Proposals for amendments to the “Culture – Visual Arts Program”

https://www.neme.org/blog/proposals-for-amendments-to-the-culture-visual-arts-program

Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, and Youth
Mr. Prodromos Prodromou

CC:
Deputy Director of Cultural Services, Mr. Kyprianos Loui
Senior Education Officer, Ms. Elena Christodoulidou

October 15, 2021

Dear Minister,

Subject: Proposals for changes to the “Culture – Visual Arts Program,” the “Plan: Support for Cultural Organizations to Meet Needs in Promotion, Communication, and International Networking,” and “Creative Europe.”

Although the Cypriot economy officially ranks 10th in the European Union in terms of per capita income (web.archive.org/web/… -20210621-1), the Republic of Cyprus’s support for culture ranks us third from the bottom in Europe (ec.europa.eu/eurostat… _broadcasting_and_publishing_services). Furthermore, Cyprus ranks second-worst in terms of funding from local authorities. Malta, although it ranks last in the relevant table, ranks fifth best in terms of government grants (web.archive.org/web/… ?lang=en).

When we add to this unfair situation the lack of tax incentives for companies and businesses to fund nonprofit cultural events, Cyprus continues to lag behind the rest of Europe in terms of funding to support culture!

Unfortunately, for years now, the problematic structure of your Ministry’s cultural grant programs has forced individuals who produce culture on behalf of nonprofit cultural organisations in the visual arts not only to work for free, but also, in most cases, to use their own meagre resources in order to complete the accounting requirements set by your Ministry for the activities approved through your programs.

Furthermore, we are the only country in Europe where visual arts professionals must pay for the “privilege” of working on nonprofit visual arts events. You noted that the overwhelming majority of activities in the visual arts sector are provided free of charge to the public.

In other words, on the one hand, the government subsidies a percentage of the expenses, but on the other hand, it requires audited financial statements proving that the organisations have spent 100% of the amount they had budgeted for their projects. This results in significant financial hardship for cultural organisations and their staff, who, through hard work and dedication, showcase the high quality of our visual arts every day, both locally and internationally. We note that, starting in 2022, European cultural grant programs will no longer require audited financial statements.

In the visual arts, nonprofit cultural organisations are particularly important because they provide remuneration opportunities for both artists and other cultural professionals, but they also serve as experimental spaces where artists can present non-commercial work without the pressures imposed by commercial galleries to create “marketable” works. Works that are first exhibited in our spaces often go on to represent Cyprus at international exhibitions and in museum collections. Furthermore, many of these works win awards in international competitions, promoting Cypriot visual arts on the international stage. The absence of a state-run museum of contemporary art in our country makes the role of our organisations even more crucial for the promotion of Cypriot visual art.

We would also like to note that in Europe, most nonprofit organisations in the visual arts receive annual government funding to support their operations and programming. Notable examples include the Tate museums in the United Kingdom, FACT in Liverpool, the many Kunstvereins in Germany, the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, and hundreds of others.

At the same time, there are thousands of smaller-scale NGOs that rely on both government grants and the provision of permanent spaces, realistic funding for technical equipment from the state and/or local authorities to meet the organisations’ needs, financial support for events, and salaries for their operational management. These incentives enable these organisations to worthily represent their country’s cultural output on the international stage.

These include, among others: Furtherfield in London, Aksioma in Ljubljana, Impakt in The Hague, Digicult in Milan, Halle 14 in Leipzig, Makery in Paris, Meet Factory in Prague, Atelier Nord in Oslo, C3 in Budapest, the Altart Foundation in Cluj-Napoca, imal in Brussels, Da Lab in Sofia, and many, many others.

To address and resolve the problems plaguing nonprofit, non governmental organisations in the visual arts in Cyprus, we are attaching some preliminary but urgent recommendations for the immediate amendment of your Ministry’s plans regarding the visual arts, which are co-signed by 39 organisations engaged in altruistic work in Cyprus and abroad. These recommendations were adopted unanimously at a meeting of the organisations held at the Artos building in Nicosia on October 7, 2021.

Bearing in mind that support for culture is a political decision, we hope for your support and cooperation in upholding the role of visual artists in our country’s cultural events and in fostering their further development.

In conclusion, a delegation from our organisations requests a meeting with you to further discuss and resolve the serious issues we have raised.

