Public initiatives and programmes to promote cultural participation and attendance in the country have constitutional and legislative foundations. The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (No.00 of November 12, 1995) guarantees everyone’s right to participate in cultural life and use cultural institutions and values. Article 14 (“The right to use cultural institutions and cultural values”) of the Law on Culture (No.506-IVQ of 21 December 2012) establishes that the state guarantees the right to use cultural institutions and cultural values in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The state implements projects aimed at simplifying the population’s access to cultural institutions and spaces, as well as initiatives that stimulate the cultural activities of children and youth and their enjoyment of cultural resources through economic, social, legal, scientific-technical, and modern technological measures to ensure this right. The state ensures preferential use of cultural values for low-income populations, persons with disabilities, and war veterans.
The Rules on preferential use of cultural values by low-income populations, persons with disabilities, and war veterans were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers’ Decision No. 287, dated August 20, 2015. The preferential use of cultural values for non-commercial purposes is carried out on state and municipal property, as well as in the territories of state reserves under the Ministry of Culture, the State Tourism Agency, the Administration of State Historical-Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher”, and the Shusha City State Reserve Department. All of it is provided for members of low-income families, people with disabilities and war veterans free of charge and without consent. Preferential use by these populations of cultural values protected or displayed in privately owned cultural institutions is foreseen by mutual agreement.
The use of cultural resources in state- and municipal-owned cultural institutions must be carried out in accordance with their historical and artistic purposes; it is not permitted to utilise cultural values in a manner incompatible with their historical and artistic significance. Copying or public communication of works of architecture, photography, and fine arts in places permanently open to the public is permitted by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (No.115-IQ of June 5, 1996). The exception applies in cases where the description of the work is the primary object of reproduction or public communication or where a copy of the work is used for commercial purposes without the author’s or other copyright holder’s consent and payment of royalties.
The Ministry of Culture runs special programmes to broaden and promote participation in cultural life for different social strata. Besides the privileged categories of the population, such as the families of martyrs, pensioners, orphans, secondary school pupils, and high school students, free and favourable access to museums, reserves, and monuments is allowed for all visitors on state official holidays and international museums, historical monuments, music, and other relevant days.
Further improvement of accessibility and inclusiveness of cultural values is scheduled in the draft “Azerbaijani Culture – 2040” Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan, within the framework of which it is provided to establish a permanent forum, “Culture for All”, to expand sustainable social relations, cooperation and dialogue between state bodies and society in the field of culture, and to regularly hold inclusive forums and other educational events dedicated to current topics in various regions; implementation of support programs for the creation of new and high-quality cultural products and cultural assets by young people; implementation of activities to ensure intergenerational dialogue in every field of culture; creating ecosystems for collaboration between creative and modern digital technology experts and for testing and promoting the results of their creativity; implementing sustainable programs, while ensuring inclusion, to enable children, the elderly, people with disabilities and other vulnerable social categories to discover their talents and demonstrate their creative potential; improving service quality, ensuring accessibility and inclusion through the implementation of digital and innovative solutions in the field of cultural services.
Comments are closed.