Hi everyone,
The article "Pobres Artistas" was written by Marta Sandoval for El Periodico
The link to the full article is below.
Cheers, Ilana
La Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional has asked Congress to allow them to separate from the Ministry of Culture. Last month state cultural institutions publicly protested drastic budget cuts causing the finance minister to back off his original plan of a 47% cut to the ‘culture budget’. Although each new government Guatemala has seen has cut the ‘culture budget’, groups have particularly felt the ramifications of cuts this year. For example, the article states that the National Choir even lacks a piano of their own with which to practice. The writer Mario Roberto Morales commented that the ruling class is profoundly uneducated and hence there is little appreciation within the state of the importance of the arts. Art curator Cazali Rosina stated that the ministers (of the last few governments) are of largely indigenous decent. He went on to say that preoccupation with ‘political correctness’ has resulted in ministers that are not chosen based on their ability to do the job.
A further challenge for the arts and culture was identified by Lester Gonzales, director of the Marimba del Palacio Nacional: “El ministerio nació con un cáncer, un mal endémico que es el deporte”. According to the constitution, 3% of the national budget must be dedicated to sport. 50% of this is then allocated to the federations and the other 50% is split between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture. Codinez commented further saying “Lo que le queda al arte después de dar el aporte a los deportes es las sobras”.
Various ministers have agreed on one thing: such a small budget is impossible to work with.
Some discussion points:
- should money be allocated to the arts and culture if (as we have previously discussed) there are such severe problems with health, poverty etc?
- what does this say about social class divisions on Guatemala?
- how does this compare to Canada?
- do you agree with the amount of money spent on sport in Guatemala and/or elsewhere in the world? (*Note: the article does not specify the type or level of sport that it is referring to)
- how do you feel about the comment that indigenous ministers have been ‘inappropriately placed’ in those positions?
http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20100926/domingo/176589/
My first thought is why should arts and culture need heavy public funding? Shouldn't choirs or orchestras be able to put on shows and raise most, if not all, of the funds they need?
ReplyDeleteI think that when you take into account the other problems we have discussed perhaps it is not surprising that these sectors get such a small percentage of funding, and I don't think this should grow much until other problems are better dealt with first. If the arts indeed are so important, perhaps the ministry should spend more effort on promoting the important aspects and educating its citizens on them in addition to fighting budget cuts.
I find it unclear what the article refers to when it says "sports", but I would assume that sports is also an integral part of Latin American culture, although perhaps funding should be allocated more equally. However, I also think once again that if, say this sport they talk of is soccer, the teams or organizations that are receiving funding can surely raise their own through the interest of the general population by attending matches, buying merchandise etc. Perhaps I am do not understand the article to the fullest extent, however.. hopefully there will be some good discussion in class!
Nico Couto