an institutions. We think that they are the places where young creativity and cultural education can develop. For the city promotion the festivals are more important. I can tell that the proportions between institution’s and festival’s support are good, not sufficient, but good. Last year touristy boom confirms that we are going in the right way in our cultural politic promoting the city.
JAROSLAW KISIELINSKI:
The main tool of the independent projects support in Ministry of Culture are operational programs. They have worked from two years and have encounter lot off problems still, generally law’s nature. Ministry has got two source of financing: budget’s means and culture promote fund, which takes resources from the lottery games tax. We have noticed a tendency to development of the interesting projects and cultural activity. Unfortunately this increase doesn’t go in pair with increase of the budget’s mains. 11% last year budget we devoted for the many kind of theatrical festivals. The criteria are doubtful because they interlock with radical things. Applications evaluates the commission in conversation way. It is more easy for the older and accredited events to get the support, but we try to help the new initiatives too. We support lot off theatrical events and lot off them is financed exactly because of their innovative form. We try to don’t intervene in culture shape. We believe that the people which are creating the culture know the best how it should to look like. We organize prestigious contests too. This way we want to encourage private firms to share cultural life.
Artists aren’t only one active group creating cultural life; huge burden onus on the organizers arms. Unfortunately the weak point of our polish organizers is manager’s thinking, which should to protect the creators. Officials however should take care about to make easer access to the means for support artistic activities not for evaluate it.
JURGIS GIEDRYS:
In Lithuania 50% of the budget is share among the programs supporting different kind of cultural activity. For all of them we advertise an auction with clear criterions of choose. Applications are evaluated by the commission of experts, there is no bureaucrats among them. In our cultural politic we tend to keep the continuity of traditional festivals to bring them exist security. From Lithuanian Embassy in Poland point of view politic base on the support traditional and good known festivals. Applications concerning a new events we receive definitely too late usually, after the budget closing.
Lithuania is the small country. We have a rule that we don’t finance neither project in 100%. We encourage organizers to cooperation and research of support in other institution more.
MAGDA GRUDZINSKA:
Similar situation as in the Lithuanian Embassy we have in case the other institutions from abroad which support visits of their artists in Poland. From the organizers point of view it is a sick situation. When I want to invite some artist from abroad and I want to receive subsidisation from this kind of institutions, I have to have my own input, I have to sign the contract first without some financial guaranties. That situation become more drastic when that contract is signed already. Then I have to postpone with the signature of contracts with Polish. We have informal deal, but we can’t sign the contracts; it’s impossible.
JOHANNA HAMMEMBERG:
The City of Helsinki has supported the Baltic Circle Festival insure us 35% of our budget. Rest comes from the different kind of projects, from the European Union and Ministry of Culture. Our festival takes place biennially, but financial support we have to apply annually. This year Minister has taken this support away. Festival isn’t treat as an value in her self. We don’t talk about the project; we talk about the product. But we must to remember about continuality.
NATASA ZAVOLOVSEK:
On the national level culture supporting in Slovenia it’s some kind of mix – some mixed system. Three years ego it turned up that the only way to make big festival is take it to the community centre. I’ve done it. Old institutions receive the many from budget and they can help us to finance the festival. Major problem is the lack of the interest of our authorities of our activity and the lack of general conception.
GUNDEGA LAIVINA:
Everywhere are the same schematics, over which suffer productions. From the other hand, backing to the city level, it is very hard to convince the people that the culture has an value in her self. We need to work with the public and show them positive changes relevant with our activity. We are working to create a new strategies basic on the dialog and amplification of ties between festivals and a government and society. Merge in cooperation with the festivals from the other countries we can gain international dimension and it affect on the medial side of our activity.
NATASA ZAVOLOVSEK:
In Ljubljana it finished only on the one meeting with the authorities. They start to thinking about something and then nothing happen.
MAGDA GRUDZINSKA:
In our discussion we has touched a lot of questions. I think that, according to our animus, it made it to create an ability to dialogue from the both sides. I don’t expect a miracles after this meeting, but I hope that this exchange of reasons, and arguments is very important for our work in organizing festivals. And is very important in question of development on cultural strategy of city.
ROSE FENTON:
I think that we have talked about the politics, which concern all of us actually. About the change of city’s cultural map, which is a challenge for ourselves. If we do it in partner’s frame, we will able to take different points of view, to include all in the common stream of thinkig.
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