Citizens´motion: Prague Must Protect Culture
AN APPEAL TO MAYOR OF PRAGUE, CITY ASSEMBLY MEMBERS AND CITY HALL DIRECTOR
we the undersigned citizens of Prague turn to you with apprehension regarding the future general conditions of the City in which we live and work and which receives a share of our taxes, because we fear a liquidation of cultural life not only in the City's centre but in general. Aware of the fact that it is the cultural organisations that have a major urban-forming character, we submit the following motions for the City Assembly to consider.
1) postpone the transformation of cultural organisations until its legal framework is clear
2) provide public guarantees that municipally-owned fixed property housing municipal cultural organisations shall be not sold or leased for commercial purposes
3) define the network of public cultural organisations which provide for the preservation, presentation and making of cultural heritage
4) re-establish a system of subsidies to be applied exclusively for non-profit projects of cultural importance
5) establish an advisory team of culture experts to assess the City of Prague culture policy and grant system applied during the previous five years
6) dissociate any support of the non-profit sector from that of enterprise in culture
7) award subsidies from the budget of the City of Prague Department of Culture solely to cultural subjects, i.e. not to advertising, modelling and tourist agencies, etc.
8) pay funds designed to support culture by the means of partnership (formerly co-organiser) programs solely in the form of subsidies, rather than gifts
9) make public all supporting as well assessing studies and analyses ordered by the City in association with its cultural policies
10) appropriately modify and observe the grant system scheduling with respect to the general practice of cultural organisations and present that support of the latter is decided upon only after the commencement of their projects
11) abolish the so-called admission subsidies
12) identify managerial lapses
Statistics notwithstanding, it is necessary to realise that culture represents values that defy a simple economic evaluation because it involves the identification, preservation and protection of cultural heritage, the information, education and cultivation aspects of the activities of cultural institutions (such as libraries, museums and galleries), the provision of conditions permitting and stimulating artistic creativity a scholarly research. Let us not forget that seen from the present and future perspective, historical, symbolic, aesthetic and spiritual values represent more than just profitability or audience of culture organisations. Aware of everything stated above, we ask you to provide for proper management of culture in Prague which you have been elected to manage.
Prague, April 2008
