7. Financing and support
Slovenia
Last update: December, 2014
Public cultural expenditure per capita in the year 2013 was 283.98 million EUR. There has been a significant drop in public funding in 2013 which can probably be attributed to the fall in municipal funds for culture, one of the consequences being the project European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012, being followed by cuts in (mostly local) public budgets for culture. On the other hand, the drop in funding can be attributed to the financial crisis and the austerity policy of the Slovenian government.
Table 16: Public cultural expenditure indicators in period 2001-2013
Year | Public cult. expenditure per capita (in EUR) | % of the GDP per capita | Share of cultural expenditure in total public expenditure* |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | 82.60 | 0.78% | 3.26% |
2002 | 90.70 | 0.77% | 3.25% |
2003 | 97.40 | 0.76% | 3.24% |
2004 | 107.10 | 0.77% | 3.11% |
2005 | 115.10 | 0.79% | 3.11% |
2006 | 127.70 | 0.81% | 3.31% |
2007 | 136.30 | 0.79% | 3.39% |
2008 | 158.20 | 0.85% | 3.65% |
2009 | 174.20 | 0.99% | 3.65% |
2010 | 171.10 | 0.97% | 3.55% |
2011 | 166.90 | 0.93% | 3.56% |
2012 | 162.80 | 0.93% | 3.72% |
2013 | 137.80 | 0.79% | 2.95% |
Source: Vesna, please give a source? Ministry of Culture 2014, own calculations.
* The share was calculated as a share of total public expenditure for culture (see Table 14) in the total public expenditure of the state (i.e. national public budget, source of the data was Ministry of Finance RS and Official Gazette of Slovenia).
The significant rise of this indicator in 2009 was mostly a consequence of a policy approach to solve the crisis and not an indicator of any structural change.
A similar trend is to be observed in the second indicator, share of public cultural expenditure in GDP per capita.
The results for the third indicator are a little better, where we can observe a significant growing trend only until 2008; later, the policy approach consequences on the state level are reduced by a different situation at the local level. The drop in 2010 is observed as before, but a significant rise in 2012 (again, probably caused by the project European Capital of Culture 2012) and an even much more significant fall in 2013. Again we expect the indicators to follow a downward trend in the years to come, adjusting to the consequences of the overall financial crisis.
Last update: December, 2014
Table 17: Public cultural expenditure: by level of government, in EUR, 2013
Level of government | Total expenditure | % share of total |
---|---|---|
State | 157 343 635 | 55 |
Local (municipal) | 126 632 407 | 45 |
Total | 283 976 042 | 100 |
Source: Ministry for Culture (2011).
NB. All public cultural expenditure on the state and local level is taken into account.
Table 18: Share of public cultural expenditure, by level of government, 1996-2013
2000 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 < | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
State | 61% | 64% | 60% | 60% | 55% | 57% | 55% | 56% | 51% | 55% |
Municipalities | 39% | 36% | 40% | 40% | 45% | 43% | 45% | 44% | 49% | 45% |
Sources: Ministry for Culture, Ministry for Finance.
NB. All public cultural expenditure on the state and local level is taken into account.
Tables 17 and 18 show the growing effects of decentralisation, especially in the years following 2004 when the right wing government of Prime Minister Janša started orienting towards more equal distribution of income and responsibilities between state and local authorities. The trend shows that city municipalities were raising their budgets in comparison to the state, with the difference amounting to an almost 20% (7.5 percentage points) rise in comparison to the state’s contribution from 2004 to 2010. It has to be noted as well that Slovenia is one of the (few) countries in the European Union where the local funds constitute a smaller part of the overall public budget than the state funds.
There is another reversal of trend observed for the years 1999-2001. Up until 1999, the state co-financed the most important local cultural institutions. In 1999, and in the first half of 2000, 38 of these local public cultural institutions were co-financed by the municipalities. However in the second half of 2000, the state took over co-financing of these institutions again.
