Czechs seldom donate to cultural projects

Prague, Jan 22 (CTK) - Czech citizens got used to financially supporting charity and humanitarian projects but not cultural ones because Czech society still believes that it is the state who is responsible for culture, Pavlina Kalousova, from the Czech Business for Society group, has told CTK.

Czech culture has had problems with lacking money for a long time and individual donors might help it. However, Czech cultural institutions should more focus on fundraising campaigns and explain why they need support from people, Kalousova said.

Institutions should openly speak of their financing and its sources at a time when the sums available in public budgets have been lowering.

Some institutions have already been successful with their fundraising campaigns, for example the Prague Spring festival, Kampa Museum, DOX and Meetfactory art centres, the Na Zabradli and Na Fidlovace theatres, all in Prague, as well as the National Theatre in Prague and Brno.

There is also the Bohemian Heritage Fund that has been established three years ago and associates about 40 donors. This fund for example supported a concert by Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli.

Czech donors go on with the tradition of philanthropists of the 19 century and the interwar period, which was discontinued by World War Two and the communist regime.

"It is not easy, people's habits are changing only slowly," Prague Spring director Roman Belor said.

Belor said the current philanthropists sometimes fear that other people would envy them.

Prague's Strings of Autumn classical music festival got inspired by the U.S. model where the role of the state is compensated by private donors.

Last year, private donors covered 9 percent of the festival's budget, its head Marek Vrabec said.

"The finacial situation of Czech culture is tragic. We would be glad to find philanthropists who would do it because it is needed," Vrabec said.

He said cultural projects cannot expect to get considerably more money the state, municipalities or ministries.

The Czech Culture Ministry earmarks only 3 percent of its budget to live culture this year.

ProCulture group head Marta Smolikova said organisations that guarantee stability and quality may be interesting for donators.

Smolikova said it is at the time of an economic recession that Czechs begin to realise the need to morally and financially support events for the public benefit.

But she said politicians and the public sector do not support and appreciate donors enough.