The fusion of culture and economy today is a process that has no alternative, said the Forum of Ministers of Culture organized within the 40th General Conference of UNESCO.
The Montenegrin Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović also participated in the Forum, in which ministers from over 100 UNESCO member states spoke.
As announced by the Ministry, national cultural policies were discussed during the ministerial forum.
"In this context, topics related to the synthesis of culture and economy, that is, the creation of conditions for encouraging creative industries and encouraging better placement of their products on national, regional and global markets, were especially emphasized," the announcement says.
Bogdanović pointed out that culture should no longer be seen as a hermetically sealed system, which is self-sufficient and creates only for those who work in it.
"On the contrary, today culture represents an area that is in direct and indirect connection with the areas of science, education, economy, tourism, so it is a matter of coupling and two-way processes in which all areas profit from this cooperation," he said.
As he stated, creative industries would hardly have been so developed if there had not been a solid connection between science and technology on the one hand, and culture and creativity on the other.
"Clearly, all this has its final product in the general betterment of the local community, in individuals who see space for their creativity in creative industries, and who can then market their product on the local, regional or global market," said Bogdanović.
In this way, explained Bogdanović, a cultural product becomes an economic product, without losing its creative component and cultural value.
"On the contrary, it gains concrete usability, and promotes both the individual itself and the culture from which it originates," added Bogdanović.
When asked what mechanisms Montenegro has applied to date in order to create a combination of culture and economy, Bogdanović pointed out the program intended for creators from the sphere of creative industries.
"In order to position the economic valorization of culture and creativity high on the map of priorities, the Ministry of Culture created the program Creative Montenegro - identity, image, promotion. The program was conceived as an intersectoral platform of the Government, with numerous and diverse goals," said Bogdanović.
According to him, Creative Montenegro has already produced the first concrete results, considering that this year, at the first competition, a total of 11 authors were supported, namely ten projects and products and one scientific study.
"We provided the authors with the basic conditions and resources for work - space, equipment, promotion, so now we can say that we have successfully launched ten new businesses in culture. In this way, we wanted to motivate other creators to apply with initiatives and ideas to the upcoming contests," said Bogdanović.
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