Estonian cultural capital
The Estonian Cultural Capital (Estonian Eesti Kultuurkapital , often abbreviated as Kulka ) is a foundation for the promotion of Estonian culture. The fund was established by law in 1994 after it had already existed from 1925 to 1941.
Interwar period
After the founding of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, the Estonian government wanted to consolidate the national culture by subsidizing it from the state. The first initiatives for this can be dated back to 1921, when the Ministry of Finance issued an order on a special charge on alcohol . The funds obtained in this way were intended to promote culture. However, it was a few years before the Cultural Capital Act of 1925 was passed.
On the basis of this law, a fund was then fed from a special tax on tobacco and alcohol, which was divided into six categories: literature, theater, music, visual arts, physical culture and journalism. All divisions had their own administration and their own decision-making bodies. The funds were used to support publications, award prizes and pay grants. Funding from cultural capital in the form of grants could apply for a short period of time or extend to years, possibly even a decade and a half. In the field of literature, for example, authors were able to live exclusively on the money of the foundation.
Soviet occupation
After the Soviet occupation in June 1940, the fund soon fell asleep and was officially dissolved in spring 1941. In times of advancing sovietization after the Second World War, as expected, there was no need for a deeply capitalist institution called “cultural capital”. On top of that, the promotion and control of culture in the socialist system was fundamentally different.
Since 1991
After Estonian independence was restored in 1991, calls for a revitalization of cultural capital were loud, because in a rapidly developing free market economy it was not easy for culture to assert itself. In 1994 the new law on cultural capital was passed, which roughly followed its model from the interwar period. The seat of the foundation is in Tallinn . It is headed by an eleven-member board of trustees. The Chairman of the Foundation Council is the Estonian Minister of Culture. His deputy is appointed by the Estonian Ministry of Finance.
financing
As in the interwar period, the fund is fed by tobacco and alcohol taxes. The gambling tax was added as a third source. The volume has grown almost annually and amounted to 22 million euros in 2012. The funding amounts are paid out four times a year upon request. There are basically three different types of funding:
- Grants and pensions, d. H. monthly payments over a longer period of time
- Specific project funding such as printing subsidies, financing of events and exhibitions, etc.
- Prices (annual prices, prices for a life's work, etc.)
structure
Today, cultural capital is divided into eight categories:
All eight divisions have their own decision-making bodies, each of which is appointed for several years. They also form the respective jury for the various prizes.
Prices
- Annual prices
- Annual prices per division
- Kulturperle, award for a special achievement in the cultural field per province
See also
literature
- Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present . Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, pp. 425-427, 714.
- Oskar Kruus: "Kellele jagati kultuurkapitalist toetusi." In: Keel ja Kirjandus 34 (1991), pp. 293-297.
- Gottlieb Ney: “The cultural policy of Estonia during statehood.” - Acta Baltica VIII (1968), pp. 195–234.
- Jüri Uljas: "KULKA ja kirjandus." In: Tuna 4/2000, pp. 56–64.
Web links
- Eesti Kultuurkapitali koduleht (Estonian)
- Estonian Cultural Capital Act (Estonian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
