The government will discuss the concept of support for the arts for the next five years

The Czech Republic - Minister of Culture Daniel Herman will present one of the strategic documents of the ministry, the Concept for More Effective Support of the Arts for the years 2015 to 2020, to the government on Monday. It is a continuation of a document that dealt with state support for the arts in previous years. It also includes tasks that were not fulfilled in the previous period. Unlike the previous period, it does not address the areas of cinematography, museums, galleries, and libraries, as they are preparing or already have their own concepts, said MK spokeswoman Simona Cigánková.

The previous concept for the years 2006 to 2013 was the first strategic document in the field of arts since 1990. The material presented to the government now states that "the real economic situation of the Czech Republic in the years 2007 to 2013 and the reduction of public budgets led to the fact that the objectives of the concept could not be largely fulfilled." The unfulfilled tasks have been transferred to the new concept. However, the Ministry of Culture states that "the mere adoption of the concept is budget-neutral, and individual tasks will be realized to the extent corresponding to the current budgetary possibilities of the ministry."

The concept was developed by the Art Institute - Theater Institute. The first part of the concept, which summarizes the previous period, mentions the economic impacts of cultural events. The Theater Institute launched an application www.kulkal.cz, which organizers can use to calculate it. An economic study of the Prague Quadrennial from 2011, for example, showed that the event brought the state twice as much as it invested, and it was similarly profitable for the capital. Every crown of the PQ budget generated almost six crowns in Czech economic turnover and two crowns in GDP.

The tools for supporting the arts mentioned in the concept are institutional, economic, or legislative. According to the authors of the concept, it is necessary to amend the law on certain types of public support, adopt the long-awaited law on public law institutions in culture, apply the new civil code to the field of arts, promote tax relief for selected artistic activities and lower VAT rates as well as the possibility of reducing the tax base for artistic activities or inheritance taxes through the donation of artworks.

According to the concept, the Ministry of Culture should increase funding for grants in the field of live arts and create new programs, such as a special program to support festivals. It should ensure the implementation of the new State Program for the Support of Contemporary Art and Architecture in galleries and exhibition halls and improve the state acquisition policy.

The concept, when considering state funding for the arts, anticipates the government's program statement, according to which spending on culture should increase to make up one percent of the state budget by 2017. If this is to be fulfilled, the MK budget in 2017 would need to be nearly 15.5 billion crowns. This year, the ministry is operating with approximately 11.5 billion, with nearly 12 billion currently being planned for next year.