The state’s strategy for diversification of financing sources for cultural activities and policies aimed at:
- Assessment of optimal scopes of the state budget for arts and culture;
- Attracting alternative financing sources (sponsors, Maecenas, supporters etc.);
- Implementing up-to-date marketing to improve the system of paid cultural services.
Many activities in arts and culture, namely festivals, concerts, fairs, etc., both international and local, attract a significant share of sponsorship by the private sector. Furthermore, funds, banks and other financial institutions operating in the country give considerable subsidies to assist and promote the mobility of artists and artworks.
At the same time, it should be noted that there are currently no private funding statistics. For this reason, it is not possible to provide data and trends of financial contributions/donations made to cultural activities, artists or institutions by independent foundations, commercial sponsors, and individual donors and so on. Furthermore, such information on non-public funding bodies for culture and creativity is not available because studies, surveys, et cetera regarding private funding for culture are not carried out.
Paid cultural services, namely the sum earned by cultural organisations, e.g. fees charged for paid cultural services provided by museums, exhibition halls and libraries, are another way of self-financing for public cultural institutions. This method is increasing in importance. However, these sums are still insignificant for now, accounting for less than 1% of total expenditure on culture, the arts and conservation of monuments.
The state cultural institutions subordinated to the Ministry for Culture provided paid cultural services amounting to AZN 404.0 thousand in 2020. Museums and museum-type institutions provided 42% of these paid cultural services, 37% were provided by educational institutions, 20% – by culture houses and clubs and 1% – by libraries. Most of the amount received from the paid cultural services provided in the club facilities was raised by three big regional departments: Baku City Head Department of Culture, Sumgayit and Sabirabad regional cultural departments. Many institutions, or more precisely, 1 825 institutions for 2020, do not yet operate in this way. A significant portion of the revenue raised in this way came from non-core services.
Privatisation is another answer to the problem of funding, and the periodic press, publishing, TV and radio, records, film production and distribution, concert organisation, etc., are the areas most affected. At the same time, privatisation has slightly affected the cinema production and distribution industry, which requires significant capital contributions. There are also restrictions on privatisation; for example, the following may not be privatised: state museums, libraries, galleries, historical monuments and cultural assets of international importance.
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