2. Current cultural affairs
Czech Republic
Last update: March, 2023
The main challenges of contemporary cultural policy and the cultural sector in the CR have three main contexts:
- the post-pandemic recovery,
- the economic energy crisis,
- and the war conflict in Ukraine.
All these aspects have an impact on the return of audiences and visitors, as well as on the ability of public budgets and cultural organisations to cope with the crises. More is discussed further in the individual chapters.
Last update: March, 2023
Freedom of artistic expression is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights of Freedoms as part of the Constitution order of the CR (Constitutional Act No. 2/1993 Coll. as amended in Constitutional Act No. 162/1998 Coll.).
Cultural institutions create various programmes designed to make culture accessible to the public and they also participate in special programmes to improve skills in this area – such as those offered by the Arts and Theatre Institute’s Academy.
However, some topics of cultural rights are only slowly opening up in the CR, as in other Central European countries. One of them is the topic of decolonisation of collection institutions. In 2021, the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures (part of the National Museum) organised a series of lectures and discussions on the topic of the planned exhibitions in the reconstructed premises of the institution.
In the university environment, the Decolonisation Initiative was also launched in 2021, with a manifesto and a website that continuously adds challenges for different university disciplines. The initiators include students of the humanities from the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University in Prague, but their aim is to connect different disciplines and institutions. Gradually, syllabi, but also canons (e.g. of literature) and museum displays, should be transformed to reflect other, non-European voices.
In 2021, a group of students under the name of YOU DON’T! HAVE TO ENDURE IT used an anonymous form to ask students of the Faculties of Theatre of the Academy of performing arts in Prague and in Brno about their study experiences. Collected testimonies bear witness to and draw an image of the problematically endured internal world of prestigious theatre schools. The statements were publicly proclaimed in June 2021 in front of the entrance to the faculty in Prague. A provisional live stream of the performance shared on social networks had accumulated in few days after over 30 000 views). On social media, the initiative was supported by, among others, the Drama of the National Theatre, Hadivadlo Brno and numerous enrolled students as well as graduates and theatre professionals. Various cultural and other organisations have organised panels or conferences on the subject, with many prominent personalities and artists supporting the initiative. At the end of 2021, the Dean of the Faculty of Theatre in Prague announced a competition for the position of Ombudsman. His/her task is to address complaints that show signs of unethical behaviour, discrimination, psychological pressure, or inappropriate behaviour among persons in unequal positions of power.
A similar ombudsman position has been in place at the Academy of Fine Arts for several years. However, it too was created as a result of an internal ethical problem. There is also a new ombudsman at the Faculty of Film and Television Production.
Last update: March, 2023
Freedom of artistic expression has been guaranteed long term in the CR, even with the severe restrictions that were placed on this freedom under the state-socialist regime, and not many cases arise in which this freedom is the subject of controversy or is deemed to have been carried too far. When such a case does arise, it is usually due to different understandings of and approaches to what is or is not ethical or different ideas about what viewers or visitors can be ‘shown’. One recent example was an active protest against the staging of the play The Curse by director Oliver Frljić that took place during the performance at the Theatre World Festival in Brno in 2018. The issue of the play’s staging even ended up in court when the Czech Cardinal Dominik Duka took legal action against the festival organisers - the Centre for Experimental Theatre and the National Theatre in Brno.
Like freedom of artistic expression, support for the freedom of movement is also very important in light of the restrictions on freedom of movement that existed before 1990. In recent decades in particular, a number of new measures have been introduced in support of the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, by both the state and the municipalities. One of the strategic measures developed in this area is the Czechmobility.info web portal, which provides information necessary to ease incoming and outgoing mobility.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fact that the CR lacks a systemic definition of the status of the artist, a definition that would lead to the improvement of the social situation of artists and other cultural professionals. There are no forms of special tax, social, and financial relief for artists and cultural workers. The status of the artist is currently being made an important issue at the MC and is also addressed in the new cultural policy (the Objective 3).
The status of the artist is also one of the pillars of the Czech National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the culture component. The main milestone is the creation of a legislative norm to establish the status of the artist (see also 2.9).
Surveys and other studies have long drawn attention to the low level of employment in the area of independent culture. Most workers in this branch of the arts work freelance with a trade licence or on the basis of various kinds of contracts. This results in inequalities between public and non-profit and even for-profit organisations, such as a lack of uniformity to the conditions for guest artists and those employed by an organisation and different levels of social security and insurance, as well as other inequalities.
The COVID crisis also highlighted for the first time the broad ecosystem of cultural professions. The first list of cultural professions in the arts was created by the MC in cooperation with professional associations in the context of the COVID-Culture compensation packages for the self-employed (see also 2.9).
Last update: March, 2023
On 3 October 2018 the Government of the CR adopted Resolution No. 629 on the Digital Czechia programme and proposed changes to the Statute of the Government Council for an Information Society. The programme’s steering body is the Government Council for an Information Society, which is headed by the government commissioner for information technology and digitisation. The Government Council for an Information Society was set up in 2014 and it is the Government of the CR’s initiating and coordinating body in the area of reform of public administration, the information society, the digital agenda, eGovernment, and information and communication technologies.
The ‘Digital Czechia’ programme consists of a set of concepts designed to provide the foundations for the Czech Republic’s long-term success amidst the advancing digital revolution. The programme’s concept can be defined as: ‘A Strategy for the Coordinated and Comprehensive Digitisation of the CR 2018+’. ‘Digital Czechia’ comprises three main pillars (individual concepts / strategies) that together form a single unit that contains numerous internal ties and reflect in their structure the various addressees they are aimed at and also differences due to the current legislative definition:
- Czechia in a digital Europe (managed by the Office of the Government)
- Information Concept of the Czech Republic (managed by the Ministry of the Interior)
- The Concept of a Digital Economy and Society (managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade)
Also included in this programme is the electronic culture project – eCulture.
Since 2003 the Czech Statistical Office has conducted a survey on the use of information and communication technologies annually in households and among individuals. In 2014 the share of households with Internet access rose to more than 70% for the first time. In 2019, 81% of people over the age of 16 in the CR used the Internet daily or almost every day; 50.5% use the Internet to watch videos, 46.3% to play music, and 23.2% to play games. In 2019, a total of 81.1% of Czech households had an Internet connection.
