According to the estimate, the total budget for culture amounts to 207.3 million euros (an increase of 10.45 million or 5.31 percent, including funds from the Upper Austria Plan). The funds for the funding area (discretionary expenditure) amount to 14.3 million euros (plus 5.4 percent). According to Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP), the main areas of discretion include folk culture, contemporary culture, performing arts (festivals of the Upper Austrian cultural summer), literature promotion, film productions, acquisitions of works and visual arts.
In the field of school culture, artists should be given the opportunity to present their art in schools. A total of around 5.5 million euros will be used for this in the discretionary expenditure. That is more than 38 percent of the total funding area. Stelzer: “Our goal is to continue to support the free development of art and culture, to promote artistic creation in all fields and manifestations and to promote a cosmopolitan climate.”
Voted against cultural budget
SPÖ and Greens, like Neos and MFG, voted against the cultural budget. Green culture spokesman Severin Mayr: “The culture budget is a reflection of the entire budget. It is discouraged, sluggish and unambitious. The funds, especially for the independent cultural scene, are too little, come too slowly and too late. Even if the upcoming budget contains selective increases , it cannot even begin to compensate for what has been cut in the past few years. Black-and-blue does not manage to protect the many volunteers, the cultural local suppliers in the regions, the creative minds of our country. “
The culture platform Upper Austria (Kupf / interest representation of the cultural associations) welcomes the plus for the independent scene. Kupf Managing Director Thomas Diesreiter: “This is a positive first step after years of stagnation and cuts. We hope that this is a long-term trend reversal and that further steps will follow on the way to sustainable financing of the art and culture scene.”
Source: Nachrichten
