The national cultural forum took place: which scenario will Lithuania choose during extreme changes?
The forum, held at the Lithuanian National Library of Martynas Mažvydas, consisted of two parts. During the first part, the importance of culture in our everyday life was reviewed, in the second part of the event, the greatest attention was paid to the future visions and scenarios of the Lithuanian CCI sector, and ways to solve problems. The event was moderated by an LRT journalist, radio and TV presenter Živile Kropaitė– Big sister.
“It is said that culture is food in good times and medicine in bad times. During the Second World War, culture – theater, music – became an escape to which people fled from the horrors of everyday life. Today we are watching the war that is shaking us in Ukraine, the map of which is painted black. But it also has lights. There is a small theater in Kyiv where a small troupe gathers every Thursday. regardless of whether there is electricity or rockets falling, they play. In the trailer of their performance, they write – the theater is in our hiding place. And perhaps culture in this period is really a hiding place, where we have grown what is most important and ready for that time, we will be able to come out of hiding and boldly, without hiding, enjoying the fruits of culture. This requires a lot of work and I see that today’s forum is a part of this very important work”, said the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania at the beginning of the Forum Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.
NKIKIA director Edita Sabalionytė, who welcomed the participants and guests, said that the theme of the Forum was born more than a year ago, when another crisis in Europe was unthinkable throughout the world.
“Extreme changes accompany us constantly and we always think a lot about how we adapt and proactively react to them – to critically assess and become resistant to disinformation questions, to deal with psychological aspects. I have no doubt that the best international and Lithuanian experts are looking for answers to the most important questions – what should be the role and impact of culture in society”, noted E. Sabalionytė.
The general director of the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library, prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas: “Our library is constantly growing as a constantly functioning public forum, where essential issues of democratic society and state existence are discussed, politics, scientific and cultural community is brought together. I have no doubt that this event encouraged the search for practical solutions, the use of tourism capacities for important and immediate changes in the cultural ecosystem.”
Insights into war, culture for health, education and identity
Dr. Egle RadvilėThe head of the association “Gediminos Legion” and the head of the Lithuanian IT Managers’ Association during the first voluntary presentation of the Forum dedicated to the artwork “Emotional Attraction” created by the Vilnius Gediminas Legion and presented during the London Design Week, she emphasized that this was an attempt to draw attention to Western Europe’s attention to Ukraine and VR with the help of glasses, to provide the opportunity to move to Buča and Irpynė, who survived the horrors of war.
Pier Luigi Sacco, Professor of Economics at the University of Chieti and Pescara, Director of the Culture and Creativity Project of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Senior Advisor of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, during the keynote speech of the Forum, drew attention to the importance of culture in the face of challenges and war, how it affects not only health, but and can become a catalyst for innovation and change people’s habits related to environmental protection and sustainability.
“In order to understand what is happening, it is necessary to understand the culture here. It is a resource that helps entire communities affected by war. When I spoke with friends from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, I got that they understand how important it is to maintain the cultural system at this time. It not only has a huge impact on the psychological state of the Ukrainian population, but also plays a significant role in the fight against disinformation and propaganda, helps to maintain a critical attitude.
In general, culture is increasingly taking the lead in geopolitical issues. If we talk about South Korea, it has been leading the world content creation for some time now. This means it has soft power and can influence the world, a platform South Korea uses to promote sustainability, democratic values and citizenship. Even twenty years ago, its influence in the cultural sector was almost non-existent, which shows that such promotion of culture to the world stage is also possible in other countries”, said PL Sacco.
During another presentation, another virtual participant of the Forum from Latvia, Dace Resele, head of the secretariat of the Northern Dimension Cultural Partnership (NDPC), spoke about the implementation of the “Culture for Health” project.
Based on the evidence collected during the project, D. Rasele emphasized that in order to catalyze strategic changes in the field of culture, it is necessary to seek financial and strategic policy level support, increase public awareness, organize joint training for specialists in the social health and culture sectors, and localize culture and health policies.
Another speaker did not stray from this topic – Laurynas Žakevičius“Low weatherVilnius City Dance Theatre the school director, who also dealt with the issue related to culture.
“Especially during the pandemic period, it became clear that culture is not only entertainment – it also works as a means of influencing human health. So, if we agree that the emotional and physical condition of the Lithuanian population is the country’s priority, culture should also play a more important role in health. Individual developer initiatives take a long time because there is currently too little consistent support and inter-institutional collaboration. And the need for that is great,” said L. Žakevičius.
During the next report, KTU Dr. Arvydas Grišinas and Milda Laužikaitė, head of the “Creative Connections” association, spoke about the importance of a creative approach to education and the need to transform the Lithuanian education system, change educational practices, and develop close cooperation between the culture and education sectors.
