The Left Bloc political party presented a proposal in the Azorean Parliament to make the Legal Framework for Supporting Cultural Activities more comprehensive, predictable, transparent, and straightforward. Presenting the legislative initiative, Alexandra Manes said that the aim is to initiate “a real change in Culture,” which must also be accompanied by an increase in the budget for the sector.
“There is a disastrous problem with the way this government manages culture in the Azores,” laments Alexandra Manes.

That’s why the Bloc has put forward a proposal for an in-depth amendment to the RJAAC, which aims to provide predictability and allow medium-term planning of cultural activity, make the legal regime more objective and transparent, extend the scope of the legal regime to more activities and simplify and reduce bureaucracy.

In addition to this amendment, this change also involves increasing the region’s budget dedicated to the sector: “Without investment, culture will continue to be suffocated,” she warns.

The regime proposed by the Bloc allows for adaptation to the needs of each project, creating the possibility of applications for annual, biennial, or quadrennial projects, whereas currently, all support is annual.

The proposal submitted to parliament today provides for the creation of funding levels according to the duration of the projects, with the imposition of rules on the amounts to be awarded. One of the rules is that, in annual projects, approved applications receive 90% of the support before the start of the event in a single payment, and in multi-annual projects, the first installment cannot be less than 50% of the approved support.

To reduce bureaucracy and allow more stability for cultural agents, the Bloc proposes, for example, that support of up to 5,000 euros should be answered within five working days and paid at 100% in a single installment.

“This is a way of guaranteeing financial liquidity to cultural agents so that they can move forward with their projects, without getting into debt, without knowing the results of their applications in good time,” explained Alexandra Manes.

The Bloc also advocates the creation of a pool of consultants and specialists, made up of a group of people with experience or specialized knowledge in artistic areas or in a specific cultural area, who sign up for this purpose. These people, who will analyze the applications, will be paid for this work, which implies the requirement to meet deadlines that are not being met.

The proposal also creates a direct channel between cultural agents and an office capable of answering all application questions and providing timely support throughout the process.

The Bloco Assemblymember believes the current Legal Framework for Supporting Cultural Activities is “ineffective and has caused serious problems in the cultural sector throughout the archipelago.” It points out that the proposed change to the regulation that the government has put out for public consultation is merely “cosmetic in generic terms” and is intended to mask future “incompetence or gross errors” instead of contributing to “unblocking the difficulties faced by cultural agents.”

in Tribuna das Ilhas newspaper from the island of Faial, Azores

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.