In 2021, 83% of Czech households had access to the internet. One of the most common entertainment activities people engaged in online was watching videos on YouTube or similar content-sharing sites. Videos on such sites were watched by 58% of people aged 16 and over in 2021. Shows on paid channels such as Netflix or HBO GO were watched by 15% of people in the country in 2021. The large year-on-year increase in the popularity of these channels occurred mainly between 2019 and 2020. In 2020, 10.5% of people watched shows on such sites, compared to only 3% a year earlier. Reading news sites is one of the most common online activities ever. 76% of the Czech population aged 16+ read online news. Around a fifth of the adult population, 26% of men and 13% of women, play games online or download games to their computer, tablet or phone. 49% of the Czech population uses the internet to listen to music. Men are slightly more likely to listen to music (51%) than women (47%). Students have the highest share. Of those, 95% listen to music online.
In November and December 2020, the first year of the COVID crisis, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Grant Thornton Agency conducted a survey on household satisfaction with internet connectivity (Ministry of Industry and Trade & Grant Thornton Agency, 2021). In the COVID era, the home internet environment has become a critical tool without which schooling and working from home is impossible, as is access to entertainment. Household demand for 'superfast internet' continues to grow and almost a third of people have seen a deterioration in the quality of their home internet connection.
Users have confirmed that there has been a significant increase in consumption of virtually every service they connect to - from email to news or TV to online games and other services, in addition to work and school. Interestingly, although the majority of respondents use their home connection for work, only 3.6% receive a home internet allowance from their employer.
Libraries have been the engine of the information society in the field of culture since the mid-1990s. In January 2012 the Government of the CR adopted the Concept for the Development of Libraries in the CR for 2011-2015, which included bringing libraries online. This Concept aimed to define the conditions for the provision and implementation of complex library services in the real and digital space. The Concept focused on digitisation at different levels, but also dealt with legislative, financial, and methodological support. The objective was to create a conceptual solution for the long-term protection of digital documents and wide accessibility.
The system of libraries has been supported by the programme ‘Public Information Service for Libraries’, with the main aim of innovating public information services for libraries on the basis of information and communication technologies. The MC has also participated in the project of the Ministry of the Interior called the ‘Project of Internet Provision for Libraries’, where setting up an internet connection in libraries and payment of the related fees were provided with the aim of establishing equal conditions for access to information.
In 2009 the MC adopted the document ‘Digitisation of Cinemas in the CR’, which defined the basic principles and directions for the transition to digital image and sound projection. Based on this document financial support was introduced for digitisation of cinemas provided by the Czech Film Fund (see also chapter 3.5.3. and chapter 7.2.2.).
In February 2009, the Film Council, which associates Czech professional film associations, festivals, and institutions, set up a working group for the digitisation of Czech films, whose purpose was to devise proposals for making the ‘golden stock of Czech cinematography’ digitally accessible both in cinemas and on other distribution channels in the best possible quality. The resulting document – ‘The Digitisation of Czech Film Works – A Concept Proposal’ – was presented in April 2010. The digitisation of Czech films was also dealt with in the Concept of Support and Development of Czech Cinematography and the Czech Film Industry 2011-2016.
The MC also participates in national and international activities connected with the digitisation of cultural content in relation to the initiative of the EC i2010: Digital Libraries. In 2013 the Government of the CR adopted the Strategy for the Digitisation of Culture for 2013-2020, which lays out the strategic goals of digitisation and the goals of individual branches in the cultural sector. The Concept contains the following main strategic goals:
- ensuring the professional and lay public has equal access to cultural content in digital format;
- digitisation of cultural content and the collection of digital documents as a part of the cultural heritage;
- the safe preservation of digital documents;
- creating the organisational and technical preconditions for the permanent storage of and access to digital documents including the formation of a special working group.
The Ministry for Regional Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs prepared the Integrated Operational Programme, which was approved by the European Commission in December 2007 and was part of the European Structural and Investment Funds programme period 2007-2013. At the start of 2010, as part of the Integrated Operational Programme several projects relating to digitisation and cultural accessibility, such as the National Digital Library and the Information Cultural Portal Czechiana, which was designed as a national data aggregator for Europeana. In 2020, the project Czechiana was cancelled by the Minister of Culture as "megalomaniacal and redundant" before its completion.
The National digital library is represented by the sum of activities that the National Library of the CR engages in with partner institutions for the purpose of digitising and facilitating access to the national library’s extensive resources. This largely involves the work conducted on the grant project ‘Creation of a National Digital Library’, co-funded from the EU Structural Funds (European Fund for Regional Development) through the Ministry of the Interior’s Integrated Operational Programme. As part of this grant project the National Library of the CR and the Moravian Library in Brno were digitising, securing the long-term protection of, and facilitating access to a large part of their collections. As part of work building the National Digital Library materials are being digitised and processed and then deposited and preserved in the digital depository.
In the CR, these programmes are not particularly intended for artists who work with new media and technologies. Artistic projects of this nature are supported under the grant selection procedures of the MC in the form, for instance, of showcases, exhibitions, and other artistic projects. New media are introduced together with visual arts and photography under the grant systems operated by individual towns, such as the grants offered by the City of Prague. NGOs are however working intensively on this issue.
In response to the protective measures that were introduced as part of the effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on culture, extraordinary calls for proposals have been issued for projects to support access to culture via digital technologies, and these have been issued at the level of both the state and the City of Prague. At the state level this involved an extraordinary call in 2020 for proposals centred on providing access to the arts via digital media, with a total amount of 30 million CZK available to distribute.
Last update: March, 2023
Ethnic minorities are defined as citizens of the CR who claim a nationality other than Czech. Foreigners are defined as people with other than Czech citizenship.
