Kiri

Culture in times of COVID-19 or h ow we discovered we cannot live without culture and creativity: Impressions and lessons learnt from COVID-19 An a d-hoc reader by the CDCPP The product An inspirin g collection of works ( eg essays, commentaries , reports and analyses , artworks…) offering experiences, reflections, surprises, adventures, testimonies, good (and bad) practices and projects , actions and activities, facts and figures, dreams and hopes during COVID-19 . Offered by p olicy makers (not limited to the field of culture) , civil society and business representatives and citizens – including artists and cultural heritage practitioners, journalist s , writers, authors, researchers , public figures (e.g. sportsmen, actors, singers) and many more. Gathered by the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape of the Council of Europe from the 50 signatory States of the European Cultural Convention . Published online o n the CoE website. An extract will be disseminated as a physical book. The m ethodology Participation in this project is voluntary . W ide coverage of the Council of Europe membership is desirable . 2-5 pages contribution per country (text up to 1 200 words, and/or pictures, visuals, videos) . This is a low budget initiative. For this reason, English is the only working language in a first phase, and a French translation is envisaged as a second step. A small fee could be made available in order to facilitate the delivery of contributions in case of necessity . National contributions are forwarded by the CDCPP delegate to the Secretariat , cleared of all rights for online or printed publication and distribution . Deadline for the reception of contributions: 15 August . Envisaged publishing date: beginning of September . Secretariat: Culture and Cultural Heritage Division/CDCPP Secretariat: Kathrin Merkle, Alison Helm, Ivana Hrdas . Scientific Board: Bureau of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) . Estonian culture is emerging from the crisis as strong as when it entered it Mr Tõnis Lukas Minister of Culture of the Republic of Estonia The COVID-19 pandemic, which is re-emerging , is causing concern for cultural and sports organisers. The experience in the spring , when the value chains of many sectors simultaneously ceased to function overnight, is still very fresh in our minds. And the recovery has yet to be complete d , even under the restriction s that continue to apply. The crisis package provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia to ensure that cultural and sports institutions could continue their work and hold events totalled € 25 million . With the supplementary budget, we tried to ensure the sustainability of cultural organi s ations, and to cover their essential costs. We needed to support unemployed freelanc e creative people , coaches and leaders of folk culture groups. There has been a great deal of discussion and argumentation regarding who m the aid package should definitely reach. At the same time, the cultural organi s ers had to keep their heads above water , look for new innovative solutions for reach ing their audience, in order to survive . After all, the state budget cannot pay for one’s entire future. And i n the digital age, these new approaches have been well received by the public. New innovative ways of working have been introduced and entire new online environments have been developed . From the outset, it was clear to the Ministry of Culture that the criterion for the distribution of crisis aid, for example, in the case of institution s , c ould not be based only their form of ownership or administrative jurisdiction. Culture is created everywhere. The impact of some smaller events on a community or on the economic life of a region as a whole can be extremely significant. And yet, choices had to be made, since those in need included both cultural organi s ations set up by the state , and at the other end of the scale, freelance creative people, such as musicians, actors, artists composer and writers . The former received around €20 million in support, the latter €5 million, with the G overnment of Estonia increasing its budget for creative people several times after the true scale of the crisis became apparent . I would hereby like to thank our creative association s for their extremely fast action and smooth cooperation in processing the creative grants and delivering them to the applicants. I would also like to thank the Cultural Endowment of Estonia , whose endowments responded quickly and also allocated their own activity- scholarships . The c risis package grants have now been disbursed . The preparation of these kinds of measures was a first for Estonia. Despite intense and sometimes pointed exchange of views with the representatives of different areas of activity , all the needs could still not be foreseen. Sensing the budgetary limits, we had to start rather conservatively. Thus, in some areas a surplus developed, which could part ially be expected. This money – and we are talking about € 2 .5 million – will not be lost to culture and sport. In the near future, t he Ministry of Culture will announce additional funding rounds . One of them will definitely deal with the field of folk culture. Excluded from the initial appropriation were the makers and preservers of national handicrafts , as well as our community centres, i.e. the gathering places of community cultural life . In addition, we want to provide additional support to the organisers