ERSTE Stiftung Cultural policy landscapes Studies A guide to eighteen Central and South Eastern European countries Cultural policy landscapes. A guide to eighteen Central and South Eastern European countries Authors: Veronika Ratzenböck, Katharina Okulski, Xenia Kopf Proof reading: David Westacott Editing: Andrea Huemer Vienna 2012, 116 pages All rights reserved. © ERSTE Foundation and österreichische kulturdokumentation. internationales archiv für kulturanalysen, Schultergasse 5/15, 1010 Vienna 0043 (0)1 535 27 05 [email protected] www.kulturdokumentation.org Despite careful checking, errors cannot be excluded and no claim is made to the exhaustive completeness of the data. Cultural policy landscapes A guide to eighteen Central and South Eastern European countries Veronika Ratzenböck Katharina Okulski Xenia Kopf CONTENTS 7 Preface 9 Introduction 11 1. Country profiles: 18 outlines of cultural policy development 12 Albania 15 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19 Bulgaria 22 Croatia 26 Czech Republic 30 Estonia 34 Hungary 38 Kosovo 42 Latvia 46 Lithuania 50 The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 53 Moldova 57 Poland 61 Romania 65 Serbia 69 Slovakia 73 Slovenia 77 Ukraine 81 2. Country profiles in comparison 82 2.1 A comparison of figures: cultural budgets and expenditure 85 2.2 Common issues and characteristics 87 2.2.1 Transformation and (de)centralisation 89 2.2.2 International relations and cross-regional alliances 93 2.2.3 The status of contemporary art 96 Sources 102 Annex 5 PREFACE ERSTE Foundation develops its projects in cooperation with non-profit organisations (NPOs) in East- ern Europe. As a result, we are very much involved in the local NPO scene and often learn about deci- sions on budgetary issues and political priorities first hand through our contacts. A common feature of all the countries in which we operate is the ongoing withdrawal of the public sector from culture and art funding, especially when it comes to supporting small associations and contemporary art. Therefore, we decided some time ago to launch a research project and get an overview of local culture budgets and cultural policies. It is only natural that we are interested in the role that foundations play between the two poles of public and private engagement in the field of culture and cultural policy in Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe. The österreichische kulturdokumentation. internationales archiv für kulturanalysen, a well-established institute for applied cultural research joined us in this challenging research project. It was challenging because we intended to explore two different phenomena: How have budgetary decisions and priori- ties shifted since the breakdown of the socialist states? Which private foundations are currently work- ing in these countries? These findings are now available.Cultural policy landscapes. A guide to eighteen Central and South Eastern European countries turned out to be a real challenge since accessing data, facts and figures on budgets was almost impossible, sometimes even in the public sector. The analysis by the österreichische kulturdokumentation revealed one major shortage that we are confronted with in our daily work. The field of art and culture has to deal with increasingly tighter budgets, and even more so in the case of contemporary art which is considered of little significance. Sadly, our study confirmed this fact. We hope that the extensive data provided by the österreichische kulturdokumentation, mainly ob- tained from public administration offices and cultural and research institutions, will lead to further dis- cussion on local and also international level and maybe even help culture gain the status, it deserves as an indispensible part of our society. The great team of the österreichische kulturdokumentation, made up of Veronika Ratzenböck, Katha- rina Okulski and Xenia Kopf, spent many months gathering, interpreting and analysing facts and figures. We are proud to present the results in this publication. Christine Böhler and Maria Derntl, ERSTE Foundation INTRODUCTION The österreichische kulturdokumentation. internationales archiv für kulturanalysen has compiled this service and work tool Cultural policy landscapes. A guide to eighteen Central and South Eastern Euro- pean countries, offering an outlook of cultural policies and the transformation process of the last 15 to 20 years in 18 selected countries. These countries, in the CSEE region and in the Baltic states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine), were chosen together with the ERSTE Foundation, covering its regions of activity. The task was to examine decisive cultural policy developments, highlights, key current aspects, framework conditions for artists and cultural workers, and measures as well as gaps and hindrances that indicate a need for action in this region. This guide, which serves as a kind of service tool, is neither an evaluation nor a scientific paper, but it should serve as a sound basis for analysis and discussion. The initial step in this project was the research on cultural policy trends and developments in the CSEE region and in the Baltic states. One of the main targets was to screen the transformation process of the former communist countries with the help of timelines covering a period of 16 years, from 1995 until today. The chosen period gives a good overview of the transformation period. Even though the data for some years is missing, the timelines still facilitate an examination of cultural development in the 18 countries. The first part consists of a synoptic presentation of the countries, giving an image of regions that have undergone a transformation process, and assessing their cultural data (such as national cul- tural budget, cultural expenditure per capita and as a proportion of GDP) and specific national cultural policy issues as well as giving a brief outline of international relations. The profiles pinpoint highlights, focal points, recent developments and fields of action. The second part examines and compares na- tional cultural budgets and the national cultural expenditure as a proportion of GDP etc. with regard to their timelines and developments. An additional transversal analysis outlines general developments, similarities and discrepancies in cultural policy in the 18 countries, and points out the variety of dynam- ics and pace in the Baltic states and Central and South Eastern Europe. A closer look is taken at three major topics: transformation and (de)centralisation, international relations and cross-regional alliances and the status of contemporary art in the CSEE region and the Baltic states. The guide used the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, an online platform of 42 countries initiated by the Council of Europe and ERICarts, as its main source for orientation and as a basis for further exploration on the subject. The Compendium compiles information on cultural policies in Europe and beyond, with national authors responsible for the country profiles. As the research did not take place on-site, the Compendium acted as a very representative source, and its authors together with the long-standing network of the österreichische kulturdokumentation. internationales archiv für kulturanalysen, including cultural institutions and ministries, provided us with valuable information. Unfortunately, the availability of sources for some countries is limited and some were not available in English but mainly in the languages of the respective countries, which inhibited the evaluation of data. It should be noted at this point that the cultural statistics and data collected in this report contain gaps, owing to the fact that some information is simply missing (especially for the 1990s), sometimes also due to the difficult access, the absence of digitalisation and a lack of documentation etc. We were also confronted with differences in figures as a result of the different sources. However, as the purpose of the inquiry is to indicate trends horizontally, the given figures perform their function. Another challenge was the different currencies used in the data. After discussion and correspondence with experts it turned out that historical timelines for the 1990s are neither entirely documented nor accessible. And due to the fact that the figures come from different sources, the decision was made to use the available data and currencies in parallel and work with the data provided. This decision may hinder the comparability of the cultural statistics for an overall comparison but not for the horizontal evaluations for each country. 1. COUNTRY PROFILES: 18 OUTLINES OF CULTURAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT A profile – synoptic presentation – was compiled for each of the 18 selected countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mac- edonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine). The country profiles present basic facts, such as the capital city, population, official languages, cultural minorities, political system, its relation to the European Union, the general GDP and per capita GDP, followed by a collection of cul- tural data, including the national cultural budget, cultural expenditure per capita, cultural expenditure as a proportion of GDP and cultural expenditure per household. The cultural data is presented in the form of timelines of the