Candidate for Minister of Culture S.Kairys: “It is important that we do not see culture as something unnecessary for a person” | Culture

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– How long has it been since you learned that you would be promoted to the position of Minister of Culture?

– Since from the point of view of the Liberal Movement culture is not a crumb of the negotiating table and my activities in Kaunas kept me in this sector, these languages ​​have been floating somewhere for a long time. I have always been one of the candidates in all the negotiations, it is difficult to say the exact moment when it all started here.

– I heard Kaunas in reply. Would you pay more attention to it, as Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture in 2022?

– Starting from Kaunas, I obtained considerable results, because my responsibility was to win the title of European Capital of Culture and yesterday the especially good news was announced from Paris: the door of UNESCO was opened to the interwar modernist architecture of Kaunas. On the other hand, this has allowed me to mature as a politician in this area, but I would really like to allay the fears that now there is an attempt to pull the blanket one way or the other.

Sometimes <...> an objective approach is good – respectful, democratic, open debate, involving the community itself, is important in the field of culture. I don’t really represent any branch of art. Nor would I want to be considered as a representative of a particular city. The entire state is important to me. Not only Kaunas, Vilnius, but also the regions where, in terms of culture, life flourishes.

– The outgoing ministry lacks communication with the media. Do you promise to have a relationship with her?

– I don’t come from anywhere either, they don’t take me out of any drawer. All the principles in the path of my policy are based on openness, communication with the media, visible in the space of social networks.

Despite all the good things that I could say about the ministry, some of the actions left the impression that there was not much desire to go to social networks, to the media. And for me, those things are very important and one of the essential things in the job of a minister, no matter how difficult it may seem. The cultural sector is alive. In addition, I very much welcome the fact that, with the formation of the coalition and the Government, it is the cultural sector that has managed to provoke considerable public debate about what awaits culture, what should be the minister. I haven’t really seen that in other sectors.

– What kind of work would you focus on first?

– We must, in principle, speak of the full return of culture to the lives of the citizens of our country. In my opinion, the public debate was correct, with some restrictions, it was an exaggeration because there are cultural activities, institutions that have been closed undeservedly. Therefore, the principle itself is important, according to which we would not see culture as something unnecessary for a person, on which the lock must first be hung.

The very situation of the coronavirus will pose challenges for the culture in terms of the behavior of certain people. In terms of social guarantees, the problems of the non-governmental sector, of individual artists, have been very visible here. I am not saying that the ministry has not taken action, but it is important that during all those quarantines, we also see people who have little sense of security.

Another important thing that must be seen and valued quickly is the interpretation of excise duties by the Constitutional Court. That is, due to the structure of certain funds, which had a very clear indication of what proportion of the excise tax on alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc., should go to one fund or another. Here are some things that are coded as the next year’s number. Having a decision of the Constitutional Court, it must be urgently guaranteed that the field of culture does not feel disturbed.

All other things are more general. I myself hear well what the future Prime Minister has to say about following an evolutionary path. So whether you are in this position or another, it is important not to manage, regulate, but help this sector when it arrives.

Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Simonas Kairys

– One of the priorities of this Government is a national agreement on education. Are you wondering how you would see a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport?

– Of course, the connection between culture and education is huge, and the Liberal Movement has since started its cultural program. There are really different offers from all associations, both in the Cultural Passport and in the educational process, and cultural in general. We will inevitably have to agree and not forget the culture that is sometimes overshadowed by major problem areas. <...>. If we do not have contact with a young person, an emerging personality, we will lose him as a cultural participant.

Without national institutions, we simply would not have the support and, in cultural terms, the state would be legless or heartless.

The Ministry of Economy and Innovation is also important to me. Suppose the entire creative industry is also struggling to make its way to recognition. So this and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports are, in my opinion, key partners of the Ministry of Culture.

– Concerns have been raised with the cultural community that the new, more liberal government may encourage culture to operate under market conditions.

– I think this concern came after some people spoke in the debate. I certainly do not promise to oppose these two sectors, public and private. I would say the opposite, we should help the private sector, because there are many problems. We just have to talk about them and not imagine that they don’t exist.

For me it is very important that culture is not one of the crumbs on the negotiating table.

However, I would like to deny this concern that public authorities will suffer as a result. Because without national institutions, we simply would not have the support and, in cultural terms, the state would be like without legs or without a heart. I feel this little tension, but, as I said, the first thing is an open democratic debate. <...>.

– In recent discussions, some representatives of the cultural community have expressed the expectation that the Minister of Culture will be a leader and resurrect the Ministry from the margins. Would you consider yourself such a leader?

– It is always the hardest thing to talk about yourself. However, I am one of the vice-presidents of the party, I have really interesting experience in this sector. <...> I have always emphasized that if culture sinks into problem areas, then in principle we will not push it to such a level that it is the most important thing in the state. Of course, the different profiles of the minister are debatable, but in this case I come as a politician, as one of the leaders of one of the coalition parties. It is very important both for us as a political force and for me as a politician that culture is not one of the crumbs on the negotiating table.