The definition of the term ethnic minority and member of a national minority is described in Act No. 273/2001 Coll. In conformity with this Act, the Government Council for Ethnic Minorities was established as an advisory and initiating body for issues connected with ethnic minorities and their members and the protection of minority languages. The Council is also chaired by a member of the Government of the CR. There are 30 members of the Council, and they include the Vice-Ministers of Finance, Culture, Education, Labour, The Interior, Justice, and Foreign Affairs and representatives of 14 ethnic minorities – Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, German, Polish, Roma, Ruthenian, Russian, Greek, Slovak, Serbian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese and 2 Jewish and Vlax Roma communities.
Since 2002 the Council has annually submitted the ‘Report on the Situation of Ethnic Minorities in the CR’ to the government. It is based on reports from all the ministries involved, bodies of local and regional government, representatives of ethnic minorities in the Council, and other background information. Since 2002 the Report has changed mostly in connection with ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in the CR. A greater proportion of the report is dedicated to applying ethnic-minority policy on the local and regional level – specifically, to the implementation of the Charter.
Ethnic minorities are supported mostly through subsidy programmes in the state budget (Ministry of Culture (MC), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MEYS), and the Office of the Government of the CR) and is divided up thematically into the following programmes:
- support for the preservation, development, and presentation of the culture of ethnic minorities;
- support for the dissemination and spread of information in the languages of ethnic minorities;
- support for education in the languages of ethnic minorities and multicultural education;
- support for projects of integration of members of the Roma community.
The Office of the Government of the CR maintains the following support programmes:
- Implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;
- Programme of Support for Field Work;
- Support for Coordinators of Roma Consultants in Regional Offices; and
- Programme for the Prevention of Social Exclusion and for Community Work.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports run three programmes in the field of education:
- Programme of Support for Education in Languages of Ethnic Minorities, Extra-curricular and Leisure Activities for Children and Youth;
- Development Programme in Support of Schools Implementing Inclusive Education; and
- Programme of Support for Projects for the Socially Disadvantaged and Ethnic Minorities in Post-secondary Education
The MC has three programmes:
- Programme of Support for Disseminating and Receiving Information in Languages of National Minorities – support for periodical press, radio and television broadcasting;
- Programme of Support for Cultural Activities of National Minority Members – support for artistic, cultural, and educational activities, research and analysis of national culture and folk traditions, documentation of national cultures, editorial activity, and multi-ethnic cultural events aiming to combat intolerance and xenophobia; and
- Programme of Support for the Roma Community Integration – it focuses on creating equal conditions for members of the Roma community, especially support for social and cultural activities executed by Roma community organisations.
In addition to these three programmes, the MC provides state subsidies for the activities of ethnic minorities, for instance, as part of its programme Library of the 21st century, for libraries working with ethnic minorities, for the integration of foreigners, and for multi-ethnic activities in the field of culture, the aim of which is to promote cultural dialogue and shared knowledge of different cultures within the framework of other grant competitions.
The MC also is also responsible for the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno. In 2023 the Museum will open the Centre for the Roma and the Sinti in Prague, which will showcase Roma history and intellectual and material culture and will thus also become a social and community centre, offering a range of educational and cultural activities for the wider public.
The creation of a specialised worksite of the Museum of Roma Culture is funded by the Norway Grants – with a Human Rights Programme focussed on integration of the Roma, and domestic and gender-based violence. A partner in the project is the European Wergeland Centre in Oslo.
The EEA and Norway Grants have a long tradition in the CR of supporting human rights. Many of the programmes of the EEA and Norway Grants in the CR are aimed at improving the integration of the Roma in society and at combating racism and xenophobia (see also chapter 1.4.2.).
Another programme of the EEA and Norway Grants is the Culture Programme, which focuses on supporting the cultural expression of minorities in contemporary art and on the inclusion and the cultural heritage of minorities (including Roma and Jewish peoples). Thanks to the Culture Programme, direct support is provided to a predefined project of the Museum of Roma Culture, namely the Building of a memorial to the Roma victims of the Holocaust in Lety near Písek for 1.5 million EUR. This project will be implemented in 2021-2024, and in addition to the construction of the monument an educational programme will be set up, which will be prepared in cooperation with the Norwegian Falstad Centre.
Programmes in the field of culture and education also address other minorities such as the Jewish community. Projects by civic associations of these minorities are supported, as is the Jewish Museum in Prague. The Ministry of Culture also manages the organisation Ghetto Museum and Terezín Memorial, which carries out research and educational activities on the Holocaust.
The Concept for the Integration of Foreigners was first adopted by the government in December 2000; the most recently updated version is for 2016. Integration means the process of including foreigners in society, a reciprocal process that necessarily involves foreigners themselves and also the majority society. The Concept from the start has envisioned the involvement of several ministries. Coordination of the Concept is in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior of the CR, which each year also submits to the government a Report on the Implementation of the Concept.
The Concept’s implementation is guided by the government’s annually updated Method for the Implementation of the Current Concept for the Integration of Foreigners – in Mutual Respect (2022).
The Ministry of the Interior (MI) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR regularly update their joint website Foreigners in the CR , which also provides access to Information Publications for foreigners in 7 language versions. The website provides access to necessary documents and contacts for state administration and foreigners and it provides necessary information for following a uniform process for achieving the integration of foreigners in the CR.
The Czech Statistical Office elaborates and publishes statistical data on the number of foreigners in the CR, their regional distribution, classification according to sex, citizenship, age, type and purpose of stay in the CR, the asylum procedure for foreigners, their economic activity and other data. Statistics take into account only those foreigners residing legally in the CR.
The number of foreigners in the CR has been on the rise since 2008. The latest available data are for the year 2021. In 2021, a total of 647 651 foreign nationals were registered in the CR, of whom 328 560 were registered on the basis of temporary residence permits and 319 090 with permanent residence in the CR. For comparison, in 2013 there were 441 500 foreign nationals living in the CR and in 2018, 564 300 foreign nationals. Among foreigners legally residing in the CR, third-country nationals predominate (418 369 persons, i.e. 65%) over citizens of EU Member States, EEA and Switzerland (229 281 persons, i.e. 35%). Already in 2021, Ukraine was the most numerous nationality with 189 912 persons, accounting for 29% of the total. The predominant purpose of stay of foreigners with temporary residence is employment (50%), followed by family reunification (19%), study (9%) and business (5%).
