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Abstract
The article deals with explicit cultural policy and its outcomes in the post-communist Czech Republic. In the first part, the authors look at the organisational and conceptual impact on culture of the transition from a centrally managed economy to a pluralist parliamentary democracy following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The cultural sector experienced privatisation, property restitution, commercialisation, globalisation, decentralisation and devolution, as well as the emergence of the private sector and the non-governmental non-profit sector (NGO). Although the process of societal transformation is now complete, certain key issues of cultural policy remain unresolved. The authors focus on three contemporary issues in theatre, namely: political intervention in the management of public cultural institutions, the persistent debate on funding through grant systems and the lack of trust culture professionals have in the creators of cultural policy. As a result, even though after 1989 it was expected that the private or NGO sector would dominate in the area of culture, there still exists a relatively dense network of public cultural institutions (contributory organisations) characterised by a resistance to proposed organisational and funding changes.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers of for their careful reading, suggestions and helpful comments that helped to improve the text.
Funding
This work was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic [grant number DF11P01OVV032].
Notes
1. The focus groups took place in: Prague, 30. 5. 2012; Jihlava, 27. 6. 2012; Ústí nad Labem, 18. 6. 2012; Zlín, 13. 6. 2012. The groups of participants were recruited from: policy-makers (regional and local government), managers of COs, and members of NGOs and for-profit organisations active in the fields of cultural heritage, culture and tourism.
2. The terms ‘establish’ ‘establishing institution’ are used in this article to translate the Czech words ‘zřizovat’ and ‘zřizovatel’, which refer to the act of and the institution responsible for legally establishing a contributory organisation (CO), approving its deeds of establishment, funding the CO and providing it with property for its use, oversight of the CO’s financial management, the appointment and dismissal of a CO’s director and its dissolution.
3. ‘COs’are governmental non-profit organisations operating in public services (healthcare, social services, education and culture) and established and subsidised by the government (Morávek et al. Citation2012). The first COs originated from budgetary organisations. They derive budget funding from several sources: an annual financial contribution from establishing institution that goes towards operational costs, revenue from their activities (e.g. earned income), projects, donations and sponsorship.
4. Václav Klaus has been one of the most important political figures throughout the first twenty years of the CR: he was Minister of Finance in 1989–1992, Prime Minister in 1992–1997, Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies in 1998–2002 and President of the CR in 2003–2013.
5. Resolution of the Government of the CR No. 344 of 7 April 2003 on the Government Statement on Cultural Support.
6. Act No. 203/2006 on Certain Forms of Support for Culture and Amendments to Certain Related Acts.
7. This includes funding for churches and religious societies, which accounts for about one-fifth of the MoC’s budget – €60 million in 2010 (the MoC was responsible for providing funding to cover the salaries of ministers of religion, the operational costs of churches and religious societies, and the restoration of church property).
8. ‘Transformation of a CO’ does not exist as a concept in Czech law. In practice, the organisation is dissolved and a successor organisation established as a new legal entity.
9. From 1996 to 2003, the MoC invited applications for the Programme for the Support of Czech Theatres, after 2004 the Programme of State Support of Professional Theatres and Permanent Professional Symphony Orchestras and Choirs. Between 2002 and 2012 this amounted annually to between €1.4 and €2.6 million for 30–35 theatres.
10. The NT is one of the symbols of Czech national identity (‘The Nation unto Itself’ is the motto inscribed above the stage). After it burnt down in 1881 the building was quickly rebuilt when Czech patriots took up a collection across the nation (Rak Citation1994, Císař Citation2005). In 2012, the NT comprised five stages: (1) The National Theatre, (2) The New Stage (since 1983), (3) The Estates Theatre (since 1920), (4) The Kolowrat Theatre (since 1991) and (5) the State Opera (which was part of the NT from 1948 to 1992 and is again since 2012). The NT’s annual budget was approximately €38.5 million (approximately two-thirds of which came from a contribution from the MoC).
11. D. Dvořák was Director of the SOP from 1998 to 2002 and then of the NT in Prague from 2002 to 2006. After his dismissal, he was selected in a competition and became the Director of the NT in Brno from 2007 to 2012. He resigned in response to the theatre’s increasing underfunding, attempts at political interference in its operations, and the unwillingness of its establishing institution – the City of Brno – to seek systemic solutions to problems.
12. Between 1997 and 2007 Černý was the Director of the Theatre Institute (since 2007 the Arts and Theatre Institute), a state CO established by the MoC that focuses on research.
13. Political talk show ‘Václav Moravec’s Questions’ (Czech TV), 16 September 2012.
14. The company charted the various crossroads in Central Europe’s modern history; it tried to define Central European cultural identity by staging a combination of classic and contemporary works by Czech, German and Austrian authors (R. W. Fassbinder, T. Bernhard, T. Brussig, P. Handke, K. Kraus).