Implementation of measures in arts and creativity

Where
Ecuador
When
2012
Who
Ministry of Culture
Local governments
Key objectives of the measure:

Based on the cultural policies of the Ministry of Culture, the former area of Arts and Creativity (introduced in 2008), and the new Undersecretaryship of Arts and Creativity (created in 2012) aims to support broad strategies of promotion and diffusion in the arts that allow a wide, active, and democratic participation of the population in all geographic areas and in all areas of art.  

Scope of the measure:
Local, Regional, National, International
Main feature of the measure:

Some of the strategies in the implementation of these goals are: 

- The Constitution supports the use of open contests for public funding in order to guarantee the distribution, public exhibition and massive dissemination of the arts and the lack of interference of the state with the independence or creativity of cultural actors. Therefore, the funding of projects through contests is one of the main strategies of support for artists used by the Ministry of Culture. In order to ensure the diversity in cultural expressions, public contests have included financial support for projects in cultural investigation, artistic production, literary translations, cultural goods and services programming, residencies and cultural exchange. 
Of the total investment, 22% has been allocated to cultural investigation, 21% in scenic arts, 12% in musical arts, 9% in applied and visual arts, and 8% in literary arts. 

- The division of Arts and Creativity is in the process of collecting cultural information in their area of competence in order to generate useful and sustainable indicators that can ultimately contribute to the creation of a broader project in cultural information systems, all of which is expected to add to the political debate about cultural public policy. 

- Since 2008, the Ministry of Culture has invested USD. 4.324.300,96 (four million, three hundred and twenty four thousand three hundred 96/100 American dollars) supporting the realization of 248 events through the National System of Festivals. Of these festivals, 37% were concentrated around the scenic arts, 23% had a multidisciplinary character, 19% focused on the musical arts, 16% in audiovisual arts and multimedia, and 5% in visual arts. Since 2010, it has been the goal of the Division to increase the level of diversity in the public contests, increasing the funding for the multidisciplinary arts, and encouraging the realization of events in the provinces and rural areas. The direct beneficiaries of these activities include about 500.000 people that attended the festivals, 1000 people who worked in these events.

- Of the total investment in provinces, 19% was sent in cultural investigation in several themes like ethnicity, cultural rights, , identity, language, tradition and ancestral knowledge and the recovery social and historical memory. 

- Additionally, 6% of the total budget was spent on intercultural exchanges, generating unprecedented exchanges between the amazonian communities with the coastal communities. 

- Finally, 53% of the total funding was spent on cultural and artistic production, which encompasses projects in a numer of activities, including the upstaging of new plays, experimentative work and traditional musical acts. 

Challenges identified in the implementation of this measure:

The biggest difficulty since 2008 is the need for additional funding for the production and circulation of cultural products and services. Despite difficulties, from 2010 to 2012, the Undersecretaryship has included technical, legal and financial strategies in order to optimize resources, with an emphasis in the systematization of public contests, the decentralization in the execution of processes, and the strengthening of territorial democratization of support programs. Additionally, they are working on the design of control processes, monitoring and evaluation of projects in order to gain efficiency and measure results. 
Another significant challenge is to change the populations's perception that art does not contribute to the economic development of the nation. 

Financial resources allocated to implement the measure:

US  $26,549,259.01 

Main conclusions of the evaluation of the measure:

An increase in the artistic and creative activity in the country, especially in traditionally ignored geographic areas, indigenous and minority populations and in non-traditional areas of art like cultural investigation and experimentalist work. 

Indicators used to determine impact:
Internal qualitative analysis.
Goal(s) of UNESCO's 2005 Convention
Cultural Domain(s)
Multi-domain
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