The authorities estimated in July 2022 that some 280 000 to 300 000 refugees from Ukraine, mostly women with children, are currently living in the CR. It is impossible to determine the exact number of refugees, some of whom are leaving the CR for other countries or returning home. In the nearly four months of the war, 378 104 refugees from Ukraine have been granted temporary protection visas in the CR.
There are certain differences, however, in the geographical distribution of foreign nationals according to state citizenship. Prague remains the most attractive location for all foreign nationals. Ukrainian citizens are concentrated more in the Central Bohemian Region and the South Moravian Region. Vietnamese citizens are largely settled in Prague but also in the Czech-German border regions. Citizens of the Russian Federation tend to be drawn to the Central Bohemian, Southern Moravian, and Karlovy Vary Regions as well as Prague.
In July 2010 the Czech Republic ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) and in 2014 the Czech Republic submitted its first preliminary evaluative report. The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the implementation of the Convention. In connection with the Convention’s implementation an international meeting was organised in Prague in autumn 2013 that focused on the method and system of implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic also annually contributes financially to the International Fund for Cultural Diversity.
On 21 March 2022, the Lex Ukraine legislation, which consists of three standards, came into force, specifying the conditions of residence for persons arriving en masse from Ukraine as a result of the war. Lex Ukraine applies only to persons who have been granted temporary protection in connection with the war in Ukraine or who have been granted a visa to stay for more than 90 days in order to tolerate their stay in the territory of the CR. It does not apply to other persons with foreign citizenship, including Ukrainian citizenship.
On 22 June 2022, a new law, Lex Ukraine II, entered into force, which clarifies and supplements the provisions given in Lex Ukraine I. The law enters into force on the date of its promulgation and expires on 31 August 2023.
From the position of the Ministry of Interior, the law regulates the allocation of temporary protection, the legal status of refugees and access to health care. From the position of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the law addresses employment, social security and the implementation of children's groups, and the law proposed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports defines access to education.
Last update: March, 2023
The issue of intercultural education appears in all the strategic documents of the MEYS: e.g. the White Book – the National Programme for the Development of Education in the Czech Republic (2001); the Long-Term Plan for Education and the Development of the Education System in the Czech Republic (2007); the Concept of State Policy for Children and Young People for the Period 2007–2013 and the Strategy for the Education Policy of the CR up to 2030 (Ministry of Education, 2020). Each year the MEYS announces its Programme in Support of Education in the Languages of Ethnic Minorities and Intercultural Education. Supported projects focus on educational activities for children and young people, on ethnic minorities, on the creation and application of educational programmes, and on teaching materials for children and young people and for teaching staff that are designed to combat racial and ethnic intolerance and anti-Semitism. Projects also focus on integrative and multicultural projects and quantitative and qualitative studies and analyses in the field of the multicultural education of children and young people. It also announces the development programme In Support of Schools, which applies inclusive education and the education of socio-culturally disadvantaged children and students. The MEYS has also joined the Council of Europe's Platform of Information Materials for Multilingual and Intercultural Education.
Many elementary arts schools and arts and extracurricular activity centres include materials from other cultures or countries in their learning programme (e.g. playing music by foreign artists, songs from around the world, etc.). This, however, depends on the individual approach of each teacher.
The Inclusive School Portal provides handbooks, recommendations, and examples of best practice in the field of intercultural education that are aimed at both the professional community and the general public.
Among NGOs, intercultural education is a focal area of the People in Need Foundation, which, as part of its educational programmes, offers, for example, its ‘Variants’ programme. The aim of this educational programme, which has been operating for more than a decade, is to serve as an information service and methodological support in the field of intercultural and global development education. Courses and seminars prepared by the staff of the Variants programme are attended each year by more than 1500 people, most of them elementary and secondary school teachers, but also by students in various post-secondary study programmes, NGO staff, and employees in public administration. In addition to educational activities, the programme works to develop new teaching materials in this field. The Variants programme is also involved in supporting inclusive education and the introduction of systemic measures aimed at incorporating themes of intercultural and global development education into the curriculum of Czech schools.
Under Lex Ukraine II (see also 2.5.1.), newly arrived children from Ukraine have the right to education under similar conditions as Czech children. These children should also be treated in the same way as everyone else in terms of funding the activities of schools from the state budget. Segregation of Ukrainian children is not desirable; on the contrary, efforts should be made to gradually integrate them into the Czech education system. In the area of funding, an effective method of communication between schools, founders and other authorities should be set up so that it is possible to react in a timely and proactive manner to any changes. To this end, MEYS has issued a methodological guideline on how exactly to proceed.
Last update: March, 2023
The Ministry of Culture (MC) is the body responsible for media in the CR. The Ministry manages the asset of publishers of periodic publications and it prepares legislation in the field.
Television broadcasters have a number of obligations according to European regulations (Directive 2010/13/EU on Audio-visual Media Services).
The legislative framework for radio and television broadcasting has allowed the creation of a dual system of broadcasting, i.e. the coexistence of a public and a private sector, with the consequence of exceptional dynamic development in the field of media. In 2001, the new Act on Radio and Television Broadcasting (Act No. 231/2001 Coll.) was adopted. This Act defines the rights and duties of operators of radio and television broadcasting, the license system, and the registration of rebroadcasting operators. In 2010 the Act on Audio-visual Media Services was adopted in conformity with Directive 2010/13/EU. The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting oversees adherence to legislation in the area of radio and television broadcasting, the licensing of radio and television broadcasters, and the issuing of decisions on the registration of rebroadcasters, and it also maintains a register of broadcasters, rebroadcasters, and providers of audio-visual media services on demand.
Czech Television, Czech Radio, and some other broadcasters are defined in the law by the specific task of public service broadcasting that they perform. These operators are independent of the state, they do not receive any state subventions, and their activity is financed with the income from radio and television fees and the income from their commercial activities (especially advertising and yields from copyright, rental of technical equipment etc.). Czech Television and Czech Radio provide services for the public by producing and broadcasting television or radio programmes or other multimedia content and support services. The work of Czech Television is overseen by the Council for Television Broadcasting and Czech Radio’s work is overseen by the Council for Czech Radio. The members of the Council are appointed by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the CR. One of Council's tasks is to appoint the Director-General of Czech Television and Czech Radio.
