On the state level, cultural creativity is supported – both directly and indirectly:
- Support from the budget through annual public calls in all fields of culture (theatre, film, publishing, music etc.) that encompass all the basic cultural activities (creativity, reproduction, transmission etc.) as well as supplementary cultural activities (support for cultural management education, information technology support etc.) as well as cultural infrastructure;
- direct support for cultural institutions;
- grants that directly support artistic creativity (e.g. writing, visual arts);
- payment of retirement and health contributions for independent artists; and
- ad hoc support from the Ministry’s reserve of budgetary funds for projects that have already ensured some of the above-mentioned types of support, or have appeared as new projects outside the competition procedure.
A similar type of support is provided on the local level: that is, through yearly public calls for public needs in culture of different towns and counties, which are also oriented to support all the types of cultural activities in all fields of culture, as well as through direct support for cultural institutions that are in the remit of the local administrations. The level of support varies substantially from city to city.
Support for audio-visual activities is provided through yearly public calls published by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) dedicated to supporting film production, co-production activities, and complimentary activities (festivals, publications and other cinema-related activities), including support for film artists/workers.
In 2020 special measures were created to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural sector. They included measures from those related to the postponement of contracted programmes of public needs in culture and the conditions of payment for approved programmes in special circumstances; suspension of plans to revise freelance artists’ payment of contributions for pension and health insurance from the state budget for a period of six months, to the creation of a special fund for independent professionals who do not have a regulated status, are not in the register of taxpayers, that do not pay contributions or have not acquired the right to pay contributions from the state budget. The latter measure was created in order to complement the measure for job preservation implemented by the Croatian Employment Bureau that did not include these professions. In 2020, this measure entailed support for 1 642 independent artists and independent professionals in the amount of 15 815 000 HRK (2 099 011 EUR) while in 2021 this support covered 1 591 artists in the amount of 12 728 000 HRK (1 689 295 EUR). The second package of measures included also the additional support for production of debut fiction features and fiction features that could not be completed due to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy in 2020 in the amount of 5mil kuna (666 666 EUR). This was also supplemented by the support for additional filming expenses due to exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g.in 2020 this amounted to 1 460 852 HRK (194 780 EUR) while in 2021 it was 3647 968 HRK (486 395 EUR) (HAVC, 2021). The loan guarantee programme for entrepreneurs (SMEs) active in the field of culture and creative industries, and adjustments to the regular Call for submitting programmes of public needs in culture to meet the needs of the sector. The third package of measures by the government included the public call for partial compensation of performance costs in theatre, dance and music (classical and jazz music); the public call for digital adjustment programmes and the creation of new cultural and educational content to admit applicants across all cultural disciplines (audiovisual production, performing arts, literature and translation, visual arts), which in 2020 amounted to 8 189 193 HRK (1 086 892 EUR), while in 2021 it was 7 935 000 HRK (1 053 155 EUR). The Croatian Musicians Union has published a Call for proposals for concert programmes under the Agreement with the Ministry (in 2020 the funding was five while in 2021 it amounted to 7 mil.kuna). The total list with a description of the measures in English is available at the website of the Ministry.
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