Recommendations for changes to the “Culture – Visual Arts Program,” the “Plan: Support for Cultural Organizations to Meet Promotion, Communication, and International Networking Needs,” and “Creative Europe”

In the difficult economic climate that has prevailed for years due to the absence of culture as a sector and area of activity—both in previous plans and in the new “National Recovery and Resilience Plan,” as well as in the “Vision 2035” of the Republic of Cyprus—all of which are funded by the European Union (EU)—we propose the following:

  1. Increase government funding for culture and increase grants for projects. The cultural sector in Cyprus receives one of the lowest percentages of funding in Europe.
  2. Cultural nonprofit, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) should be required to provide receipts and financial reports only for the amount subsidised by the Cultural Services (C.S.).
    • Because there are no tax incentives, there are very few sponsors or sources of funding for the visual arts. As a result, organizers are forced to pay out of pocket to carry out their projects. Cyprus is the only country in the EU where individuals involved in non-profit cultural activities must pay for the work they do.
    • Introduce tax incentives and regulations for the private sector to provide co-funding opportunities for NGOs, as is the practice in many EU countries to support and develop the cultural sector.
    • There is immense financial hardship among all cultural, nonprofit organisations and cultural workers due to long-standing policies that oppose the recognition of cultural work, research, and programming.
    • In the visual arts, there are no admission fees or other sources of income, and the overwhelming majority of events—including exhibitions, performances, screenings, conferences, lectures, workshops, publications, etc.—are provided free of charge to the public.
  3. All cultural workers who contribute to any visual arts program / activity / event / etc., and the evaluation criteria and maximum amounts (subject to cost-of-living adjustments every two years) acceptable to the funding bodies should be clearly defined:
    • Artists, curators, coordinators, producers, technicians, communications managers, speakers, exhibition designers, workshop leaders, etc.
    • Artists’ fees should be recognized (in addition to the standard artist fee for participating in an event) for the production of artistic work, as well as costs for materials and other technical expenses.
    • Financial management services for the program.
    • Documentation expenses should include photography costs along with the already approved video production costs for presentation and promotion, publications, and online promotion.
  4. Clear update/correction of timelines:
    • Visual arts events should be approved by early March of the new year.
    • Prompt payment of the first instalment within 15 days of the organisation’s acceptance of the funding.
    • A 12-month period for organising the event should be granted from the date of payment of the first instalment. An extension to 18 months should be allowed for activities scheduled for the spring.
    • Delays in approvals and grants undermine visual arts events—in terms of their planning, quality, and costs (airfare and some of the raw materials needed for exhibition installations are becoming more expensive)— but also because we have to compete with one another for the audience’s attention, since all visual arts events are inevitably held during the fall and winter months. Visual arts events could also be part of Cyprus’s spring and summer tourism offerings.
  5. Eliminate or simplify the categories of eligible expenses in the application. If the category-based method remains:
    • Reduce the categories to 4–5 (as in Creative Europe).
    • Remove the specific subcategories/descriptions of eligible expenses, as they have many shortcomings.
    • Allow for a much larger margin of deviation for airfare, as prices fluctuate significantly, and permit the transfer of the difference to or from other categories.
    • A final breakdown/analysis of expenses should be provided at the end, with an adjustment of up to 25% between categories.
    • All practices of the Public Health Units that are not set forth in writing—such as the exclusion of per diem and lodging expenses within the ±25% range, and the maximum grant for publications set at €5,000—should be removed and deemed invalid.
    • Increase the per diem and lodging allowances to better align with accepted European rates. web.archive.org/web/… -20200201_en.pdf
    • Increase the maximum number of days approved for per diem and lodging in general, but especially for individuals travelling to and from distant destinations (the United States, East Asia, Australia, etc.) as well as for personnel from organisations that must implement projects abroad.
    • Increase the cost of audited financial statements to up to €700 per project.
  6. Increase the first instalment of the total grant for Public Works to 80%. The balance should be paid within one month after the submission of the financial statements. Additionally, extensions should be granted for financial submissions where necessary or justified.
    • The overwhelming majority of NGOs do not maintain cash reserves.
  7. Allow the rental of property owned by one or more members of the organisation for hosting events and/or artistic activities.
    • This practice is permitted throughout Europe and aims to ensure a greater and more stable presence of spaces for cultural use and presentation.
  8. Artist-residency programs should be established for a duration of up to 2 months, depending on the project, and the associated expenses and funding should be recognised.
  9. Cultural and visual arts venues should be eligible to purchase technical equipment.
    • Renting technical equipment is almost as expensive as buying it.
    • The lack of technical equipment weakens NGOs.
    • The lack of technical equipment reduces the scope and number of events that could be organised with the medium-term savings from these amounts if the equipment belonged to the NGOs.
  10. To ensure quality, more time should be allocated for publications (writing, editing, copy editing, grammar and spelling correction, design, typesetting, photo colour correction, printing, etc.).
  11. Foreign artists and other guests in Cyprus who receive fees of less than €1,500 should be exempt from paying income tax.
  12. There is an urgent need to support and develop long-term visual arts programs lasting 1 to 5 years, with the necessary safeguards for their funding through two pre-granted instalments (70%, 15%), and one (15%) within one month after the submission of accounts each year, and throughout the duration of the program.
    • For organisations wishing to focus more in-depth on a specific topic.
    • Proposal: Create a supplementary, separate application for this type of research/development visual arts program.
  13. Amounts of revenue considered “surplus” should not be deducted from the grant provided by the Public Fund. As nonprofit organisations, they cannot provide personal benefits to their members. Instead, any additional income may be used solely for the needs of the cultural organisation, covering expenses that are not eligible for funding from the Public Funds and/or for additional events.
  14. Annual events that have been successfully repeated for a number of years should be evaluated and recognised as Cultural Institutions.
    • Long-term grants should be provided to Cultural Institutions to support the qualitative development of their programs.
    • Proposal: Create a supplementary/separate application form for development programs.
  15. There should be an assurance from the Public Authorities that they will not change the terms without providing benefits to the NGOs during an approved short- or long-term project, provided that the organisation complies with its terms and timelines, and when these are not affected by lockdowns or other serious external circumstances.