The new Act on Radio and TV Fees came into force in 2005. Since 1 September 2005 the radio fee has been 45 CZK, and the TV fee has been 135 CZK since 1 January 2008. Since 1 June 2010 radio and television receivers that are an integral part of a terminal mobile telecommunication device (i.e. a cell phone) are not subject to fee requirements.
The number of television programmes was limited until the change in digital technology (DVB-T technology). Two commercial television stations, NOVA and PRIMA, came onto the market alongside public Czech Television. The transformation of digital broadcasting in the CR has proceeded in conformity with the Concept of Digital Radio and TV Broadcasting Transition in the CR (July 2001). The transition to digital television broadcasting was proceeding in conformity with changes introduced to the relevant legislation (e.g. Act on Communications).
According to the Act on Radio and Television Broadcasting, Czech Television and Czech Radio are required to compile a programme schedule that provides a well-balanced selection of programmes for all inhabitants with regard to age, sex, skin colour, faith, religion, political or other opinions, national, ethnic or social origin, and minority status. The Council for Radio and TV Broadcasting oversees compliance with the Act.
In August 2013 Czech Television began broadcasting two new channels: the cultural channel ČT Art and the children's channel ČT: D, both airing on the same broadcasting channel but in different time slots. The arts channel airs during the hours from 8pm to 6am. With the creation of a special channel, culture is for the first time being given consistent and regular space during prime broadcasting hours and in a public medium. ČT also supports the creation of new cultural programming.
There are some channels devoted solely to music among the commercial television stations - TV Óčko, Retro Music TV, and FajnRockMusic TV and Radio. There are also online television stations targeting the young generation and culture. One of them is Mall.tv, which also provides access to broadcasts of Czech cultural performances, events, and exhibitions during the COVID-19 crisis.
The only legislation that regulates the publishing periodical press in the Czech Republic is the Act on the Rights and Responsibilities of Publishing the Periodical Press and Amendment of Certain other Regulations (Press Act 2000). In conformity with this Act the MC maintains a Register of Publishers of the Periodical Press. The National Library of the CR processes statistical data on the periodic press based on obligatory copies sent to it by publishers; these data are part of the statistics for culture for individual years.
The MC uses its grant programmes to support cultural periodicals in the form of grants in all fields and disciplines. The MC is the only source of support for the majority of literary magazine publishers, but the budget is very limited. The MC also announces a grant/funding competition for supporting the media and audio-visual production among children, for the education of teachers in the field of media, and for projects promoting the Czech media field abroad.
In addition, it organises the ‘Programme of Support for Promoting and Receiving Information in Languages of Ethnic Minorities – Support for the Press, Radio or Television Broadcasting’ (see also chapter 2.5.1).
In March 2022, Czech Radio responded to the request of the Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC and launched an internet stream of their radio broadcasts in Ukrainian on the audio portal, in the mujRozhlas mobile app and on the classic DAB+ and DVB-T2 networks. The aim is to ensure the daily availability of information about the war in Ukraine to refugees and Ukrainians in the CR. Czech Radio has also launched a new podcast called News for Ukrainians in the CR. News coverage in Ukrainian is also provided by Czech Television, which interprets the main news coverage in Ukrainian. The Media Bohemia media group launched Radio Ukraine at the end of March. In April 2022, the Ukrainian television station 1+1 began broadcasting on Czech Television. The news channel should enable Ukrainian citizens in the Czech Republic to receive information about events in their home country in their native language. The station can be tuned in free of charge to digital terrestrial television via automatic tuning on multiplex 23.
Last update: March, 2023
The official language of the CR is Czech, and it is used by the majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic (CR) – about 96%. Its use is not, however, defined by a special language act. In 2004, a proposal by Communist MPs for an amendment to the Constitution that would implement a national and official language was rejected. The attitude of the government to the proposal was negative.
In conformity with their corresponding acts – such as the Act on Lotteries and Other Similar Games, the Trade Licensing Act, the Act on the Organisation and Implementation of Social Security – the offices (such as the Trades Licensing Offices or the Czech Social Security Administration) discuss issues and develop resolutions in the Czech language.
Financial offices also use the Slovak language officially and all their resolutions are in the Czech or Slovak language. Using the Czech or Slovak languages is anchored in the Act on the Administration of Taxes and Fees.
The citizens of the Czech Republic that belong to national and ethnic minorities can act in their own language according to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms. If they have an interpreter, the state will pay the cost. The exceptions are the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure that guarantee the right to an interpreter during court proceedings and with law enforcement authorities, but without reimbursement of the cost.
Leaflets and other publications must be published in the Czech language as defined by the Act on Consumer Protection. The authority on matters of the Czech language and also the codifier of the literary standard is the Institute of Czech Language of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, as of 31 December 2021 the Czech Republic had 10 515 669 inhabitants. The Czech Housing and Population Census consistently includes a question on ethnicity. The last such survey was conducted in March 2021; the next one will be in 2031. The share of ethnic Germans in the population, who were a very large minority before the Second World War, has dramatically fallen because of the post-war expulsion of Germans. During the existence of Czechoslovakia, the share of ethnic Slovaks (in the Czech part of the republic) grew steadily. The census in 2001 also began to include foreigners with a long-term residence status in the overall number of inhabitants, in conformity with international recommendations. The second-largest language by number of speakers (after the Czech language) is the Slovak language; followed by Polish, German and Romany.
Table 2: Population structure by ethnicity in 2001, 2011 and 2021 (in %) – ‘Czech’ ethnicity includes Moravians and Silesians
|
Ethnicity |
2001 |
2011 |
2021 in% |
|
Czech |
94.2 |
67.9 |
60.9 |
|
Slovak |
1.9 |
1.4 |
0.9 |
|
Ukrainian |
- |
0.5 |
0.7 |
|
Vietnamese |
- |
0.3 |
0.3 |
|
Roma |
- |
0.1 |
- |
|
Polish |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
|
German |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
|
Hungarian |
0.1 |
0.1 |
- |
|
Russian |
- |
0.2 |
0.3 |
|
Other |
1.7 |
25.3 |
31.6 |
Source: Czech Statistical Office based on the Housing and Population Census 2001, 2011 and 2021.
