Efforts have been made in the direction of incorporating the Status of the Artist into a public policy. This includes an initiative to elaborate a public policy proposal for the support and stimulation of the cultural and creative sectors and a public consultation of the cultural sector being organised by the Ministry of Culture and National Identity in 2009. Two reports were published by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training – Draft of a policy for the stimulation of creativity: proposals from creators, NGOs and companies from the cultural sector (the aim of the study was to identify dysfunctions and their remedies in order to formulate a public policy to stimulate creativity; the study characterises the artist’s status, taking into account the social, professional, legal, fiscal and financial status of the creator) and an update of the report, in 2011.
In 2010, the Plastic Artists’ Union (UAP) put forward a law on the organisation and exercise of the profession of visual artist. The bill was an attempt to regulate the exercise of the profession of visual artist and the establishment of the Society/Order of Visual Artists of Romania, as a form of associative organisation based on professional criteria, independent, non-profit, autonomous, apolitical and of public interest, but the bill was not adopted.
Six years later, in 2016, the Ministry of Culture proposed the set-up of a Platform of Dialogue with the Civil Society, the “Cultura Vie” (living culture) Platform. A memorandum was launched with a view to finding a consensus to adopt the Status of the Artist, comprising ten basic principles:
- “Art creates identity and diversity”;
- “Art is a free domain of self-expression, part of the freedom of expression”;
- “Artistic creation is original and irreproducible”;
- “Art is a territory for universal experiment that creates new perspectives for the society”;
- “Artistic creation is a form of work and, as such, it deserves a fair reward“;
- “A work of art is neither a consumption good, nor an investment. It is a complex manifestation of the human spirit, which acquires its own specificity”;
- “The work of the artist aggregates communities”;
- “Mobility is an essential part of the creative experience of the artist. It generates environment and facilitates association for the artistic work”;
- “A propitious development of art is supported by an educated public. Artistic education is a condition for each individual’s personality development and life enrichment”;
- “Promoting artistic creation is an important part of Romania’s foreign politics”.
While the Status or Condition of the Artist in Romania represents a real concern of the cultural sector, more steps are needed to be made in order to identify concrete measures. The approval by Government Memorandum, in February 2017, of the White Paper for Unlocking the Economic Potential of the Cultural and Creative Sectors in Romania, elaborated by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training, marks an important advancement in the context. A White Paper document marks the turning point of a process – in this case of the process of a programmed valorisation of the potential of the cultural and creative sectors (CCS). The White Paper aims gathering, under the broader concept of Cultural and Creative Sectors, some fields which are traditionally market-oriented and, consequently, likely to generate economic development, as well as other, less market-oriented fields, which have a more powerful role from a social viewpoint (community cohesion and inclusion). The White Paper managed to map the cultural and creative sectors of Romania, from the viewpoint of unlocking their economic potential, by considering their specific cultural and social value. The data will be reviewed and updated in 2020.
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