Hungarian cultural policy explicitly links participation in cultural life to the issue of national identity. Both of the state programmes that are aimed to increase participation and eliminate social inequalities in access to culture, explicitly aims the strengthening of national identity as well. Lázár Ervin Programme, founded in 2019 is meant for schoolchildren and „aims to pass on the millennial Hungarian culture to future generations.” Once per school year, all pupils in grades 1-8 have the opportunity to attend free theatre, dance, circus, classical and folk music performances under the Programme. Performers must apply to register their productions in the LEP system. Between 2019 and 2024, more than 2.2 million children have attended performances via the programme.
Déryné Programme (since 2020) is aimed for general audience and restricted to theatre productions. The aim of the programme is to bring high quality theatre productions to as many communities as possible in the country, especially to those places where the local population has been lacking in “high culture.” Performances can be seen free of charge or for a maximum registration fee of 200 HUF (0.5 Euro), and the host venues only have to pay a nominal fee for the productions, so that even the smallest settlements can benefit from the programme.
Companies can apply for the Déryné programme with classical and mainly Hungarian plays. The aim is much more to preserve tradition than to promote contemporary culture. In four years, 644 settlements have registered to the programme and 1184 productions have been realised in local cultural centres/open air spots. The programme has been criticised for the fact that the selection of productions is decided by a board of trustees chaired by the director of the National Theatre. Beyond their virtues, critics suggest that both the Lazar and Déryné programmes are symptomatic of clientelism.
The provision of basic cultural supply is a stated component of the cultural policy of the government. Local cultural centres are key in this endeavour, both by involving citizens in their activities and by offering venues. Nevertheless, there is no general strategy dedicated to audience development.
Events such as the World Days of Music, the Day of Open Heritage, ICOMOS international Day on Monuments and Sites, the Night of Museums, the Month of Libraries etc., are becoming increasingly vigorous and public subsidy accorded to them is also becoming increasingly well planned. Public relations activity for these events is highly professional and their influence over the public is growing.
Teachers get a significant discount on admission to museums and other public cultural institutions with a teacher’s card. Usually there is a family ticket, but there is a debate about the narrow definition of family (same-sex couples and even single-parent families are excluded).
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