Last update: December, 2014
Table 19: State cultural expenditure, by sector, in EUR, 2012*
Field / domain | Programme expenses | Project expenses | ALL | Percentage of total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Performing Arts | 22 908 836 | 1 657 999 | 24 566 835 | 15.61% |
Music | 26 145 990 | 1 718 533 | 27 864 523 | 17.71% |
Visual Arts | 6 691 838 | 1 018 711 | 7 710 549 | 4.90% |
Intermedia Arts | 0 | 564 937 | 564 937 | 0.36% |
Publishing | 4 897 522 | 0 | 4 897 522 | 3.11% |
Libraries | 6 308 669 | 3 466 511 | 9 775 180 | 6.21% |
Film | 6 010 926 | 164 958 | 6 175 884 | 3.93% |
Media | 0 | 2 572 645 | 2 572 645 | 1.64% |
Amateur arts | 4 093 283 | 0 | 4 093 283 | 2.60% |
Movable Cultural Heritage Protection | 26 873 451 | 1 737 230 | 28 610 681 | 18.18% |
Immovable Cultural Heritage Protection | 8 964 923 | 6 300 509 | 15 265 432 | 9.70% |
Minority Communities | 690 310 | 3 359 219 | 4 049 529 | 2.57% |
International Cooperation | 0 | 597 541 | 597 541 | 0.38% |
Self-employed in culture | 0 | 6 183 153 | 6 183 153 | 3.93% |
Scholarships | 0 | 628 921 | 628 921 | 0.40% |
Investments and maintenance | 0 | 2 912 253 | 2 912 253 | 1.85% |
Other | 0 | 4 630 616 | 4 630 616 | 2.94% |
Management of the Ministry | 6 244 151 | 0 | 6 244 151 | 3.97% |
ALL | 119 829 899 | 37 513 736 | 157 343 635 | 100.00% |
Source: Ministry for Culture (2013).
* The Tables are structured according to original methodology of the Ministry and not to the methodology adopted by the Compendium. The authors consider that transferring the Tables to other methodology would demand decisions that could lead to additional problems with data comparability.
Last update: December, 2014
The overall support to individual artists (library compensation, social security frameworks, awards, scholarships, project funding etc.) reached 7 376 787 EUR or 4.69% of total national budget for culture in 2013.
Last update: December, 2014
In addition to the social security scheme for freelance artists (see also chapter 4.1.3) and income tax deductions on creative work (see also chapter 4.1.4), there is a system of funding to support new musical works, ballet and folklore choreography and dramatic works. Public servants are still free to engage in work outside of their institutions and therefore, all successful actors or musicians are permitted to work for more than one institutional or non-institutional group.
With the Librarianship Act (2001), Slovenia started to meet certain responsibilities towards the authors of works which are borrowed from public libraries. The law stipulates that a library compensation scheme to support authors is to be introduced on the basis of funds generated from the public lending of books. Special rules were adopted, which not only determine the extent to which the state has to provide support for this purpose, but defines the types of work and which authors are eligible to receive compensation. By introducing a library compensation scheme, the state wished to encourage creativity in different art fields. The funds generated from this scheme are distributed, on the one hand, to living authors on the basis of lending frequency in libraries. On the other hand, the funds are used for working scholarships given to promising authors of a high quality. All who are entitled to receive compensation must have their works available for lending in general libraries (with the exception of other kinds of libraries, i.e. school or high school libraries) and they must contain texts, illustrations, photographs, music or film. In 2011, 823 010 EUR was allocated for this purpose.
Persons eligible to obtain library compensation and working scholarships are authors, poets, authors of other text based works, translators, illustrators, photographers, music and film authors. The library compensation can be obtained by authors from the lending of original and translated books, audio-cassettes, CD records, video cassettes and DVDs, provided that all works, which are available in libraries, were borrowed over a certain threshold. Working scholarships, however, have to be applied for via public tenders, which are managed by the relevant authors / artists association; the latter are given the right to implement this scheme on the basis of a public tender issued by the Ministry of Culture.
Slovenian libraries are included in Co-operative Online Bibliographic System & Services (COBISS), which makes it possible to track library loans. In the framework of the COBISS system, a special web application for implementing the library compensation has been created which means that each year authors can consult the system and find out for themselves whether they qualify for library compensation and notify the Ministry in the event that they are entitled to receive compensation. The system also enables authors to review the data on their books and make corrections.
