Several cultural agents are complaining about delays in receiving support from the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs for events held in 2023. There are those who only received part of the support at the beginning of December, those who have not yet received any money and those who are still waiting for their application to be re-evaluated.
“Never, ever, has there been such a long delay in getting the results and with such damaging consequences for cultural agents,” said Ana Brum, from the Cães do Mar company.

“It’s the worst year in living memory and there’s no point in denying it. We never made it to the end of the year and with the risk of entering the following year without receiving the money,” said Rafael Carvalho, from the Viola da Terra Youth Association.
“It’s true that there are always delays, but by June things have been resolved. The first payments are made in June at the latest. In this case, in June nobody knew if there was support, there was no response whatsoever,” added Luís Banrezes, from the associations Plutão Camaleão and Silêncio Sonoros.
The reactions followed statements by the regional director for Cultural Affairs, Duarte Nuno Chaves, last week, guaranteeing that the majority of applications for the Legal Regime for Supporting Cultural Activities (RJAAC) had already been processed.
Ana Brum, Rafael Carvalho and Luís Banrezes guarantee that these are not unique cases and that they know of other cultural agents waiting to receive support.
“It’s extremely incorrect and rude to the sector. We ask, at the very least, that the director retracts his statement and returns to the truth of the facts,” said Luís Banrezes.
The cultural agent has already received part of an application to the RJAAC, but not a penny of the application for the Tremor festival, which took place in March.
“How is it possible to be preparing the 2024 edition and already have a support process underway when we haven’t received a single tranche from 2023?” he asked.

Luís Banrezes applied for another project, which was supported by the Directorate General for the Arts, but RJAAC’s support was rejected for “measly tenths”.
He asked for the score to be reviewed in July and claims that, according to the regulations, he should have received an answer within 10 days, but he still hasn’t received it.
He says he knows of other cases in the same situation and that there are “many people who have received absolutely nothing”.
“The more colleagues I speak to, the more I see that this is not a unique situation. There are many more,” he said, claiming that the delay this year has been “much worse”.
With a cut in support of “around 50%” and delays in payments, Luís Banrezes’ associations, based in São Miguel, have only managed to survive with support from other entities and their own income from some events.

Supported by DGArtes
The same happened with the professional company Cães do Mar, on the island of Terceira, which only received part of its support in the first week of December and is still waiting for two applications to be re-evaluated.
“In the case of the professional structures, if it wasn’t for the central government there would be no work done, because there was no way of sustaining these structures,” explained Ana Brum.
The director and artistic director pointed out that the RJAAC provides for the allocation of a total amount of 850,000 euros in 2023, but so far only support of around 650,000 has been published.

“This is a derisory amount if we consider that 850,000 euros are to be divided among nine islands for all areas, from audiovisual, publishing, folklore, events of all kinds, festivals, theater, dance, whether professional or amateur,” she criticized.
Ana Brum fears that the Azorean executive “is using the fact that there is support from the central government not to invest in cultural activities in the Azores”.
“It’s a lack of consideration for those who strive to keep activities going on all the islands. There’s not even an apology, which would be the least,” she lamented.
According to the cultural agent, the delay not only in payment, but also in publishing the results of the applications, which exceeded the time allowed by law, led several artists to give up on their projects.
“We managed to manage our situation at a cost, but obviously there were many associations that didn’t have projects, because they didn’t even know if they were going to get support, and in other cases the members themselves had to come up with money out of their own pockets,” she said.

Associations with losses
This was the case with the Viola da Terra Youth Association, which considered suspending the Violas do Atlântico festival, but ended up holding it and still hasn’t received any support, nor does it know if it will in 2023.
“We’ve already made all the payments, but we, the board members, are losing out financially, because we have to bear the costs of events,” said Rafael Carvalho.
The musician said that the applications, with an approved amount of around 4,800 euros, have been processed since September, but when asked about payment, the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs refers to the Regional Directorate for Budget and Treasury.
“A discourse has become normalized that a delay is not a problem, that it’s not so bad, that it was only a month or two later than the previous year. This is ridiculous, it’s an offense,” he lamented.
Since April, Rafael Carvalho and other cultural agents have been warning not only about the delays, but also about the cut in support, which this year has been limited to a maximum of 30% of the value of the application, “without any legal basis”.
“Every year they’ve been reduced and this year they’re the biggest cuts ever, along with everything else. It’s really a stranglehold on the sector,” he lamented.
The musician said that cultural agents feel “ignored” and “abandoned”.
“People think that cultural agents want to live off subsidies and that’s not the case. We’re providing a cultural, artistic service that generates jobs, brings in revenue for the region, for restaurants, sound technicians, musicians, accommodation…” he said.

THE STATEMENTS THAT SPARKED OUTRAGE AMONG CULTURAL AGENTS
Almost all applications processed

Throughout the year, there have been several complaints from cultural agents about cuts and delays in the payment of RJAAC support. At the beginning of last week, the GetArt association, which organizes Lava – Festival Internacional de Jazz do Pico, admitted that it would not hold the next edition due to lack of support.
“For the organization, it is particularly frustrating to invest time and effort in the creation of a cultural project, from concept to promotion, and to reach the end and not have enough funds to pay suppliers and collaborators. Faced with this scenario, the organization is seriously considering not holding the next edition of the festival,” it said in a press release.
In reaction, the regional director for Cultural Affairs, Duarte Nuno Chaves, said that 98% of the applications had already been processed and that there was “a very small percentage” waiting, because he had asked for the grade awarded to be re-evaluated.
“I can’t guarantee that they’ve all been paid, but the processes have all been finalized and as they are finalized, the indication for payment will be sent to the respective recipients,” he stressed.
Asked about the delay, Duarte Nuno Chaves recalled that he replaced the previous regional director at the beginning of the year, which delayed the setting up of the evaluation committees, but said that the difference compared to previous years was “not very great”. “The average score for the evaluation committees was between June and July,” he explained.

in Diário Insular – José Lourenço, director

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–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)

Filamentos editor’s note: As many of our readers know the arts are a very important part of the Azores, for a small archipelago of only 250 thousand people, there is an amalgam of creativity in the arts, and the small subsidies from the government are of utmost importance. The Azores without the arts wouldn’t be the same Azores.