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Even after the first distribution of benefits in the public sphere, there was no lack of discussion on the principle of distribution, but the Culture Council emphasized that this program did not take artistic value into account to treat all artists equally. However, after the second phase, the developers had even more questions.
Tuesday to 15 minutes The interpreter was approached by the interpreter Romas Dambrauskas, who in the second stage also sought to receive compensation for the losses suffered. However, he is one of those who, at this stage, without the support of 257 euros paid by Sodra, was left with nothing.
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Developer benefits: a matter of conscience? Soloist Opera – 600, Rytis Cicinas – 1800
Delayed completion – left without payment
As the artist said, he did not request the first round of lump sum due to lack of information. According to the artist, after hearing about the benefits of colleagues too late, it was no longer possible to get on the train. However, the second attempt was also unsuccessful.
During the submission of applications in late May, the Cultural Council website stated that applications could only be completed one day, it was announced that they could be submitted starting at 10 a.m.
“Maybe 11 hours ago. I sat at the computer and quietly started filling out. I noticed that very little information was requested, although I was prepared to document the individual activities performed. When I filled it out, I thought maybe I didn’t understand something, maybe I was I was losing it, I called the Cultural Council myself. They assured me that my consultation sees that everything is fine. I asked if it was necessary to present additional documents, informing that they could only be necessary in the future. And everything ended, “says the artist.
Hoping to have submitted an application that met the program’s requirements, R. Dambrauskas was unpleasantly surprised when he did not see his name among the recipients on Monday morning. Due to this misunderstanding, the interpreter again submitted a request to the Cultural Council.
“I have been a creator for over 30 years, I have released more than 20 albums, I have written more than 120 original songs, so I was wondering what conditions I did not meet, who got stuck,” continues the artist.
The response of the Council of Culture was really disappointing for R. Dambrauskas. As explained, in the second round of benefits, just over 100 people (exactly 103 developers) were eligible, although four times as many people applied (422 developers total). This means that the support is for those who completed the application first. Such a race of time, as he says, was simply shocking.
Why is there such a race, why is public money distributed in this way?
“It just came to our attention then. I was very angry, I started to ask why such a race is taking place, why public funds are being distributed in this way. If one day is awarded, everyone who submits should be considered. a request, and then a commission formed will decide who really needs it. And here everything breaks down for speed.
As he explained that they were not to blame, I requested the contacts of the managers, since those things really cannot happen. Even more so because everything smells of possible corruption. You can tell your friends that exactly 10 p.m. complete the applications, log in and you will receive it, “said the artist.
The artist noted that he felt the most frustration not for himself, as he benefited from the savings during the quarantine period. However, there are a number of examples in your environment where developers with large loans or large families are barely making ends meet and living in really difficult conditions.
Lukas Balandis / 15min photo / 15min in the studio – Romas Dambrauskas
“Then we realized we couldn’t believe it. It’s all about who will hit the fastest hit. This is not support, but a mockery of all creators ”, the artist was angry.
The artist himself stated in his appeal that he had lost around 10,000. The concerts dedicated to its 60th anniversary were due to start in the spring, and several private events had to be canceled. Also, as Rome points out, at the end of May it was still unclear exactly when the quarantine would end.
After this event, R. Dambrauskas wrote to the Minister of Culture Mindaugas Kvietkauskas and to the Advisor to the Ministry of Financial Control, Rusnė Rinkevičienė. The request has not yet been answered.
15 minutes Contacting spokeswoman Jana Mikulevich, she replied that the minister was currently on leave and would return to work on Thursday.
This is not support, but a mockery of all developers.
The Culture Council recognizes that the program is imperfect
Mindaugas Bundza, director of the administration of the Lithuanian Culture Council, says he was not surprised that this situation reached the media, because for a few days his employees had to answer similar questions.
However, it is emphasized that the Culture Council has little to do with the situation. The distribution of the benefits of the second stage started only because after the first stage, the ITS rejected the applications of around fifty people.
This method may not be the best
Of the 750 thousand assigned to the program. 96 thousand euros remain. assigned by the Culture Council in the second phase. According to the representative, it was mentioned on his official page that only 100 applications would be accepted, and the application was closed after approximately 40 minutes.
According to M. Bundza, this cannot be called a career, but a priority. However, as he himself says, this principle raises questions for itself.
“This method may not be the best, but it is coordinated with the representatives of the Association for the Protection of Copyright, only a part of the funds is administered by the Council of Culture. As a result, the following approach was chosen. Of course In the second stage, the attention was focused on the awareness of the program, so we had to attend to the requests in just a few minutes, ”says a representative of the council.
The Culture Council defends that the creators who received the grants in the first stage could also participate in the announced scholarship contest. It is true that not only could he, but he also participated. According to M. Bundza, some developers will receive or have already received scholarships after receiving benefits. However, these scholarships, in contrast to lump sums, are intended for the creation of new works of art and other activities. This requirement does not apply to lump sums.
The Cultural Council awarded a total of 756 three-month scholarships to cultural and artistic creators. 1.36 million have been allocated to artists, researchers, managers, libraries, museums and specialists in cultural heritage in various fields. euros
And while a Culture Council spokesperson welcomed the payments to almost 800 creators under the criticized program, he stressed that a different allocation principle is likely to be needed in the future.
“I really doubt that we will apply this principle in the future. Not because it does not work well or poorly, but because of the limitations of the program, we see imperfections. The Cultural Council applies expert evaluation first, there has been no expert evaluation here, and all our other competitions are conducted in this way.
Therefore, it is known that the key moment, as in all competitions, will continue to be expert evaluation, quality. There were very specific funds here, a very specific situation, so this approach was chosen. Because, I will repeat again, those funds were very specific, aimed at a certain field of developers, “said M. Bundza.
We see the limitations of the program. The Cultural Council applies the expert evaluation first, there was no expert evaluation here
Why wasn’t expert translation used this time? According to the administration director, this program was coordinated by representatives of copyright protection associations and approved by the ministry’s working groups.
“It is not necessary to indicate who is responsible for what. We implement the tender according to the conditions. We understand that the people who work in this sector have questions, the situation is very delicate, we also receive many questions, we try to communicate with this sector. Of course , we understand the limitations of the program, “emphasized again the representative of the Cultural Council.
Bundza says it is not yet possible to speculate about what the Culture Council could have done better. After an expert study, the council hopes to continue the conversation with the Ministry of Culture.
So is there currently a chance to make a profit for developers who go overboard? Unfortunately, but no.
“We do not have new competitions at this time, but we will cooperate with the Ministry of Culture, we will analyze the epidemiological situation, whether we have funds or organize additional competitions. We will see the proportion of people who work in the sector who have not received anything at all” says M. Bundza.
It is true that, although the Council of Culture emphasizes that said division agrees with the representatives of the associations for the protection of copyright, 15 minutes Knowledge, at least LATGA was not included in the discussion on the allocation of funds.
As previously announced, developer payments were distributed in proportion to their lost revenue: € 600 (39% of the program), € 1,200 (29% of the program) or € 1,800 (32% of the program). . This decision was made on the proposal of a working group chaired by the Minister of Culture after consulting with representatives of copyright protection associations.
In total, during the two phases of the program, 1,285 people asked the Lithuanian Council of Culture for one-off payments for lost income to independent creators.
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