Civilnet
Cafesjian Center for the Arts.
Presenting the EU-EP “Culture & Creativity” Programme
On December 4, the new EU-Eastern Partnership Culture & Creativity Programme was launched at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts. This was a well-attended event, with many representatives from local artistic and cultural NGOs in the audience.
The EU-Eastern Partnership “Culture & Creativity” Programme is a project funded by the European Union, that works with a variety of partners across Eastern Europe to support the cultural and creative sectors. Already established in Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine, the Programme is now starting its activities in Armenia as well, under the aegis of the British Council.
This morning, the goal was not only to present the diverse opportunities that the Culture & Creativity programme offers to organizations and individuals in Armenia. The goal was also to set up the general agenda for the programme, collectively with the local cultural network. Therefore, the audience was asked to participate and describe what they perceived were the priorities to address in order to develop the Armenian cultural and creative sector.
Culture matters
In their introduction, Arevik Saribekyan, Director of British Council Armenia, Dr. Piotr Świtalski, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, and Tim Williams, Head of the Programme, highlighted the importance of the cultural and creative sector in today’s world.
Not only are culture and arts known to enhance community cohesion, and increase social engagement, they also represent a growing sector of the economy. In the European Union, cultural and creative industries currently provide 8.3 million jobs, and are the leading sector for growth and employment.
While Armenia is still in the process of developing its own cultural policy, Dr. Piotr Świtalski outlined that it had a lot to gain from investing in the cultural and creative sectors.
What priorities for the Armenian cultural sector?
To ensure a successful partnership between the Culture & Creativity Programme, and the cultural network here in Armenia, a large section of this morning’s event was dedicated to agenda setting.
Audience members were asked to form groups and discuss the main priorities for the cultural sector in Armenia. As the participants came from various walks of life - performing arts, small businesses, ministries, cultural centers, artistic NGOs and foundations, art schools, galleries, museums and embassies - the results of the brainstorming session were diverse and compelling.
Most contributions highlighted the need for more engagement, and cross-collaboration across different fields. There was general agreement that engaging the general public with the arts required an improved art education at all levels - from elementary schools to later-life education. Several speakers mentioned that cultural organizations were often not collaborating with one another, with performing arts, cinema, and fine arts workers working in their own bubble.
Many participants contended that developing and supporting the arts and culture would go hand-in-hand with encouraging cultural tourism, and would benefit the Armenian economy as a whole. On the question of broadcasting classical and contemporary Armenian culture to the wider world, it was mentioned that there was a dire need to train more literary translators, so that the works of Armenian authors could be available to a global audience.
Bridging the gap between culture and the private sector
The question of the private sector’s role in the cultural and artistic field was also raised. While logos of private companies occasionally pop up on posters for concerts, exhibitions or theater performances, there is a lack of financial incentives for them to be more consistently involved.
Several participants agreed that while both the non-governmental and the private sector would gain from increased collaboration, steps had to be taken at the government level for more companies to get involved. Tim Williams mentioned the case of several European countries, Germany in the lead, in which tax incentives are used to encourage private companies to partner with art organizations, or work directly with artists.
Sharing good practices and success stories
How will this new Culture & Creativity Programme help the Armenian cultural sector? It was made clear to the audience that this program was much more focused on capacity-building, compared to past EU programs in the region that acted principally as grants providers.
Through research, workshops and study trips, the Culture & Creativity Programme aims at supporting cultural endeavours in Armenia, whether they emerge from the non-governmental, public or private sector.
They will be helped in their task by the British Council in Armenia, which will work as a local partner, to link the cultural initiatives here in Armenia, and the Ukraine-based headquarters of the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture & Creativity Programme.
One aspect of their work that was highlighted on December 4 was their capacity to work as a communication channel, and as match-makers between different cultural organizations across Eastern Europe. On their bilingual (Russian/English) website as well as on their facebook page, one can find best practices, insights and business advice originating from diverse cultural organizations in the EU and beyond.
During her presentation, Anastasiya Nurzhynska, Communication Specialist at the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme, encouraged audience members not only to apply to the various workshop and study travel opportunities, but also to share their own success stories to be published on the Programme’s website.
Stories