Many programmes are dedicated to the support of other nationalities and their languages; see also chapter 2.5.4.
Last update: March, 2023
In April 1998, the government adopted the programme Priorities and Procedures of the Government for the Enforcement of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, which characterises the main aims, methods, and procedures in the field of gender policy for the first time. Each year in June a progress report is submitted to the government and updated measures for the given year are approved. The responsible body for this issue is the Government Council for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men operating under the Office of the Government of the CR. The Council has been working since 2001 and it draws up proposals for promoting and achieving equal opportunities, it discusses the conceptual guidelines for government procedure in this area, it coordinates the basic guidelines for ministerial concepts, and it sets the priority areas for ministerial projects, and so on. The Council is made up of representatives of the ministries, unions, academic institutions, and NGOs. ‘Optimising the Institutional Infrastructure of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women in the CR’ (2012-2015) was a project of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs run within the framework of the Structural Funds of the Operational Programme of Human Resources and Employment. The aim is to formulate effective instruments and policies in support of equal opportunities.
The Czech Statistical Office in cooperation with the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic annually publishes a book titled Focus on Women, Focus on Men; the 22nd edition, the most recent one, came out in January 2022. The book examines the differences between women and men in various fields of life in modern society. Most data are for the year 2020, therefore, the first consequences of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic are already emerging in the report. The publication of this book constitutes the Czech Statistical Office’s fulfilment of The Gender Equality Strategy for 2021–2030 (Government of the CR, 2020b).
The publication contains a number of international comparisons and a section with selected results from sociological research on gender issues and data from the research of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA). According to the 2022 version of this publication, in 2020 among people working in the fields of culture, entertainment and recreation, 44.2% (in 2018 48.5%) were women and 47.0% (in 2018 48.4%) were men. In the CR the total employment rate in 2020 among women was 50.3% and among men 66.6%.
The MC does not directly deal with equal opportunities for men and women in its programmes but it supports entities that deal with gender issues – for example in the selection procedure for the ‘One World’ international film festival on human rights. The issue of gender and feminism is generally widely discussed in the CR and there are many non-governmental organisations involved in related activities, such as the Open Society which promote gender equality in the CR through various initiatives. For example, as part of the “Genderman initiative”, they are organizing a competition of the same name, the aim of which is to raise the profile of men who are not only not afraid of gender equality, but publicly support it.
The platform for gender issues is a website Feminismus.cz that also includes the database of the Gender Studies Library, a public benefit organisation, with academic and diploma theses about this topic.
In the CR, gender studies can be studied at the bachelor's level at the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences of MUNI, while the master's programme is provided by the Department of Gender Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. There are also separate seminars and courses at various universities and non-profit organisations (Gender Studies, NESEHNUTÍ, NORA, etc.) regularly organise various educational seminars.
Last update: March, 2023
The Government Board for Persons with Disabilities is a permanent coordinating, initiative, and advisory body of the Government of the CR on the issue of supporting citizens with disabilities. It was established by Resolution No. 151 of the Government of CR dated 8 May 1991. The Board deals with problems that no one ministry can resolve independently. Its mission is to help create equal opportunities in every area of the life of society for citizens with disabilities. People with disabilities themselves participate in its work through their representatives on the Board.
The Government Board has since its foundation collaborated on the preparation of strategic documents and measures. In 2004 the Government of the CR adopted the Medium-Term Concept of a State Policy for Citizens with Disabilities, the goals and tasks of which formed the basis for the development of the National Plan for the Support and Integration of Citizens with Disabilities for 2006-2009 adopted in 2005. The next plan was the National Plan for Creating Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities for 2010-2014, adopted in 2010, which was updated annually. In 2015 the National Plan of Support for Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities for 2015-2020 was adopted and in 2020 the National Plan of Support for Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities for 2020-2025 was adopted (Government of the CR, 2020c).
The Board helps to disseminate information on disabilities among the general public, and one way it does this is by announcing the ‘Government Board for Persons with Disabilities’ awards for the best work of print, radio, or television journalism devoted to the subject of disability”. The competition has been held every year since 1994.
The Secretariat of the Government Board for Persons with Disabilities administers the National Development Programme of Mobility for All, the purpose of which is to support the implementation of comprehensive barrier-free or disabled-accessible routes in cities, towns, and villages. Such measures involve removing the barriers to accessibility in buildings occupied by state and public institutions and making transport accessible.
The Secretariat of the Government Board for Persons with Disabilities also administers the grant programme Support for the Public Benefit Activities of Disability Associations.
To support the cultural activities of disabled citizens and seniors in the CR, every year the MC provides grants for a variety of different activities, such as art-therapy programmes, the artistic work of disabled persons and artists for disabled persons, and projects that facilitate easier access to culture by eliminating information barriers or the development of targeted public library activities.
Support in the labour market is generally the concern of the National Fund to Support the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which was created in 2007.
Last update: March, 2023
In the CR culture and art have not been systematically anchored as tools of social inclusion for a long time. This situation was demonstrated by the content of the National Programme for the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in 2010, which was developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR (MLSA).
None of the priorities took culture or art into account as tools for social inclusion. Even the Action Plan for the Social Inclusion Strategy 2021-2030 (Ministry of Social Affairs, 2021) makes no mention of creative or artistic approaches to social inclusion or of the need to include them in the programmes of the Ministry of Culture or the MLSA.
The MLSA administers the Committee for Social Integration with representatives of various ministries (there is no representative of the Ministry of Culture on the Committee), the Office of the Government, the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, regions, municipalities, trade unions and non-governmental organisations. The Committee’s role was significantly reinforced following the adoption of the Strategy for Social Inclusion 2014–2020 and of the Strategy for Social Inclusion 2021-2030. Social integration and equal opportunities are focused mostly on helping people at risk of social exclusion. Special focus is placed on members of Roma communities, migrants, and other groups from different socio-cultural backgrounds. This topic is the subject of long-term discussions and studies in the CR.