During the Forum, Dominykas Karpovič, partner of CRITICAL+Xwhy agency, shared his thoughts on the phenomenon of trust, the identity crisis experienced by the state and business sectors, and the basis for dialogue that would help solve these challenges. According to him, the CCI sector and non-governmental organizations would play a very important role in this process.
The first part of the Forum was concluded by its moderator Ž. A conversation between Kropaitė-Basiulė and music producer Lauros Lučiūnas about culture as a moral act, Ukrainian culture spread due to the war, and how artists of an emergency situation and representatives of the CCI sector become the first to carry a moral message.
Potential scenarios for the fate of culture
Dr. Erika GodlevskaThe director of the Future Society Institute read a report at the Forum about imagining Lithuanian culture in the near future.
She reviewed the four models for establishing the Government’s Center for Strategic Analysis and looks at the potential scenarios of Lithuanian culture in the future.
The first of them – “A Great New World” tells about how Lithuanian culture would become controlled by the state if war came to the country. The second scenario – “Permafrost” tries to predict what would happen if China’s influence in the world increased. In this situation, culture would also be constrained.
The third – “Entombment” – predicts a permanent deficit, minimal investment in culture if the war drags on. The last and only positive scenario – “North Star” looks at the end of the war and marks the prosperity of the CCI sector.
Dr. Erika Godlevska also shared important personal suggestions for Lithuania: “There should be another model – cultural education. Responding to “burning” issues is important, but stepping back and looking to the future is important. Let’s invest in cultural education in the family, in kindergartens, in schools, and in fifteen or twenty years we would have a generation of a different quality – with cultural and aesthetic needs,” said Dr. E. Godlevska.
The culmination of the forum was a discussion between Chairman of the Seimas Culture Committee Vytautas Juozapaitis, Chairman of the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee Mykolos Majauskas, Minister of Culture Simonas Kairis and creative sector representatives NKIKIA board member, Lithuanian Design Association chairman Algirdas Orantas and Baltic Film & Creative Tech cluster board member, VšĮ “Inspirations” founder Agnesta Filatovė.
Its participants touched on a wide range of important topics – from the impact of the pandemic on the CCI sector, or the boom in film production in Lithuania catalyzed by tax policy, to the new VAT relief provided by the Government for art and cultural events, the role of Lithuanian culture in the global context or its policy within the framework of the country.
Speaking about the state’s investments in the CCI sector, A. Orantas emphasized the potential opportunities to do so: “We understand investing in the CCI sector as grants, but there are much more means of investment: tax incentives, investments in infrastructure, a lot of support for going to exhibitions – that is, help with resources . There are more good examples – how has South Korea become a bastion of pop culture in recent years? Because investment funds with returns appeared in the country, the state began to cover a small part of the risk that it shared with the private sector. In this way, everyone won.”
During the discussion, S. Kairys drew attention to culture and in the context of Lithuania’s war in Ukraine: “In the field of culture, the war in Ukraine increases. He clearly shows the importance of culture and how, despite the fact that cultural things are important, its meaning is also happening. And since Lithuania’s position is specific, it also opens the way for culture. So much for China, Taiwan, Russia and other things. A lot of doors are opening, I feel that too.”
Speaking about the comprehensiveness and importance of culture in the context of the state, V. Juozapaitis singled out the need for inter-institutional cooperation.
“It is necessary to describe the essence of culture in three words so that it can be understood in its entirety. we often understand culture as a national form of leisure, but it is also a soft power, a means of informing the public, which affects the whole issue. All ministries must realize this – that they are part of the cultural process. If we distinguish that this is only a matter of the Ministry of Culture, we will not achieve anything,” said the member of the Seimas.
The vision is synergy and dialogue between sectors
Speaking about the tax policy of the state in relation to the CCI sector, M. Majauskas named the film industry as a good example at the end of the discussion.
“On the tax side, stability is the most important thing, since taxes affect a lot of people, be careful with them. However, looking at the film industry, for a profit tax for large breakthroughs, up to the optimal tactics can be applied and include more players in the cultural sector. This creates an environment for the arrival of the private sector with its own investments and for the consistent development of the sector,” said the Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Seimas.
Meanwhile, both A. Orantas and A. Filatovė, speaking about the future and vision of the country’s culture, emphasized the importance of dialogue and synergy between the public and private sectors. It is necessary to create a favorable competitive environment for all participants in the cultural field. The non-governmental sector creates significant added value in Lithuanian society, so it is important to create conditions for its development.
“It is clear that the CCI sector is prone to talk. I am glad that today it is tangible and I hope that more and more representatives of the sector will be able to sit at the same table, share their experiences with dignity, look for solutions and find them. Then my vision is a round table with conversations leading to the future”, said A. Filatovė.
The forum post can be viewed on NKIKIA Facebook in the account.
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