Moldovan artists come up with ideas for solving culture financing problem

The artists that are participating in the five roundtable meetings organised as part of the project “Visions on Cultural Policy for Moldova: from Changes to Viability” implemented by Soros Foundation-Moldova’s Cultural Policy Programme in cooperation with the European Cultural Foundation based in Amsterdam, acknowledged the need of formulating a new policy for accumulating the necessary financial resources to develop culture, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the head of the Culture Ministry’s National Programmes Division, last year each resident of Moldova benefited from 34 lei for the areas of culture, including by 3 lei for purchasing books and by 4.2 lei for extensive repair. In 2007, this figure was 46 lei for each Moldovan inhabitant. During the discussions, which were also attended by managers of cultural institutions, it was ascertained that the Culture Ministry’s budget does not include sufficient funds to finance the cultural institutions and there is a lack of transparency. The participants mentioned that the law on sponsorship does not work because it runs counter to the interests of a sponsor. At the same time, according to the analysis carried out by the Centre Contact, only 10% of the over 3,000 existent NGOs focus on culture and only 2% work effectively. Given that no market of arts can exist under such conditions, the state, through its relevant bodies – the Parliament, Government, Culture Ministry, should support the non-profit sector in the cultural activities. The artists said that they are not protected by the state at the moment and there should be adopted a set of laws, including the Artist’s Status. The Culture Ministry should act as an intermediary between the artists and the Parliament and promote by law the principle of allotting a certain amount from the profit to the non-profit sector, what will enable the private sector to directly support the culture. Another problem is the lack of a national organisation like the European Art Council or of a Cultural Fund. The debate participants said that the book consumption market in Moldova is very small and, as a consequence, the independent publishing houses export 80% of the books to Romania. Simultaneously, there is a wide discrepancy between the state-financed and independent publishing houses. The first print about 2% of the production and channel the money according to unknown principles and criteria. The second risk their own money and produce the largest majority of the printing materials. The participants in the five roundtable meetings reached the conclusion that the state should support and promote the cultural industries by granting loans to purchase equipment, providing “fiscal vacations”, leasing out spaces at lower prices or free of charge etc. The artists suggested the idea of modifying the existent financing system by increasing significantly the quota of 5 lei per inhabitant and by allocating additional fixed sums, regardless of the number of residents, depending on the accomplishments of the community in the area of culture. These additional funds should be distributed by special district commissions in a transparent way, on the basis of concrete projects put forward by the local houses of culture. The state should support the cultural operators of all the levels through training programmes, a well-balanced small grant system that would stimulate activities in arts.