According to a new study of the CERGE-EI Poverty and Social Benefits in Socially Excluded Localities (Federičová et.al., 2022) roughly 100 000 people live in excluded localities, which is 1% of the population of the CR (in 2006 it was 80 000 persons) and only one-quarter of whom are not Roma.
The situation of the Roma minority has been one of the most pressing issues in Czech society since 1989; approximately one-third of Roma suffer from social exclusion and from a low level of education, qualifications, long-term unemployment, and poverty. On the other hand, it is important to note the fact that in the CR social exclusion is to some extent ethnicised. Being a member of another ethnicity (usually Roma) is frequently viewed in negative terms by the majority society and is the source of some discrimination, usually in the labour market, in education, and even in housing.
In 2008 the Government of the CR created the Agency for Social Integration, specifically selecting 14 communities with the biggest problems to start with. The Agency for Social Inclusion has been established by the Ministry of Regional Development of the CR to provide support to local governments in the process of social inclusion. It is now working with 66 localities in 109 municipalities. It is an instrument of the Government of the CR for supporting municipalities in the process of social integration. The specific focus lies in A coordinated approach to social exclusion 2021+. However, it contains no mention of support for culture
In December 2009, the government adopted the Concept of Roma Integration 2010-2013, followed in 2015 by the Concept of Roma Integration 2015-2020. In 2021 the Concept of Roma Integration 2021-2030 was adopted (Government of the CR, 2020a). The strategy ties in with the previous concepts and its objective is to reverse negative trends in the situation of the Roma in the CR by 2030, most notably in education, employment, housing, and on a social level. Another goal is to initiate and accelerate positive changes and achieve progress in eliminating unjustified and unacceptable differences between many Roma and the majority population. Equally it aims to establish effective means of defending the Roma against discrimination and promote the advancement of Roma culture and the Roma language.
In 2010 the Czech Office of the EU Culture Programme issued a publication titled ‘Artists and Society – Examples of Cultural Projects in the Field of Social Inclusion’. The publication contains 23 Czech projects as examples of best practice, other foreign and international projects, links to websites, and strategic and funding programmes.
The previous State Cultural Policy for 2015–2020 also considered persons at risk of or already suffering from social exclusion (including members of the Roma minority) through specific projects supporting inclusion that reflect the needs of these citizens for self-realisation, the needs of registered clients at branches of the labour office, or the needs of disabled persons and the needs of the cultural sector. These are foremost projects designed to support forms of intercultural dialogue for instance through cultural activities involving the disabled, Roma festivals, and so forth.
Special attention is paid to the issue of social exclusion and the Roma under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, where it is listed as one of the criteria in the Culture Programme (see also 2.5.1).
Last update: March, 2023
The previous State Cultural Policy for 2015-2020 included for the first time as one of its priorities support for access to culture and the development of participative culture to facilitate social integration.
The Concept of Support for the Arts for 2015-2020 identified as a new issue the social or societal impacts of the arts and contains the first mention in a strategic document of the importance of this issue in comparison with the economic impacts that have had the priority focus up to now.
The new State Cultural Policy for 2021-2025+ also considers one of its objectives to be "to increase the availability and accessibility of culture, with the need for cultural values to be mediated to all and that culture is an everyday part of the lives of the country's inhabitants, thus fulfilling its indispensable role in social cohesion”.
The main premise of the whole document is that “culture, art and creativity are a basic human need. Their promotion is the hallmark of an advanced society and their value goes far beyond their economic benefits. It is not just about the passive consumption of culture, art and creativity, but their active use in society and the economy."
The EEA and Norway Grants Culture Programme 2014-2021 has launched 2 calls for proposals for contemporary art projects that support artistic activities aimed at promoting inclusivity and sustainable societies and addressing problems and their causes. Support was given to projects that address current societal issues, community and regional projects that address local needs, and projects that seek to integrate disadvantaged groups.
Last update: March, 2023
The Government Council for Sustainable Development is a permanent advisory, initiating, and coordinating body of the government concerned with the area of sustainable development, strategic management, and the long-term priorities of the state. The Council receives technical and administrative backing from the Ministry of the Environment.
The Council is responsible for creating key strategic materials devoted to sustainable development for the CR: the Strategic Framework of the Czech Republic 2030 (hereinafter just ‘CR 2030’) (Government of the CR, 2010) and the Implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals) in the CR.
The subject of culture is a part of the ‘CR 2030’ strategy and part of the Implementation of the Agenda 2030, specifically under the goal Support for a peaceful and inclusive society for sustainable development, the ensuring of access to justice, and the creation of effective, responsible, and inclusive institutions at every level, and under the goal Greater public investment to support key functions of culture and equal access to culture and creativity.
Culture is also a part of the Regional Development Strategy of the CR 2021+. The local level is a driver of sustainable culture in the CR. Traditionally there has been a dense network of cultural organisations of various types in the CR. In recent years it has been possible to witness an enormous amount of activity on this level among cultural associations and citizens’ groups, who are trying to exert pressure on cities to achieve sustainable development across different sectors.
By 2015 Czech museums had already become involved in International Museum Day under the shared motto ‘Museums for a sustainable society’. The theme of sustainable culture and arts has begun to receive attention from various cultural institutions and individual artists in their activities and artistic work.
A change in thinking about the transformation not just of artistic organisations is the objective of the platform Art for the Climate. At the start of 2019 it initiated the Statement of Prague Cultural Institutions on the Declaration of a State of Climate Emergency within the City of Prague, which had 80 signatories. It thereby also prompted artistic interventions.
In 2019 a meeting of representatives of cultural organisations took place at which participants agreed that some cultural organisations have already been addressing this issue for some time and have introduced concrete measures designed to make their operations more environmentally friendly. Participants also noted the limited knowledge and the limited awareness about the responsibility that cultural institutions have for the impact of their activities on the public.
An example of best practices is provided by the Prague Quadrennial (the biggest international exhibition of performance design). When it was last held in 2019, it focused on responsibility for the living environment. As well as the re-use of props it also worked to connect foreign exhibitors with local suppliers, to prepare promotional items in collaboration with Czech labels, and to limit the use of plastic and to recycle waste. It then presented its experiences at a conference titled ‘The Highs and Lows of Environmental Sustainability: The Possibilities and Limits of Responsibility for the Living Environment When Organising International Festivals’, in which 81 representatives from 46 organisations interested in the subject of environmental responsibility participated. Part of the conference was an innovative ideas exchange, where ideas for sustainable solutions were shared.
