Episode 03: Funding Models for the Cultural Institutions

This episode aims to consider this key question regarding funding models for cultural institutions:

How can cultural policies transcend capitalist frameworks by fostering solidarity-driven funding models, empowering artistic resistance, and reimagining cultural institutions as inclusive, service-oriented spaces that prioritize socio-cultural value over commodification?

This episode is COMING SOON!

Some key concepts

Milena Dragićević Šešić, the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management, advocates for the use of cultural policy to foster inclusive community-oriented cultural institutions: “Cultural operators throughout the world need to know that someone cares about them. That is the reason why we need to have public institutions, not to care only about heritage but to care about people, both about those who create – artists, and about those that are going to enjoy this – audiences.”1  

Šešić’s approach can be complemented by Julieta Brodsky’s proposition of cultural democracy. Julieta Brodsky, the Minister of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile, defined Cultural Democracy as valuing all forms of cultural expression equally, it encompasses visual and material culture and intangible cultural heritage. This is a key concept for writing cultural policy that honours the intrinsic value of all forms of art and would increase accessibility and equitable funding.

Solidarity and sovereignty emerge as guiding principles for cultural policy.

[1] Šisić, Višnja and Tomka, Goran. “Chapter 5 Post-Capitalism and Cultural Leadership.” In Cultural Leadership in Practice: Beyond Arts Management and Cultural Policy (1st ed.). Hadley, S. (Ed.). Routledge, (2024): p. 87.