Project: Supporting Cultural Organisations to Meet Their Promotion, Communication, and International Networking Needs

  1. Revise the grant program for the online presence of cultural organizations. This online presence must be recognized as important for promoting Cyprus’s cultural offerings abroad.
    • Increase the grant for website design to up to €1,500.
    • Change the minimum number of members required for associations to be approved for the program to 20, as provided for by the law on associations.
    • Include provisions for annual website hosting and domain name costs.
    • Allow for justified requests for other annual online costs, such as Vimeo, Zoom, etc.
    • Add the right to request website redesign and regular, up-to-date upgrades.
      • Browsers are updated and often cause websites to malfunction.
      • Mobile devices require different code and design.
      • Web hosts upgrade their operating systems, rendering content management systems (CMS) and plugins incompatible.
      • Security vulnerabilities must be addressed as they are discovered.
  2. There must be an assurance from the Public Authorities that they will not change the terms without benefits to the NGOs when these are not affected by other serious external circumstances.

Creative Europe

  1. For all current and future Creative Europe programs, the practice followed by many European countries should be adopted, and the percentage of Cypriot government funding should be increased from 65% to at least 90%, and that grant payment procedures be simplified into regular, timely instalments for all organisations that apply.
    • NGOs that succeed in being included in this highly competitive program bring foreign exchange into Cyprus. The Ministry’s current policy penalises organisations—and, by extension, the individuals—who are not only forced to work for free but also have to pay out of their own pockets to ensure the proper and high-quality implementation of the programs.
    • The Ministry’s current policy forces us to be the “junior” partners at the European level, due to the lack of remaining funding from the state.
  2. There must be an assurance from the Public Authorities that they will not change the terms without benefits to the NGOs during the course of small and/or large projects approved by Creative Europe.

Co-signed by the NGOs

  1. ABR-ALTERNATIVE BRAINS RULE
  2. BPRarts/ACTUS ANIMA
  3. CATHRINE
  4. CYCSTAT
  5. D6:EU
  6. Graphic Stories Cyprus
  7. International Association of Photography and Theory (IAPT)
  8. Interstellar Science, Educational & Cultural Institute
  9. Korai project space
  10. Lefteris Economou Cultural Foundation
  11. MEM THE ARTS BIENNALE AT LARNACA
  12. MeMeraki Artist Residency
  13. NeMe
  14. Phaneromenis70
  15. Point Centre of Contemporary Art
  16. SENCY INSTITUTION
  17. The Cyprus Creative Club
  18. The Island Club
  19. Urban Gorillas
  20. Visual Voices
  21. XARKIS
  22. ΕΝΩΣΗ ΓΡΑΦΙΣΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΚΟΝΟΓΡΑΦΩΝ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ
  23. Επιμελητήριο Καλών Τεχνών Κύπρου (Ε.ΚΑ.ΤΕ.)
  24. Θκιό Ππαλιές
  25. Ίδρυμα Νίκος Κουρούσιης
  26. Ίδρυμα Πιερίδη
  27. Ίδρυμα Τηλέμαχος Κάνθος
  28. ΚΑΤ’ΟΙΚΟΝ Πολιτιστικό Ίδρυμα
  29. ΚΥΠΡΙΟΙ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΕΣ (Κ.Χ)
  30. Κέντρο Εικαστικών Τεχνων και Έρευνας
  31. Κέντρο Τεχνών Κίμωνος
  32. Όαση Space for Visual Experimentation
  33. Πολιτιστικός όμιλος ΑΡΤΙΟΝ Λάρνακας
  34. Πολιτιστικό Σωματείο Ιδαλίου ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΟΣ
  35. ΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΟΣ ΑΓΓΕΙΟΠΛΑΣΤΩΝ-ΚΕΡΑΜΙΣΤΩΝ
  36. Σχολή Μουσείον Χαρακτικής Χαμπή
  37. Υπόγεια Σκηνή/Πολυχώρος Συνεργείο
  38. Φωτογραφική Εταιρεία Κύπρου
  39. Φωτοδός
 
 
 
 
back to top