In 2019 a strike and events were organised as part of Climate Week, in which a large number of cultural organisations and institutions throughout the CR took part. After the Covid-19 break, Climate Week continues in 2022 with events involving cultural organisations.
In January 2020 a round table was held in Brno that involved an open discussion with the general public on the subject of the situation of cultural institutions in a time of climate change. The discussion dealt, among other things, with the exhibition accompanying the Jindřich Chalupecký Prize 2019, which in response to the current climate situation was significantly defined by the decision to use alternative energy sources to power the entire exhibition and at the same time to use the occasion to calculate and acknowledge what the energy demands and carbon footprint of the event are.
The issue of sustainability has been foregrounded even further by the COVID-19 crisis. For example, the ATI, a state contributory organisation, introduced a new criterion into its programme of support for short-term mobility stipulating that in the case of travel requirements under 700 km flights must be replaced with some form of ground transport. This subject was also dealt with at the international conference Culture of Mobility in the Time of Climate Change.
In 2022, an Open Letter to Minister of Culture Martin Baxa was published, which was the result of a year-long meeting of a working group composed of representatives of various Czech cultural institutions that work with the concept of non-growth in their programmes and operations. The text aims to stimulate a discussion on the principles of no-growth culture and the conditions in which artists and cultural producers create today.
Last update: March, 2023
In the past decade discussion has largely revolved around the issue of the amount of support for culture provided by the state, which has been reduced several times and only in recent years has begun to increase again. This complex situation has not benefited either from the fact that there has been a substantial increase in VAT in recent years. Since January 2012 the lower VAT rate has risen from 10% to 14%, the list of items subject to VAT has remained unchanged. The basic rate remained at 20%. The rate was supposed to be changed to a uniform 17.5% from January 2013. However, in the end the government agreed to increase both rates by just one percentage point, from 14% to 15% and from 20% to 21%. The dramatic increase in VAT in recent years has had a huge impact on the cultural sector because many items were originally subject to the lower VAT rate. The new Government in 2014 promised a lower VAT rate would be re-introduced from January 2015 set at 10%, which would apply to children’s food and books as well as medicine, and it did as promised (see also chapter 4.1.4.).
Debates and the development of new civic initiatives revolve around financial issues, but also around the lack of transparency in the tender procedures for so-called priority activities at the MC, the grant selection procedures at the municipal level, or the selection procedures for appointing directors of cultural institutions.
The year 2014 also ushered in a fundamental change in connection with the new Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll.). The old Civil Code was replaced with an entirely new set of legislation that unites all the legislation in the area of civil law into a single code. As soon as the new Civil Code came into effect the Commercial Code (Act No. 513/1991 Coll.), for instance, became a thing of the past.
The year 2021 saw the twentieth change in the post of Minister of Culture since 1989. The swift succession of alternating ministers in previous years was accompanied also by a large turnover in personnel occupying lower posts in the Ministry of Culture and has had the effect of disrupting continuity and strategic thinking at the MC. Compounding this has been the annual decrease in the amount of resources directed into the sector of culture.
The pandemic crisis and several lockdowns that have impacted the creative sector since March 2020 have significantly influenced the change in the perception of culture, thus political culture in the CR as well. With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the hidden problems in culture started to appear as they remained unsolved since the 1990s within the independent cultural sector. The MC primarily took care of its cultural organisations and non-profit sector through subsidy programmes. The onset of the pandemic immediately proved that the cultural ecosystem is much larger and there are many associated jobs that helped culture run and there is a big sector of commercial art that has never asked for any public support. It also proved that the most affected entities are not cultural organisations, but individual artists, who, as the self-employed, participate in both non-commercial and commercial sectors, work in public institutions and small NGOs. They combine their jobs and income.
The period from the onset of the pandemic has seen many fundamental changes. The first one was undoubtedly the emergence of other professional associations that tried to unite their members from various parts of the sector, fields, and genres. For example, the Czech Music Community was founded to make a connection between non-classical and classical music and technical jobs for the first time since 1990. The second fundamental change was the fact that the MC has begun to discuss the matters with professional associations and platforms and has set a regular system of consultation of documents that are prepared at the state level and associated with healthcare measures at cultural events or compensations for artists and cultural workers.
The strategic tasks and the presence of professional organisations and platforms in the preparation process have been demonstrated in the draft of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (hereinafter referred to as the NRRP) for the CR. Seven key initiatives regarding the parts dedicated to culture in the NRRP correspond with the main objectives of the State Cultural Policy 2021-2025+.
The Government of the CR approved the first package of support to help save culture in the amount of 1.07 billion CZK, which was primarily intended to help support contributory organisations of the state and the municipalities and entities that in the past were already supported with state funding. This package also included a special call for proposals (for projects) supporting access to the arts via digital media in the amount of 30 million CZK.
Other measures that were adopted applied to the entire culture sector. The Ministry of Culture passed a bill, No. 247/2020 Coll., on some measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic of the Coronavirus called SARS CoV-2 in the area of cultural events. It was made possible for organisers of cultural events to issue vouchers for a cultural event instead of refunding an admission fee.
In June the Government of the Czech Republic approved a reduction in the rate of VAT on admission/entrance fees from 15% to 10%. It then approved a special grant programme to support business entities in the culture sector, the ‘COVID-CULTURE’ programme for cultural and creative industries, which was prepared jointly by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Culture. This was an unprecedented step of a joint programme being created in the culture sector by two ministries.
COVID-19 ushered in a general paradigm shift. Over the course of the crisis the Ministry of Culture progressed from its initial support aimed mainly at entities that had already been supported in the past to opening up a more intensive dialogue and providing support for the entire cultural sector across both its commercial and non-commercial branches.
One of the by-products of the crisis is that it has become apparent that there is a need to define the status of artists in the CR, which has not yet been defined. In this connection the MC initiated the step of dealing with this issue in the new State Cultural Policy and NRRP (see also 1.1).