The Ministry of Culture issues call for the presentation of Cultural Projects

The Ministry of Culture issues call for the presentation of Cultural Projects
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 7/25/2013

The Ministry of Culture formally launched the “Call for Cultural Projects 2013,” which, according to the statement from Minister José Antonio Rodríguez, “is part of the instruments that national cultural policies require and which has the full support of President Danilo Medina Sánchez.”

The launching of the call was held in the auditorium Juan Bosch of the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National Library in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Other officials of the Ministry of Culture were present at the event.

Rodríguez, stressing the importance of the call in his speech, said that it will result in the development of an institutional process which is unprecedented in the country since it will help to lay the foundations of a cultural management that corresponds with the major challenges that the State faces “to ensure the full exercise of the cultural rights in our nation.”

“However, we understand that these efforts would be worth nothing without the integration of the real makers and architects of the Dominican culture into the cultural management processes of these cultural policies, as well as without connecting them to the development of their respective areas.”

Freddy Ginebra, Director of Casa de Teatro, addressed those present and welcomed the initiative to convene the civil society and the private sector to submit their cultural projects at the national level.

In addition to the Ministry of Culture, the call has the support of the Dominican Municipal League, which is the governing body of the country’s city councils, as well as of the Dominican Federation of Municipalities.

Along with the Minister and Carlos Santos, who is in charge of the Vice Ministry of Institutional Development, the following persons presided over the ceremony: Dr. Carlos Salcedo, Director of the Department of Culture; Architect Nerva Fondeur, Coordinator of the Vice Ministry; Tommy García, Coordinator of the Vice Ministry of Creativity and Popular Participation; Dr. Luis O. Brea Franco, Advisor to the Minister of Culture; Freddy Ginebra, Cultural Manager; and Deputy Manuel Jiménez, President of the Commission on Culture of the Chamber of Deputies.

This call comes at a time when the Ministry of Culture and the Central Bank are determined to create a “Satellite Account for Culture,” to measure the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Dominican Republic. For this reason, Minister Rodríguez and the Governor of the Central Bank, Héctor Valdez Albizu, signed an agreement.

PURPOSE OF THE CALL

The purpose of the First National Call for Cultural Projects is to create mechanisms that contribute to make viable the exercise of the cultural rights listed in the Constitution of the Republic and in the National Development Strategy 2012-2020, which will be implemented between the years 2014 and 2016, corresponding to the term in office of the current government, as the Coordinator of the Vice Ministry of Institutional Development, Carlos Santos, explained.

In addition, he explained that this call also entails holding 2-day regional meetings that, in each case, will conclude with a cultural event in the host municipality, which in turn will be declared the region’s cultural capital.

A technical commission headed by officials from the Office of the Ministry of Culture will have the responsibility to study, evaluate and select the proposals that are considered of interest from among those that are presented during each meeting, based on previously established criteria.

The proposals that are selected will become part of a portfolio that could be financed with funds from the National Budget, foreign aid or with mixed capital, including budget that has been earmarked for the cultural sector of the local governments and the private sector. This financing is intended for the planning of the cultural activities.

According to the rules of the call, the proposals that will be consider are for the advancement of production, promotion, training, artistic dissemination and research in the various areas or lines of action.

Among these lines of action are: Cultural Infrastructure; Entrepreneurship in Cultural Industries, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Tourism, Arts and Literature; Participation and Social Inclusion; Gastronomy, and Public Art.

DATES OF THE MEETINGS

The schedulE and calendar of the regional consultations will start on August 23 and 24 in the provinces of Barahona, Bahoruco and Independencia; on September 6 and 7 in Maria Trinidad Sánchez, Duarte, Hermanas Mirabal and Samana; and on September 20 and 21 in Peravia, Azua, San José de Ocoa and San Cristóbal.

On October 4 and 5, the meetings will be held in Montecristi, Santiago Rodríguez, Valverde and Dajabón; on Octobe 18 and 19 in La Romana, El Seybo and La Altagracia; on November 1st and 2nd in San Juan de la Maguana and Elías Piña; on November 15 and 16 in Santiago, Puerto Plata and Moca; on November 29 and 30 in Monte Plata, San Pedro de Macoris and Hato Mayor; on December 6 and 7 in Monseñor Nouel, Sánchez Ramírez and La Vega; and finally, on December 13 and 14, in the National District.