The current cultural policy operating in the Republic of Azerbaijan is developed based on universal values, the national history of statehood, culture and art, and in line with main European cultural policy principles such as the promotion of identity and diversity, support for creativity, participation in cultural life, respect for artistic rights and ethics. National culture plays a significant role in the consciousness of Azerbaijanis, and the achievements of arts and literature organically fit into their mentality, axiological attitudes and everyday behaviour. In this context, the primary purpose of cultural policy in Azerbaijan comprises the harmonisation of relations between culture, arts workers, the people and the state. It means building relationships in which culture develops based on internal needs, creative persons realise their potential, audiences receive aesthetic inspiration, and the state provides due support.
As a result of general development and the formation of an independent state policy, the Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan (No. 273 dated 14 February 2014) has formed a systems approach to the understanding of the main cultural policy objectives at the level of the highest executive document in the field of culture. Thus, the government policy implemented in recent years involves adjusting cultural policy provision mechanisms to actual requirements of cultural activity and artistic creativity. First of all, that implies improvement and further development of:
- cultural legislation (national, international, copyright);
- financing (public budget, paid cultural services, fundraising);
- administration (public institutions, creative unions, private enterprises);
- information (research, databases, mass media);
- human resources (education and training, social security, encouragement);
- infrastructure (buildings, equipment, supply);
- international cooperation (multilateral, bilateral, diaspora).
It should be noted that the state cultural policy currently being implemented in the Republic of Azerbaijan follows the model of harmonious development based on historical continuity. This attitude is necessary to bring together a comprehensive approach to practical handling simultaneously with artefacts from different eras, modern art achievements, and new artistic technologies looking into the future. Rock painting of Gobustan and Nakhchivan dates back thousands and tens of thousands of years, the first opera and ballet in the East, symphonic-mugham and jazz-mugham, and professional theatre and cinema arts, which have emerged in Azerbaijan in the 19th century, and so on. All of it, including the latest forms of creativity, lives, breathes and requires increased attention and responsibility to the descendants.
Considering all of it, a temporal, “yesterday-today-tomorrow” approach, has been developed in the current national cultural policy, defined by the Concept of Culture. Thus, the whole variety of manifestations of culture and art in the life of modern Azerbaijani society is usually subdivided into:
- cultural heritage (tangible-immovable, movable, intangible);
- professional arts (music, theatre, fine arts);
- cultural industries (cinematography, publishing, intersectional industries).
Thanks to this systematisation used in the country, there are cultural and political opportunities for targeted and qualified development of programmes, road maps, and action plans in all these areas of creative activity in culture and art to set specific tasks and monitor key performance indicators.
The cultural policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan is constantly developing, comprehending and rethinking itself. In general, society and the state have already understood their roles in culture by virtue of the Concept of Culture. Now, the issue is to apply this understanding successfully. Spontaneous attempts to implement separate, unrelated and isolated individual programmes, which were not as effective as a rule, do not work anymore. Projects for the sake of projects and programmes for the sake of programmes mislead nobody now. This time has passed, and concrete long-term and sustainable results are needed. Following the conceptual understanding of the theory and practice of managing the sphere of culture, the agenda of public administration actualised the need, in an integrated and systematic approach, the necessity for a comprehensive and long-term strategy.
Based on this understanding, and precisely in these conditions, the draft Culture Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the period up to 2030 is being developed. Within the framework of this general long-term strategy, medium-term and short-term programmes, projects, road maps and so on will be prepared. A characteristic feature of the strategy is that it involves a strong intensification of creating databases and registers in all areas of culture and art. It has become especially evident in the period of social isolation and the increasing importance of virtual representation. The execution of the decisions will also be put on the rails; the state institutions have taken it seriously and require an account to society for each declared task. A separate requirement of the cultural policy was increased financial discipline and a gradual transition to programme-targeted financing.
Historical background for the past 70 years
1950-1960. Azerbaijan is part of an empire that occupied and liquidated the first secular parliamentary state in the East – the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920). These are the years of transition to a political thaw. As a result, in 1953, the Ministry for Culture of the Azerbaijan SSR was established with minor powers.
1961-1970. The first signs of individualism and rejection of principles of socialist realism became visible at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s. Since that period, the arts have gradually emancipated themselves from state control.
1971-1980. Large-scale measures to develop the economy, the creation of numerous industrial enterprises in Azerbaijan. The republic gets money for culture and arts, the formation of an influential creative environment.
1981-1990. A powerful surge of national and cultural awareness, which Soviet tanks are trying to crush on 20 January 1990, in the streets of Baku.
1991-2000. 18 October 1991 is the day of restoration of the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Destruction of the cultural infrastructure in the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia. The National Leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, was returned to the leadership of the state at the request of the people.
2001-2010. Years of modern cultural policy formation in active cooperation with UNESCO, the Council of Europe, ISESCO and other international organisations.
2011-2020. The Republic of Azerbaijan initiates many international cultural programmes and events and becomes a strong global cultural and political player. The territorial integrity of the country was restored on 10 November 2020. It meant restoring cultural integrity as well.
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