Sold-out at the Ministry of Culture. The portfolio transfer between Miquel Iceta and Ernest Urtasun yesterday became a coveted spectacle like never before. So much so that there was no room between politicians – Ada Colau included – and the world of culture. Iceta added humor and emotion and attacked those who say that “it is a minor ministry”: “Minor, of what? It is the ministry of life and joy, of creation, of creators, of those who want to change the world and improve it, and therefore it is not minor.” Urtasun claimed freedom of expression and the cultural rights of the population as key to his mandate. He affirmed that they will end the Statute of the Artist, cited Jorge Semprún and culture “as an antidote to barbarism” and concluded with Montserrat Roig, who stated that “culture is the most revolutionary political option in the long term; and we are going to that transformation.”
A transformation for which representatives from various sectors of the cultural world asked by La Vanguardia offer ideas... and some homework.
Jordi Herreruela, director of the Cruïlla Festival and president of the Barcelona Music Lab Foundation, is clear that the new minister must not forget the industry and must see it as an ally. “Urtasun already has part of the necessary story well introduced today: cultural rights, access to culture for all citizens. But he would ask you not to lose sight of the other necessary part: that culture has a very important industrial part for the country, and that it is becoming more and more so. Before, culture was seen as closely linked to heritage and large institutions, a culture that required subsidies, but today 70% of mobile device consumption is cultural entertainment and has a huge impact on all areas of consumption. And that culture also has a lot of value for the country.”
Like other respondents, he says that "there is an important pending issue which is the law of patronage, that part of this industry can be financed as in countries with a powerful cultural industry through patronage laws." In fact, the financing of the industry is one of the pending issues, he says: "Anglo-Saxon countries are clear that creative industries are a source of development, but in Spain it is still difficult to obtain financing for ideas and not for real estate."
Regarding the specific needs of the music sector, he recommends the extensive work carried out by esMusica, which brings together entities in the sector. “It is an ideal roadmap, from a vision of the training, not only artistic, but also the professional training of all technicians in the sector, who continue to have a precarious situation, to the recognition of the sector as strategic due to its impact on society. . And he is an early technological adopter. And the future of culture also involves innovation, and for that we also need policies, just like there are with the electric car.”
Independent producers and exhibitors have different views on the cinema law that was not approved in the previous legislature. Jordi B. Oliva, president of Proa, the Federation of Audiovisual Producers, states that they need “the new minister to take up the draft cinema law and we can move it forward without changing the agreed conditions. Let's not start from scratch, the sector urgently needs it. The current law is obsolete and in the new one there will be aid and subsidies for series, which today are as much culture as cinema. “We need to be able to be competitive creators on a European and global scale.”
On the other hand, Luis Gil, general director of the Federation of Cinemas of Spain, the exhibitors, says that “the processing of the cinema law left us cold and we did not leave happy, it left little time for debate on important issues for exhibition that are not properly attended to, such as the screen quota, a battle we have had for a long time. A new law is an opportunity to go further. With the current law there is a 25% quota for European and Ibero-American cinema, with the new one, 20%, but it is an obligation that does not make sense. Just because the movie is in theaters doesn't mean that they will enter. There must be policies to promote demand. We ask the new minister to think together about the obligations that the new law would incorporate.” And he is committed to “a public policy to promote cinema in classrooms, the attendance of the little ones in theaters so they can discover them.”
The president of the Federation of the Editors' Guild of Spain, Daniel Fernández, points out that it is very important that the new minister understands “that the publishing industry is the first European cultural industry and in the case of Spain, with our presence in Latin America and our export capacity is the first cultural industry, a net contributor to the State coffers.”
And he asks you to defend copyright, “children of the French Revolution, at this time they are once again threatened by big technology, by the appearance of this monster that is artificial intelligence and by those two models opposed to the European one that are the American one based on copyright, immediate benefit, and the Chinese one, based on the sole control of power.” And he demands a comprehensive plan to promote books and reading, “in this world in which it is said that screens hinder the intellectual and social development of young people.”
The sector agrees on the need to conclude the Artist Statute, in which the tax block, says Jesús Cimarro, president of Faeteda, the federation of state theater companies, “has not been touched yet.” But Cimarro also asks for very specific measures, such as the change from 21% to 10% of cultural VAT for contracting shows with administrations “because this way they have 11% more budget without increasing it. The Treasury charges less VAT, but work is generated, personal income tax....” “In addition, the Culture budget should increase from 0.58% to 1%, following the EU recommendation,” he says, and another workhorse is to reform Inaem, the National Institute of Performing Arts and music. “It's expired. Actors are treated as suppliers and are paid one month after working. And there is no possibility of coherent tours,” he explains. And he asks that the aid granted to the private sector “be expanded to three-year projects that provide more stability.”
Àlex Casanovas, president of the Association of Actors and Directors of Catalonia, also calls for the “structural” reform of Inaem. "It is urgent. They need a change and resources to be more efficient,” and he alludes to the complicated deadlines for aid. Of course, he also wants them to finish developing the Artist Statute. From the recognition of professional unions in the sector to the recognition of occupational diseases in the performing arts and music and helping artists make the transition who cannot continue: “An acrobat, a juggler, a dancer, many times before retirement age can no longer work.” Finally, he says, “The Treasury must understand that the intermittent resources that artists receive cannot be counted the same as in another profession. An average of the income could be made every three or four years.”
Casanovas agrees with the general director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu on the importance of the patronage law, but Valentí Oviedo also believes it is important to “actively promote connections between the educational and cultural spheres to promote a more humanistic and transversal citizen profile. This synergy can contribute to an equitable and inclusive society.” And he calls for “an increase in resources allocated to the cultural and scientific capital of Barcelona: this investment can consolidate the city as an international cultural and scientific reference.”
Pepe Serra, director of the MNAC, asks the ministry to “bet on a real decentralization of the museum system, promoting a more powerful state network throughout the country, with a policy that improves the distribution of resources and acquisitions and, as far as that the MNAC refers to, contribute budgetarily to promote and make possible the expansion project on the 2029 horizon.”
And José Luis de Vicente, director of the Barcelona Design Museum, also believes that it is time to “create for the first time a system and a cultural structure at the level of a networked State that understands all the institutions of the entire State with their strengths.” and its specific peculiarities as a system that can be fed holistically. If sectors such as audiovisual are strong in Madrid, but music or fashion are strong in Barcelona, there may be a vision that understands the entire ecosystem.”
In that sense, he asks not to understand culture "detached from other areas, there is a whole series of potentialities in the connection between culture and industry, science, university" and believes that "today we are in a dimension of culture that is increasingly will reveal more importantly: culture as a laboratory of society. In a time of enormous change we need a space to think about the way we are going to live. Produce new imaginaries, stories of society.”
