Arts Petition

Prague´s rich cultural scene has recently come under threat with recent revelations from the City of Prague´s new grant-allocation committee. Many organizations face drastic reductions in the amount of funding they will receive from the city; nonprofit theaters, galleries, and festivals are now at risk of being closed or discontinued.

The Prague Fringe Festival was one of the hardest hit organizations, until effective lobbying reversed the decision of the grants committee. From Steve Gove, director of the Fringe:

“The Fringe was told by the city council at the end of March that they would receive no funding this year – as you can imagine this was alarming for us all. Because everything is already in place for Fringe 2008 we would’ve carried on, but the implications were very scary and the future of the Fringe was in threat. After lobbying by several embassies the decision was turned around; this petition is to encourage radical changes in how the city decides how the funding is divided up. The current system seems to make no sense, favors many commercial entities and has no logic.”

Members of the arts community, including theaters such as Archa and ALFREDVEDVOŘE, have started a petition to raise general awareness of the issue and draw the attention of the City of Prague. As of April 21st, the petition has received over 2000 signatures.

From the English translation:

“Seriously concerned about the changes in support for the development of culture in the capital city, the undersigned, in accordance with law 85/1990 Sb. on the right to petition, are appealing to the Council of the City of Prague on a matter of public concern. The implementation of flat-rate ticket subsidies, which are also open to commercial cultural activities, has led to a fundamental reduction of support to non-profit making organisations offering cultural services to citizens of Prague, and therefore poses a threat to their continual activities. Some of them are even at risk of having to discontinue their activities during the course of 2008. These organisations include Divadlo Semafor, Archa, Divadlo bratří Formanů, Divadlo v Celetné, Divadlo Alfred ve dvoře, Strašnické divadlo, Galerie kritiků, Galerie Futura, the festivals TANEC PRAHA, Days of European Film, New Music Marathon, The Prague Contemporary Art Festival – Tina B. and others.

The City of Prague is legally obliged to take responsibility for, in accordance with local conditions and local practice, the creation of conditions which enable the fulfilment of the needs of its citizens, including overall cultural development.”