Lithuanian Cultural Policy

Lithuania national cultural policy still continues the line that the state institutions, so-called budget organisations, they’re fully financed more-or-less, or heavily financed, they have houses, they have financing for their housekeeping, they have financing for programs, of course it’s not enough but they have fully all of that. And, as well as I know there aren’t any grant systems for administration or permanent financing for the independent sector. So the whole independent sector applies for so-called project grants. There are many of them. The main sources are some programs of the Ministry of Culture, and the so-called culture support fund, kulturkapital as in Latvia and Estonia, which is being transformed right now into a system of a Council of Culture, Culture Council, in other countries it’s the Arts Council. So into an arms-length principle institution. It’s not clear how well that will function yet, because right now it’s being transformed. Until now, if you talk about the last decade, usually activities were financed from grants. But imagine that it’s really not comparable to grants like in France or Germany. Basically, what I know by percentage from GDP in Lithuania it’s one of the lowest percentages in Europe, if we count per capita that which is given for culture. And I would say that unfortunately for my country, and it’s a shame for my country, but culture is not treated as something good, and a valuable thing, yet.

CultureFighter

Lithuanian Cultural Policy

Audronis Imbrasas

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