The PCP urgently wants to hear from the Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, and the entertainment workers’ union about the results of the Sustained Support Program, which it described as insufficient in the face of the “dramatic” situation in the sector.
“The PCP Parliamentary Group hereby presents the urgent hearing request of CENA-STE [Sindicato dos Trabalhadores de Espetáculos, do Audiovisual e dos Músicos] and the Minister of Culture, at the headquarters of the commission 12″, reads the document, signed by the deputies Paula Santos and Alma Rivera.
For the PCP, the budget increase of 79 million euros for the cycle of the Sustained Support Program for the Arts 2023-2026 covers the financing needs of the sector. However, it defended that this reinforcement was applied in a “discriminatory way only for the four-year modality” and that it was “clearly insufficient to maintain the level of artistic production of the creative structures, prevent their destruction and guarantee dignified conditions.”
As exemplified, in the areas of circus, music, dance, visual arts and disciplinary crossovers, 244 applications were counted, 145 in the biennial modality and 99 in the quadrennial modality. “Funding was unevenly distributed, with only 33.79% of the total applications for the biennial modality, and 86.87% in the case of the four-year modality,” she said.
On the other hand, according to the parliamentary group, in the case of the biennial modality, around 2.4 million euros were not allocated, while in the four-year modality, 720 thousand euros would be allocated. The PCP stressed that, due to lack of funding, the structures considered eligible were left to help, specifying that only 20% of the 244 that applied were not considered eligible.
Regarding the biennial modality in dance, eight support applications were proposed, in a total of 21. There were also 22 applications in music and opera, of which seven are considered support, while in visual arts, there were eight structures. considered, in a universe of 31 applications.
In programming, 54 applications were submitted, of which 46 were eligible, having supported 13 structures. In the artistic area of cross-disciplinary, circus and street arts, 17 applications were considered eligible, of which 11 will receive support.
“These results aggravate the already dramatic and unsustainable situation of dozens of artistic creation structures in the country, drastically weaken the cultural fabric, condemn hundreds of workers to unemployment, increase regional asymmetries and the destruction of what still resists in several regions outside the large centers”, he stressed.
For this reason, the PCP considers it important to listen to the actors of the program, requesting that they provide the necessary clarifications to take resolution measures.
Source: Observadora
