Culture, a strong lever for the attractiveness of the country!
Daniel Boeri, member of the National Council and President of the Commission for Culture and Heritage, shares with us his vision of the attractiveness of Monaco and the major role that culture plays in this area.
The concept of attractiveness is very often simplified by summarizing it solely to the economic development of a country, to the point of masking its specific characteristics.
Culture is an integrated part of this, with its social and economic utility. More particularly in our country it has a strong resonance in terms of notoriety.
In fact, culture stems from an approach that goes far beyond budgetary considerations.
Although very important in our country; the culture budget weighs around 4.5% to 5% of the state budget. This strong figure, a tendency to hide its depth and, it should be remembered, culture is an investment and not a simple expense.
First inside the country it has, if I may say so, a double life.
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On the one hand, within the framework of associations in the broad sense, it contributes, in a strong way, to a social utility, far from the apparatuses. On the other hand, of course, we find the proposals known to cultural institutions, to everyone, which present a “frequentation of works”; whether musical, lyrical, scenographic or museum, they make the world of art legible. But even more; the pandemic has shown, better than good, how much culture offers “breathing” to spectators. Moreover in Monaco, it creates a new dimension! Living in Monaco is a fantastic opportunity to meet living creations. When you live in Monaco, wherever you come from, the broad proposals allow you to say, “there is something for everyone” to attend or even participate.
But also, their creations contribute more than well to the notoriety of the Country. Thus, the Monegasque cultural offer extends far beyond our borders, near and far in the world, and in fact contributes to the image of our country. This international artistic recognition goes well beyond mere representations and creations, as such, to develop the country’s notoriety. It is a starting point for attractiveness.
Basically, culture connects the citizen in the broad sense, here and elsewhere, with the complex world around us. As such, we can say that it becomes or is one of the secular arms of the country’s attractiveness.
To such an extent, that it is advisable to look at refusing everything or retreating in the choice of new creations as a stab at the attractiveness of the country.
Moreover, we see very often that each new event held in Monaco attracts a large number of spectators from elsewhere!
Without counting the authors who contributed to the criticisms of the international press about these creations.
In fact, it is high time to realize that artistic creation in the broad sense is a major part of attractiveness with an economic and social impact in the same way, if not more, than other economic activities or publicity tours.
Daniel BOERI