Since the Soviet times, Armenia has inherited the large network of public institutions (schools, universities, houses of culture, art and music schools, libraries, theatres, cinema theatres, museums, and art galleries) and a widely shared perception that education and culture should be orchestrated, managed and financially covered primarily by the state.
However, since as early as the 1990’s, a number of NGOs and private organizations acting in the sphere of education and culture has significantly increased[1]. Their activities in very rare cases were compatible with the governmental strategies, only in those cases when they were founded by governmental officials or their relatives and received grants from the state to implement programmes to be delegated to the public/private sector. Today more than 50 organizations and private institutions are implementing state programmes in the sphere of culture[2]. However, they have not played any serious role in the policy-making process, with minor exceptions, like the YFA (Youth for Achievement) case (2010-2012), when its members participated in the international “Black Sea Cultural Animation” programme and could make some input in the state strategy development.[3]
Some profit-making prospects also stirred up the process of emerging private institutions such as art/dance/music schools, private museums/galleries and, quite recently, private theatres. Their number increased as the effectiveness and quality of state institutions declined. For instance, currently there are about 120 private museums/galleries, but only 50 of them are registered in the list of cultural institutions of the Ministry of ESCS.[4] However, their influence on policy-making is becoming increasingly more important. Thus, the law on museums has been discussed since 2011, but has not finally shaped, because it does not appropriately address private museums and galleries and does not fully reflect their problems and interests.
[1] The current number of registered NGOs in Armenia is 5408, foundations – 1418, and community enterprises 1449, see: https://www.moj.am/legal/view/article/1420/
[2] https://www.govtravel.am
[3] http://kasa.am/hy/, https://www.culturepartnership.eu/am/article/creative-industries-study-for-armenia
[4] https://escs.am/am/static/museums?s=culture
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