concept for more efficient support of the arts in 2007–2013 - Divadlo.cz

General Criteria for Evaluation Used by the Committees of Experts in All Disciplines:
• How the project contributes to the field (innovative dramaturgy, a high artistic and professional
standard, the concept of the project, etc.)
• Geographical scope (required national or international significance, or at least of significance
beyond the regional level)
• How realistic the project and its anticipated costs are
• Whether the project corresponds with the set theme in the given field
• Substantiation of use of the grant in the preceding period, including its accounting
The themes that are set for individual artistic fields have been revised regularly since 1992
in collaboration with advisory bodies – grant committees. The grant proceedings currently take
the following form :
– Professional Dramatic Arts
Grants are intended to support public-benefit, non-commercial projects in the fields of
drama theatre and musical theatre, puppet theatre, alternative theatre, and interdisciplinary projects
that contain significant theatrical components
– Professional Dance, Dance Theatre, and Non-verbal Theatre
Grants are provided from an application procedure that was opened as an independent
category for the first time in 2004 and are intended to support public-benefit, non-commercial
projects in the fields of dance, dance theatre, non-verbal theatre and interdisciplinary projects
that contain significant components of dance or movement
– Professional Musical Arts
Grants are intended to support public-benefit, non-commercial projects in the fields of
music festivals, showcases, series, groups and ensembles that focus on innovative dramaturgy
and contemporary Czech work, creative workshops, the publication of periodicals and non-periodical
publications, music news, and documentary activities and interdiscplinary projects that
contain significant musical components.
– Professional Visual Arts, Architecture, Design and Applied Arts
Grants are intended to support public-benefit, non-commercial projects from the fields of
exhibition projects and artistic residencies, galleries and professional organisations, applied arts
and design, the publication of periodical and non-periodical publications, artistic workshops
and symposia, and interdisciplinary projects that contain significant visual-art components.
– Literature
Support is divided into the following divisions of grant proceedings: the publication of nonperiodical
literature; support for the publication of Czech literature; literary periodicals and other
literary events; support for the creation and publication of a literary work (two-year grants); support
for the publication of Czech literature abroad; and Czech libraries, which provides support for
the purchase of non-commercial titles in the field of Czech literature, illustrated works for children
and youth, and works in the field of literary theory and criticism for professional public libraries,
registered in accordance with Act No. 257/2001 Coll., on Libraries and the Rules for Running Public
Libraries and Information Services (the Library Act), as amended in Act No. 1/2005 Coll.
The Programme of State Support for Professional Theatres and Professional Symphony
Orchestras and Choirs
This programme emerged out of a fusion of the Programme of Support for Czech Theatres
(1996–2003) and the Programme of Support for Professional Symphony Orchestras and
Choirs (1997–2003) and in connection with the completion of reform of regional administration.
It is based on multi-source financing, wherein the largest share is usually contributed by the
municipalities where the given companies or ensembles are based, while regional activities are
supported by the region and the state provides support for activities that are national or international
in scope and activities that are directed at the artistic development of the dramatic or musical
arts (new production, support for young artists, etc.).
Programme terms :
– a minimum percentage of self-sufficiency in the preceding budgetary year:
a) theatre – governmental organisation 13%, orchestra – governmental organisation
15%
b) theatre, orchestra, choir – non-governmental, not-for-profit organisaton 30%
c) theatre, orchestra, choir – other legal entities 80%
– a minimum number of theatre performances or concerts in the preceding budgetary
year
– 100 independent theatre performances (opera and dance/ballet 50), 60 orchestral concerts,
50 choir concerts
– financial participation of an autonomous body in the preceding budgetary year (in the
case of a governmental organisation a public administrative body other than the founder)
– functioning as a permanent theatrical or musical entity for at least three consecutive
years.
Artistic Residencies
Since 1999 one to three-month support for artistic residencies at the Egon Schiele Art
Centre in âesk˘ Krumlov have been open to visual artists and set designers aged 35 and under
and to students in their final year of study at a post-secondary institution specialising in the arts.
Since 2004 the Theatre Institute has been authorised by the MC to organise residency exchange
programmes with various foreign institutions targeting artists from the fields of theatre,
music and the visual arts.
Grants for the Fields of Audiovisual Arts and the Mass Media
Grants are provided for film, television, radio and multi-media festivals, showcases and
exhibitions, seminars, the publication of film journals, the production of television and radio
programmes, the distribution of artistic films, and for projects aimed at promoting Czech cinematography
abroad.
Grants for Cultural Cooperation Abroad
A report of the MC from 1999 26 documented the gradually developing direct cooperation
between various non-state entities, both in the form of long-term ties and in connection
with individual occasions and opportunities, noting that inadequate knowledge of legal regulations,
insufficient financial backing, and a lack of experience can lead such entities into difficult
situations. Grant selection proceedings have since 2000 been regularly inviting applications
from cooperative projects originating outside the Czech Republic and aimed at coopera-
26 Sborník statí o kultufie v âeské republice po roce 1989 [Readings on Culture since 1989]. Praha: Ministerstvo
kultury âeské republiky, 1999.
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