Last month we held the 14th European Chapter meeting in Aarhus, Denmark, bringing together 30 representatives from 18 IFACCA Member countries from the region to discuss a range of topics and common challenges. The public value of the arts was one area of in-depth conversation and - to give our international readers a sense of what is happening in the region - in this issue, we look to how governments across Europe are responding to public value in the recent spate of budget announcements for 2018.
In Ireland, recent research has shown that a significant number of Irish people attend arts events, providing evidence to support increases in investment for a range of participation programmes. Last week the Arts Council of Ireland - An Chomhairle Ealaíon highlighted the need for increased investment in the sector, following the announcement of a 2018 budget allocation for arts and culture that does not reflect previous pledges from government to double funding for the sector by 2024. Last month in Scotland new findings released by the Scottish Household Survey show that the cultural attendance gap is the smallest it has been for five years; and the Culture Secretary encouraged people across the country to get involved in shaping Scotland’s new culture strategy. This week however,Creative Scotland has called for the sector to join them in demonstrating the cultural, social and economic value of arts and culture and make the case for public funding, in light of news that they may face the announcement of a challenging budget on 14 December.
On the mainland, a number of countries have seen public support for the arts and culture increase. In Armenia, the Ministry of Culture has made a record funding investment of $990,000 (€840K) in the first nine months of the year. In Norway the government has backedArts Council Norway to drive the development of the sector and has followed through on its commitment to strengthen its sustainability, increasing funding by NOK 12 million (€1.28M).
Strikingly, Malta and Sweden have both seen unprecedented increases in public support for arts and culture. In Malta, culture will benefit from an overall increase of 10 percent in the 2018 budget, with its allocation estimated to be 1.6 percent of total government expenditure. In Sweden, the Minister for Culture has proposed record increases to the cultural budget, with a focus on support for libraries, practitioners, cultural schools and minorities, which will see the Swedish Arts Council receive an additional SEK 25 million (€2.6M).
As always, if you have news that you would like us to share, please contact us at [email protected].