The state should generously finance and technically support the culture sector

“Prosperous Armenia Party” presents the main provisions of the cultural sphere within the framework of the “Offer to Armenia” program.

“Armenia’s greatest wealth is its inexhaustible cultural heritage, which has come to us as a priceless gift, overcoming the trials of millennia.

What are we adding to that wealth today, what kind of cultural layer is being created today?

Cultural heritage and modern art. Clinging to these two axes, today’s society resists the new trials that have come to it, and tomorrow’s Armenia is formed through them.

Let’s try to present our ideas about the cultural policy of Armenia as concisely as possible.

General Provisions

• Cultural policy should be both pragmatic and fueled by big dreams. The field of culture, the creative environment cannot make a choice between these two, they must be simultaneous and mutually conditioning.

• The effectiveness of cultural policy suffers due to the current model of unilaterally centralized management in the hands of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The vertical management model of the spheres of culture, art and creative industry is characteristic of totalitarian countries. Such a model in a country with a small and original culture and human resources like Armenia.

– leads to stagnation,

– collapses the autonomy, independence and therefore originality of creative units,

– restricts initiative,

– repels the free creator, forcing him to endlessly enter the offices of officials, and instead of free creativity, forces him to weave an undesirable conjuncture for the artist, with non-artistic, anti-cultural consequences arising from it.

• It is necessary to move from the vertical management of the culture and art sphere to the development of models that promote autonomy and individual responsibility, with the creation of separate specialized units operating independently of the state, but under the patronage of the state: cultural agencies, foundations (according to the branches of art and creative industries).

• The state should generously finance and technically support the cultural sphere, promoting art and individual creativity, but act not as a “feudal” to whom this “field belongs”, or as a dry controller, but as a caring partner for whom the result (including long-term) is important, and the field of art and creativity should be free from direct encroachment and the danger of bureaucracy and stagnation.

1. Cultural heritage. maintenance and flowering

Cultural policy implementers should approach this sphere with maximum responsibility, realizing that they are the guardians of the cultural wealth that has reached our days in just a short historical period.

This realization will help.

– To unite the forces of the best specialists in all fields, in Armenia and in the Diaspora, regardless of political and personal sympathies

– To create an effective, viable system of preservation of cultural heritage.

We are all guardians of our cultural heritage. we should try to spread this approach, starting from kindergarten. Preservation and care of cultural material and non-material wealth should be part of everyday knowledge and activities in Armenia and in the world. The most important condition for this is to recognize that wealth, for which various educational and entertainment projects should be created, of key figures and works of architecture, fine arts, literature, music and all other fields.

The Armenian Church is the chairman of the preservation of cultural heritage. The greatest partner of the state in the preservation of ancient treasures is the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, with all its worldwide structures, its experience, its authority.

To pass the cultural heritage to the generations in a better condition than we received. this should be one of the most important tasks of the state and citizens. Bloom what you get, treating it with the utmost care and responsibility, but also with a creative approach, involving interesting and modern ideas, using innovative technologies, attracting more and more active public interest.

Searching for Armenian cultural wealth around the world with the help of creating a partnership and patronage network. Discovery of Armenian heritage works scattered around the world, care, if possible – return to Armenia, if impossible – creation of local guardian councils or involvement of individuals, cooperation with Armenian communities, philanthropists, church structures, scientific-museum institutions, etc.

Armenian culture is a natural part of world culture. with all its originality, it is important not to isolate the Armenian cultural heritage from the world, on the contrary, to constantly observe and popularize it as an active and viable element at all times. In this regard, cooperation with various cultural centers of the world, implementation of joint projects is important.

The cultural heritage of Artsakh is in the center of continuous attention. The search for ways to preserve and organize the possible care of Artsakh cultural and spiritual monuments should be continuous. With the involvement of international organizations, groups of cultural ambassadors, international groups of Christian pilgrims, international Christian structures and others, it is necessary to achieve that, so that visits become possible, at least for the purpose of recording and monitoring the situation.

At the same time, in Armenia, the greatest attention should be paid to the preservation of Artsakh’s non-cultural heritage: dialect, songs, folklore, dances and all other components. A separate extensive program is being prepared in this regard.

The ties with the Armenian Diaspora, the unity of the Armenian World should be the most important guarantee for the comprehensive protection and effective care of the Armenian cultural wealth around the world.

2. Contemporary art, creative industries

Modern art is first of all the creative individual. Every individual who creates in the territory of Armenia and enriches our current cultural layer with his unique creativity is the wealth of Armenia. Encouraging individual and group creativity should be emphasized not only in terms of creating a purely cultural product, but also in terms of the creative process itself. The needs of creative individuals and groups, the methods of their encouragement should be the constant and dynamic center of attention of the state and community culturally responsible circles.

– State-creator relations should be horizontal. The artist should not be in the role of asking the state for something. The state itself should create mechanisms to encourage the creative life of the artist.

– Employees of cultural institutions financed by state funds should not be considered as standard civil servants. People in the field of culture and art should enjoy enough freedom to create valuable creative works that express the spirit of the times. Censorship and the atmosphere that encourages self-censorship should be considered unacceptable in cultural institutions operating under the care of the state.

– The differences in the fields of art are also expressed by the difference in their needs. It is difficult to ensure access to creative resources for creative units in all sectors if there is no real understanding of their needs. In the conditions of today’s over-centralized ministry, there remains a very small field for real cooperation between a free artist and the state.

– It is necessary to distribute the funds allocated by the state to modern art in a targeted manner according to the sectors. The best way is independent cultural agencies or foundations, which will interact with their fields through professional councils, managing the funds allocated by the state according to the needs of the field. This will allow funds and programs to be delivered to a larger number of creators, will include creators and groups of diverse political views, and will create partnership, horizontal relationships.

– Encouraging creative unions should become one of the goals of the state cultural policy.

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