Lithuania 7.2.1

In Lithuania, several institutions provide financial support for artists and culture through funding programmes: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Press, Radio, and Television Support Foundation, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

The Ministry of Culture allocates the biggest share of state financing for culture through direct institutional funding. It also implements a range of special programmes designated to support various fields of culture: the Reading Promotion Programme, Competition Lithuanian Capital of Culture, Programme of Lithuanistics Traditions and Heritage, Funding Programme of Projects Implementing Initiatives to Preserve Historical Memory, several heritage protection programmes, Programme of Partial Compensation of the Cost of Dissemination (Venue Hire) of Professional Performing Arts Projects, Programme for the Partial Funding from the State Budget of Professional Performing Arts Institutions that Are not National, State or Municipal Theatre or Concert Institution (see chapter 3.3 for more about the last two programmes). The Ministry, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Film Centre and Lithuanian Culture Institute, also coordinates the participation of Lithuania in EU funding programmes Creative Europe and Europe for Citizens.

Other institutions – the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Media Support Fund, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute ­– implement financing programmes and allocate funding through calls for tender. Their budget consists of appropriations allocated by the Ministry of Culture.

The Lithuanian Culture Institute implements the Translation Grant programme. The Translation Grant Programme encourages the translation of Lithuanian literature into foreign languages, it has been ongoing in Lithuania since 2001. The programme was first run by the public institution “Books from Lithuania”, but since 2010, the work has been continued by the Lithuanian Culture Institute. Over the 25 years since the establishment of the programme, it has supported the translation of  568 Lithuanian literary works into 53 languages. The Lithuanian Culture Institute also provides information about Lithuanian authors to foreign publishers, publishing and translation houses and organisations; organises presentations of Lithuanian writers’ books at international book fairs, creative symposiums, and other events. Its annual budget in 2024 was about 5.1 million EUR.

The Media Support Fund provides support for the projects and activities of public information producers and/or disseminators under the following programs (priority areas): cultural media and cultural periodicals (i.e. publications in which at least 4/5 of the content is devoted to describing cultural or artistic phenomena, providing professional evaluations of them, analysing and reporting on cultural events in Lithuania and worldwide, and disseminating artistic creation); regional media; news, investigative, and educational journalism; media in the languages of national minorities and media of the Lithuanian diaspora; other programs prepared by the Fund’s Council, taking into account the priorities of the development of information culture and public communication, as well as the strengthening of information security and societal resilience, and approved by the General Assembly of the Fund’s members. The annual budget of the Fund in 2024 was about 6.5 million EUR.

The Lithuanian Film Centre allocates subsidies for the development, production and distribution of Lithuanian films and international co-productions. Its annual budget in 2024 was about 11 million EUR.

The Lithuanian Council for Culture implements the greatest number of funding programmes and allocates the biggest share of programme financing. The Council implements several types of financing measures: funding of projects by cultural programmes and arts fields, funding of individual grants for artists, strategic funding and funding for regional councils. Financing of arts fields includes projects of architecture, circus, design, visual arts, photography, literature, music, dance, interdisciplinary arts, theatre. Projects funded by the arts fields programme have to be targeted at the following activities: 1) professional creation and its dissemination in Lithuania and abroad; 2) events; 3) accumulation of information (archiving, documentation) and its dissemination; 4) publishing; 5) professional criticism and analysis; 6) networking and mobility; 7) co-production; 8) mastery development and education. Cultural programmes financed by the Council in 2024 were the following: Memory institutions, Protection of copyright and related rights, Commemoration and civic education, Networking, Ethnic culture and intangible cultural heritage, Dissemination of professional performing arts, Education through culture, Creative community initiatives, International music performance competitions, Art for human well-being.

Table 41: Budgets of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Media Support Foundation, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute in 2024 (in millions EUR)

Sources: data is compiled on the basis of the Annual Budget Reports of Ministry of Culture, 2024 and Law On Approval Of Financial Indicators Of The State Budget And Municipal Budgets For 2024

Besides Lithuanian funding programmes, the artists can also apply for funding to international programmes, e.g. Nordic-Baltic mobility programme for culture: support to artists’ residencies. The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture aims to strengthen artistic and cultural cooperation in the Nordic region and Baltic States. The programme focuses on increasing the exchange of knowledge, contacts, presence and interest in Nordic and Baltic art and culture. The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme comprises three forms of funding: mobility, network and funding for artist residencies.