Rijeka Cultural Policies: Save on the Contents

22 December 2005

The 2006 Budget of the City of Rijeka, which is on the today�s agenda of the City Council, proposes reduced cultural budget by 18%. The reduction refers, above all, to financing of cultural programmes, while the funding available for salaries and infrastructural costs of public cultural institutions remains at the same level.

Rijeka

The 2006 Budget has increased by three percent, compared to 2005, and the funding of public cultural needs is the only area that was subjected to radical cutting. Therefore, the changes refer to the budget structure and not to the more general saving programme.

According to the representatives of six Rijeka-based independent cultural organizations: Trafik, Spirit, Prostor Plus, Ri-Teatar, Film Aktiv and DRUGO MORE, the proposed cuts in the cultural funding puts in danger the very survival of a great part of the independent cultural scene in Rijeka, having in mind that the programming funding was the main sources of public financing for the independent culture.

"We do understand that the decision is based in the need to save whenever possible, but we can�t accept the fact that the saves breaks over the backs of programmes that represent the essence of the cultural sector�, claim the associations.

�The decision is strange, having in mind the unfavourable ratio of funds dedicated to the maintenance of cultural system (salaries, infrastructure) and the funds intended for financing of programmes. Over four fifths (84 percent) of the available funds is spent on maintenance, with the remaining 16 percent dedicated to actual programming�, stresses Davor Miskovic from DRUGO MORE association.

The associations are also surprised by the relatively mild reactions by the people from the cultural institutions, who have also seen a major cut in the programming funds. They conclude that the management might consider it more important to secure the salaries, while they are not as interested as the independent scene in the actual programming.

The Clubture network of independent cultural organizations in Croatia comments that such a significant cut is not exclusive to Rijeka. The similar policies could easily serve as an example to the other local administrations, even to the central government, which could put a question mark on the general cultural production.

Over the past several years, the ruling parties have adopted the practice to present their budgets, national and local, as �development-oriented� and �social�. The Rijeka cultural budget, it seems, falls into the category of social budgets. The question remains, is there a point of public financing for the culture, if the funds are directed solely to the existence of employees of public cultural institution that don�t produce any contents?