of large musical events, for whom financial uncertainty is particularly high due to the cancelled events. We can provide even stronger support for our film industry, the different sectors of which employ people from all walks of life, and not to mention the importance of the international dimension of filmmaking. The exact terms of the new funding rounds will be worked out and the applicants will be informed in a timely manner. In addition to the aforementioned €25 million, the state also supported the home delivery of publications , and especially county newspaper s , as well as helped sports clubs pay for the maintenance of sports infrastructure. The VAT on publications, as well as digital books, was reduced from 20% to 9%. The Ministry of Culture will initiate a similar tax reduction on concert tickets , in order to help safeguard Estonian concert activity, which is in strong international competition in the neighbouring reg ion . The crisis had been kind of a paradoxical. And al though the lockdown was so complete in the spring, that at times it seemed that even the bird s were not flying, these weeks and months have been exceptionally intensive for both cultural institutions and organi s ers , as well as the ministry . Uncertainty will certainly continue for some time and even now planning for the future is still impacted by a feeling in the back of one’s mind that everything can change again. At the same time, everyone must be commended for their good and accurate actions under these special conditions because, despite the fact that public cultural life became very active and diverse during the summer, no infections were recorded so far at these concerts, theat re performances and even festivals . Thank you for a safe Estonia ! What should we learn from the current crisis ? After all, t here must be some hope. Perhaps the fact that the crisis has helped to clarify what we are doing, why we are doing it, and who benefits from it. In all fields of activity. Of course, the crisis also tested the relationship s between the state and the creators, carriers and preservers of culture, as well as everyone with each other . But we managed and we have prove n that we are all stand ing together for the good of the entire field of culture and its continuity. Estonian cultural life will emerge from this crisis at least as strong as when it entered it. From: Reet Palis Sent: Friday, August 14, 2020 8:42 PM To: 'CDCPP ([email protected])' <[email protected]> Cc: Liina Jänes <[email protected]> Subject: FW: Culture in times of Covid-19 - input from Estonia Dear CDCCP Secretariat, Please allow me to forward the contribution from Estonia for the essay collection project. With best regards, Reet Palis Adviser Foreign Relations Department Estonian Ministry of Culture From: CDCPP <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 4:03 PM To: CDCPP <[email protected]> Cc: MERKLE Kathrin <[email protected]>; HRDAS Ivana <[email protected]> Subject: Culture in times of Covid-19 / La culture en temps de Covid-19 Dear CDCPP members, With this e-mail, we are launching a proposal from the CDCPP Bureau to compile an inspirational collection of contributions entitled “Culture in times of Covid-19, or how we discovered we cannot live without culture and creativity” - describing member States’ many and varied experiences vis-à-vis culture and the 2020 corona virus pandemic. The attached document provides guidelines for the CDCPP to produce an inspiring and multi-faceted account of how Europe's cultural sector has reacted convincingly and creatively to the unprecedented situation that we all found ourselves in this year. It will also be a historic account that we can refer to when all the obstacles have been overcome, or that we can use to comfort ourselves during any future challenges. If you have suitable texts already available, please send them to us at [email protected] – with the subject of the e-mail “Culture in times of Covid-19”. Otherwise, we would ask you to send us your contributions by 31 July. And please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you and to our cooperation on this inspiring project. Best regards CDCPP Secretariat *** Chers membres du CDCPP, Avec ce courriel, nous lançons une proposition du Bureau du CDCPP de compiler une collection captivante de contributions intitulée «La culture en temps de Covid-19, ou comment on ne peut vivre sans culture ni créativité » qui vise à décrire les expériences nombreuses et diverses des États membres par rapport à la culture et la pandémie de corona virus en 2020. Le document ci-joint fournit des lignes directrices pour permettre au CDCPP de produire un recueil inspirant et polyphonique de la façon dont le secteur culturel européen a réagi de manière convaincante et créative à la situation sans précédent dans laquelle nous nous sommes tous retrouvés cette année. Ce sera également un récit historique auquel nous pourrons nous référer lorsque tous les obstacles auront été surmontés, ou que nous pourrons utiliser pour nous réconforter lors de futurs défis. Si vous disposez déjà de textes appropriés, vous pourriez nous les envoyer à l’adresse suivante : [email protected] – avec le sujet du courriel « La culture en temps de Covid-19 ». Sinon, nous vous demandons de nous envoyer vos contributions avant le 31 juillet. N'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour toute question. Dans l’attente de recevoir vos contributions à ce projet inspirant. Meilleures salutations Secrétariat du CDCPP