The end of the Ministry of Culture was confirmed on Thursday at the inauguration of interim president Michel Temer. The decision results in the new Ministry of Education and Culture, which will be led by the hitherto deputy Mendonça Filho (DEM-PE). To date, he has not commented on proposals and the reorganization of the segments and cultural projects.
With the extinction of the Ministry of Culture, industry professionals and the artistic community reacted strongly in protest. A group led by the Association Look Saber and the GAP - Parliamentary Action Group Pro-Music, which comprises Caetano Veloso, Roberto Carlos, Fernanda Abreu and Tim Rescala and other notables, issued an open letter to Temer, now circulating in media on social networks. Check out the full text.
Hon. Mr. Michel Temer
Dear sir,
Among the great achievements of the Brazilian democratic identity is the creation of the Ministry of Culture in March 1985 by the then President José Sarney.
It is undeniable that, at that time, the name of Brazil had already been internationally designed by talented Portinari, Oscar Niemeyer, of Anita Malfatti, Jorge Amado, of Ary Barroso music, Dorival Caymmi, Carmen Miranda, Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, of Glauber Rocha and Carlos Diegues film. Thus, the existence of the Ministry of Culture is due to the well-deserved recognition of the extraordinary role that Brazilian art played in the dissemination of a young country, dynamic, warm and creative.
The extinction of this Ministry in April 1990 was one of the first acts of the government Collor de Mello. Sheltered in a linked Secretary to the Presidency, the national culture saw the scrapping of ideas, projects and achievements in the arts. At the end of his government, trying to regain lost political support, President Collor adopted another stance, naming for the Department of Culture intellectual and Ambassador Sergio Paulo Rouanet, in charge of restoring dialogue with the artistic class. Thus was born the Pronac - National Program Support for Culture, which has become the structuring element of political c ultural subsequent governments, and called Rouanet Law. Fortunately President Itamar Franco in November 1992, returned to the creators a Ministry that had already proven the success of its presence on the national scene.
From 1999, during the government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the Ministry of Culture was reorganized and expanded its structure, so that it could serve the important projects, especially in the areas of theater and cinema. Since then the Ministry of Culture has been concerned, proactively, the arts in general, folklore, history, archaeological, artistic and cultural heritage of the country through a network of institutes such as IPHAN, the Brazilian Cinematheque, Funarte, the IBRAM, Palmares Foundation among many others. From Gilberto Gil management, the Ministry of Culture has extended the scope of its operations from the adoption of the anthropological concept of culture. The Living Culture and the Culture Points are recognized initiatives and copied in many countries of the world. The Ministry of Culture also started to work with popular culture and marginalized groups, broadening the horizons of a significant portion of our population. It was the Ministry of Culture that could create conditions so that today we have a dynamic and surplus audiovisual industry. The same is being done now with other fields, such as music. The Ministry of Culture now has several sectoral boards covering virtually almost all artistic areas as well as ethnic and cultural minorities in the country. And with a National Cultural Policy, formed by civil society and responsible for social control of management of the Ministry. We still have to mention the National Culture Plan and numerous other initiatives to support the Constitution and laws passed by Congress, whose failure or discontinuity may give rise to questions in court. The Ministry of Culture also starred in a number of initiatives that have become a reference in international law, such as the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity and Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, among others.
The culture of a country, and its identity is its soul. The Ministry of Culture is not a business desk. Irresponsible criticism of the Rouanet Law does not take into account that, with the mechanisms created by it, the regional arts flourished and conquered spaces that previously had no access.
Culture is the creation of the future and the preservation of the past. Without the promotion and protection of our culture, through a ministry with which it is identified and it is dedicated, Brazil will close the curtains of a great open stage for the world. If the Ministry of Culture loses its status and is subjected to a ministry that has another centrality, which, incidentally, is not easy to be met, it runs the risk of throwing away an entire expertise that has developed it about, among other things , regulation of copyright, legislation on various aspects of internet (the recognition and respect of specialized international organizations), asset protection and support for demonstrations.
For all that the announced disappearance of the Ministry of Culture under his command, as as Head of the Nation, is considered by the artistic community as a major setback. The Ministry of Culture is the primary means by which to develop a situation of tolerance and respect for differences, something fundamental for the moment the country is experiencing. The economy that supposedly could extinguish the structure of the Ministry of Culture, or shrinking it to a MEC Secretariat is lackluster and does not justify the enormous damage it will cause to all who are treated in the country by the cultural policies of the Ministry. In addition, through appropriate policies, Brazilian culture is intended to be a permanent source of development and economic wealth for the country.
We who make our soul of this country, we hope that Brazil knows resize its immense capacity to generate resources for education, health, security and all social and economic projects necessary to the nation's growth without to sacrifice one of their biggest assets: our culture.
http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2016/05/13/politica/1463164103_604041.html