The decision of the Ministry of Culture cancels any dialogue

The management of the Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Montenegro assessed at yesterday's session that the Decision of the Ministry of Culture on co-financing of programs and projects of importance for the realization of public interest in the field of cultural and artistic creativity in 2015 is "an example of an obvious violation of professional standards in contemporary culture and literature".

"Unfortunately, the bearer of such processes is the Ministry of Culture, which should first of all represent and apply these standards! The Disputed Decision was made in the period before the mandate of the newly appointed minister had begun, as if it was timed in order not to transfer some responsibility to him. An authorized inspection of the text of the Decision can establish that the Ministry encourages and supports literary projects extremely selectively, not in accordance with quality criteria, but according to its fan calculations and preferences", states the statement of the Association signed by the President Radomir Uljarević.

He stated that "several (only four) publishers, out of more than 50 registered in Montenegro" received part of the funds, and asked what happened to the publishers who have been competing with the Ministry of Culture for years (perhaps even a whole decade) in vain with their projects?

"They can offer the best projects, but their projects will be brutally rejected, they will not even enter the competition for the allocation of funds, each time with a new explanation, or even without an explanation. Apart from the publishing houses, the persistent favoring of a few suitable and ideologically recognizable authors is inappropriate for the cultural policy that the Ministry of Culture is declaratively advocating for," says Uljarević.

He pointed out that the Association of Publishers and Booksellers believes that the results of the competition do not correspond to the real situation in Montenegrin publishing, "because this time too, important publishing houses in Montenegro and their very important projects were completely ignored by the will of the Commission members, which offered an inadequate and incomplete picture of contemporary Montenegrin publishing and literature".

"The application of such standards promotes such a false image of domestic literature, which is not in favor of the state or the Ministry of Culture, which is expected to replace the ideological approach with an aesthetic and creative one," the announcement reads.

The Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Montenegro believes that the support of the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro can be directed to all projects that truly contribute to the quality, vitality, diversity, or self-understanding of the contemporary culture of Montenegro.

"With this Decision, all dialogue is abolished and trust in cultural institutions, and tradition, and modernity, and interculturality, and so many other values ​​are brutally suspended," the announcement of the Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Montenegro states.

Favorite reputation confirmed

DOO "OKF" based in Cetinje, i.e. the Open Cultural Forum, whose founder is Milorad-Mijo Popović, was awarded by the Decision of the Ministry of Culture on the co-financing of programs and projects of importance for the realization of public interest in the field of cultural and artistic creativity in 2015 - 20.000 euros for publishing projects.

"ARS", a magazine for literature, culture and social issues, which works within the framework of the Open Cultural Forum, was awarded 25.000 euros by the same Decision.

DOO "OKF" appears once again in the Ministry's Decision, because it received another 17.000 euros from the Ministry for participation in the Leipzig Book Fair and the International Book Fair in Lecce, Italy.

With a total of 62.000 euros in support, compared to Grada Teatra, which received 20.000 or the Bar Chronicle with 15.000 euros, the Open Cultural Forum and Popović once again confirmed their reputation as favorites of the Ministry of Culture.