It is necessary to restore autonomy to the Ministry of Culture, is the conclusion of the open letter addressed to the Prime Minister yesterday Zdravko Krivokapić and the vice president Dritan Abazović, which is signed by several professional associations: the Association of Actors of Montenegro, the Association of Fine Artists of Montenegro (ULUCG), the Association of Playwrights of Montenegro "Naša drama", the Association of Film Producers and Directors of Montenegro, and the non-governmental organizations Korifej Teatar and Podgorica Film Festival.
They also appeal that cultural institutions should devote themselves to work on programs (concerts, performances, exhibitions, research), decentralization, responsible management, introducing clear and transparent procedures for the distribution of funds, supporting artists, opening dialogue and other issues of essential importance.
"In the past period, unfortunately, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves that, from the aspect of functionality, the Ministry, which unites four such important departments as education, science, culture and sports, is too extensive. The lack of dialogue and communication between institutions and the cultural community is one of the many consequences of the ministry being organized in this way, and even after numerous initiatives and attempts to draw attention to important issues, we have not succeeded. That's why we consider the separation of the Ministry of Culture and the election of a minister with professional references in the field of culture imperative, which will create one of the basic preconditions for the improvement and development of culture," the letter states and points out that it is necessary to resolve the issues of of exceptional importance, not only for workers in the field of culture, but also for society as a whole.
President of the Association of Playwrights, Sandra Vujović, she explained why the autonomy of the department of culture is necessary.
"Because it is a complex, multidisciplinary field that requires full attention and dedication, which are currently lacking. As a country on the way to European integration, we cannot deal with culture occasionally, but intensively and continuously, because culture, together with artistic creation, is our specificity, our identity card, what we are recognized by in the world and what we leave to future generations. . If we are not seriously concerned with the development of culture, it means that we are not concerned with ourselves. This means that we are stagnating or going into regression. This means that we are galloping after the world. That is why culture should not be neglected and treated as a necessary expense in the annual Government budget or as a means of achieving personal or party interests, which is, unfortunately, a frequent practice. We must perceive and treat it as the most important investment, because it is that," Vujović points out for "Vijesti" and says that this is why a clear plan is necessary for each individual area of culture.
The signatories of the letter also question the "continuation of bad practices", that is, the appointment of leaders in cultural institutions whose positions are "still not measured by expertise and professional references, but by political affiliation and political activism". Vujović confirms that a professional and dedicated team is needed in all cultural institutions, primarily in the line ministry, which would realize concrete and measurable results.
"Culture must not be a toy in daily political contests and petty party goals. It must remain above that, because it is our most valuable pledge for the future. Only when we understand this, we can say for ourselves that we are a mature, modern society, which has progressed on the scale of civilization", said Vujović.
And the president of ULUCG, Igor Rakčević, singles out the personnel policy as the main problems, which he says is not based on the references of its participants, as well as the lack of communication and says that the essential thread of the functioning of this sector has been lost.
"This further causes the complete absence of development policies, but also the lack of capacity to establish the continuity of already established processes and projects," he said.
The signatories of the letter assessed that it is worrying that Montenegro does not yet have a strategic plan and program for culture.
"And therefore not a transparent cultural policy, which calls into question the existence of the will and vision to create a favorable environment for the development of culture. Also, this renders the evaluation of what has been achieved meaningless, and therefore absolves the responsible institution from responsibility," the letter reads.
Rakčević reminded that the method and measures of achieving public interest in culture are defined by the National Plan for the Development of Culture, and that, according to the Law on Culture, representatives of scientific and professional institutions, professional associations, trade unions and other entities from the field should participate in the development of the National Program culture (Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8).
"Also, the law provides for the establishment of a national council for culture. Montenegro currently does not have these two instruments, which are crucial for recognizing and establishing interests in culture, nor has anyone from the profession been consulted on these issues. It is clear that we cannot expect proper functioning of the sector and evaluation of the Competition without strategic recognition of interests in culture...
The conclusion is that this structure of the MPNKS does not provide the necessary framework for the representation of cultural interests, and therefore changes are necessary and urgent. Any delay and political tampering with culture will further collapse the fragile cultural fabric, undermine the emerging artistic generations and diminish the importance of this valuable resource", emphasizes Rakčević.
Along with bad practice, transfer old problems
"Vijesti" interlocutors agree that most of the problems are inherited, that is, that the situation in culture was not satisfactory even before.
Vujović says that the Association of Playwrights was founded at the beginning of this year with the aim of creating better working conditions in their sphere, because the position of playwrights in Montenegro was unenviable even before the creation of MPNKS.
"Which implies that the Department of Culture did not have a strategic plan before that would encourage the development of this specific creative activity, and provide playwrights and playwrights with the conditions for work and creativity," she says and goes on to explain that Montenegro has a small number of theaters, and that film and television drama productions are "still under development" and that there are few employed in cultural institutions, and all of this makes the existence of members of this sector difficult.
Rakčević admitted that he expected progress in this area after the change of government, but the opposite happened.
"Instead of bad, we got worse, the collapse of the sector and an even more controversial personnel policy than before".
Yesterday, "Vijesti" requested a comment on the open letter from Prime Minister Krivokapić's cabinet and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, but without success.
Still without basic existence
In the open letter, the signatories point out that the past two years have been particularly challenging for artists who do not have permanent employment and who are in constant existential uncertainty. They are unhappy that even after several attempts to draw the attention of MPNKS to problems of this type, there was no plan to support unemployed artists.
"In the midst of the 2021 pandemic, the government created a package of measures to support the economy and citizens, artists are completely abstracted from these measures. ULUCG sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, pointing out this omission - we did not receive a response. We call the ministry competent precisely because it has responsibility towards a defined group of citizens who fall under that authority and whose needs it represents", Rakčević points out and adds that they managed to deal with the pandemic, but the inability to service the basic costs of the functioning of ULUCG remains as a burning problem.
"According to the silence of the MPNKS, we turned to the Ministry of Finance and the Assembly, which founded the ULUCG back in 1946, for interventional assistance," says Rakčević.
Sandra Vujović reminds that most members of the Association of Playwrights directly depend on part-time engagements, contests for contemporary dramatic texts and contests for co-financing of projects announced by the relevant ministry and the Film Center of Montenegro, of which, she believes, there are not enough.
"For this reason, many of my colleagues are currently facing serious problems because they cannot implement their projects and thus provide themselves with the most basic means of living. It seems that the relevant ministry does not see this and does not fully understand the needs of workers in the field of culture and creators", she points out in the hope that the position of playwrights and playwrights will improve.
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