The independent cultural scene in Moldova is ignored by the government and administrators of public funds for culture, says Rusanda Curcă, director of the Independent Cultural Sector Coalition. According to her, culture in general remains “the Cinderella of the system”, which is reflected by the meager budgets that are allocated to this sector.
“The Ministry pursues a policy that seeks to commercialize and touristify the cultural sector as much as possible and does not see it as an instrument of citizen education and social cohesion. Everything that doesn’t sell and is not tourism-worthy doesn’t matter to them. I can only express my regret for their absence from this event”, said Rusanda Curcă during a press conference held to mark the launch the 2023 Alternative Cultural Spaces series of events.
Vladimir Us, president of the Oberlicht NGO, noted that one of the problems whose solution resonates with the projects of the Coalition and the independent cultural sector is the systematic lack of public funding for independent cultural organizations. He said that everything related to contemporary art and civic culture has been supported over the years by foreign funds and the picture still remains very unbalanced in this regard. Most funding continues to come from sources other than local or national. Another problem concerns cultural spaces to which independent cultural actors still do not have access or, if they do have access, they have to pay commercial rents. There are no programs to support the cultural civil society in the long term with spaces and opportunities to carry out activities on a permanent basis.
Vladimir Us added that the educational system does not respond to today’s challenges. “It is still a conservative system that needs to be, on the one hand, reconsidered as a methodology, and, on the other hand, it could be supplemented with other educational modules that we lack. And that’s what we’ve been dealing with in recent years at the Buncăr Space, which was created in cooperation with the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, and which continues to be active as a space for students, teachers, and also cultural initiatives that do not they have direct ties with the Academy, with the educational system, but they carry out their projects for students within this institution”, said Vladimir Us.
The Coalition of the Independent Cultural Sector and Oberliht Association launched the 2023 Alternative Cultural Spaces series, which aims to promotes independent cultural initiatives and organizations in Moldova. The program consists of over 40 cultural activities that will be staged during two consecutive weekends in Chisinau, Durlești and Trușeni and in other localities of Moldova. SCA2023 will be a platform for discussion and reflection on topics of importance both for the cultural community and for the wider society, such as civic education through art, the role of culture in times of crisis, solidarity with the Ukrainian people, etc.