Last update: December, 2014
In Slovenia, there is only one national award in the field of culture (Prešernova nagrada). It is given by the Administrative Board of the Prešeren Foundation. Members of the Board are appointed by the Parliament and are artists, creators of cultural life and / or scientists from all major fields of culture (15 members in total). Every year, a maximum of 2 national awards for outstanding achievements or lifework are given. The Prešeren Foundation also awards up to 6 prizes for important artistic achievements.
The selection of award winners and their works has always been of utmost importance for the formation of the field of art, for understanding the role of culture in different political systems (socialism, self- management, democracy) and for determining the proportion of power between politics and classes of artists and among classes of artists themselves. The national award ceremony is held on the eve of the National Day of Culture, which is celebrated as a public holiday. The convergence of these two events bestows a particular significance to the award and together they represent an annual ritual. The ceremonial parade of award winners is not only festive but also celebrates the existence and recognition of Slovenian cultural identity and promotes an understanding of common values.
In addition to the national award for culture there are around 70 other prizes awarded in the field of culture in Slovenia. The prizes pursue a balance between the exposure of an artists' body of lifework and the recognition of an individual work of art which is meant to be an incentive for more artistic achievements. The Ministry has a special budget line devoted to awards and social rights which in 2013 amounted to 5 763 012 EUR. Commonly, the share of awards in this sum is about 2.5-7.5%, which in 2013 amounted to 139 527 EUR. The national award accounts for half of the total financial value of all prizes. The biggest number of awards is given in the field of publishing and performing arts, namely in the field of theatre. This reflects the meaning of "language" in the national consciousness. Professional associations of artists give the largest number of prizes. The reason why the number of prizes increased in the 1990s is due to the opening of public institutions to new audiences, the need for greater visibility and the presentation of a diversity of productions (all of which is financed from tax payer money).
Professional associations manifest their presence and express their competence to claim what is the best in individual fields through awards. Through public institutions they organise festivals and meetings through which they promote their work and the prominence of their products.
The awards given by public foundations help them to invigorate their position as stakeholders of cultural policy and at the same time as designators of criteria of excellence in their fields. In this regard, public foundations compete with professional associations. However, the difference is that the prizes awarded by the two public foundations in the field of culture (Slovenian Film Fund and Republic of Slovenia Public Fund for Cultural Activities - JSKD) are not financial, while professional associations are making an effort to add a financial component to their awards. Public foundations therefore envisage the meaning and significance of their awards as recognition of their own importance. On the contrary, professional associations are already aware of the problems of artists and thus try to give financial awards. The state helps them in doing so by providing funds from the state budget up to 70% of all financial awards. With one exception, all prizes that are publicly funded originate from the former political system, leading us to conclude that the politics of the time considered culture as an outward affirmation of society and its organisation.
In 2004, the Ministry gave national public institutions involved in music the possibility to offer residencies. Young artists were thus given the opportunity to gain their first experiences of working in public institutions which would otherwise, because of a fairly restrictive employment policy, have been impossible for them. This was received enthusiastically by music institutions, which made full use of the possibility.
More recently, the Ministry of Culture has been providing funds for participation in residences, within the general public call for project funding in arts (performing arts, music, visual arts, intermedia arts) and literature. There are already four state sponsored art studios abroad, in New York, Berlin, London and Vienna. The intention of this scheme, which was worth 100 000 EUR in 2013, is to enable promising individuals from the performing arts, visual arts, architecture, design, literature, music, media arts and audio-visual culture, journalism and media criticism, to spend time working in international cultural centres, by covering rent, other expenses (for a period of 3 months) and related travelling costs.
Another mechanism to support individual artists is the presentation of Slovenian contemporary visual arts at international arts fairs, aiming at stimulation, promotion and international recognition of top-level Slovenian visual artists such as Arco Madrid, Artefiera Bologna, Art Brussels, Vienna fair, Art Basel in Volta Basel, Frieze Art Fair London, Fiac Paris, Artissima Torino, Paris Photo and Art Forum Berlin. The same measure is taken for literature, through presentation at international book fairs in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Bologna. The overall budget for this purpose is around 90 000 EUR, with an individual limit of 18 000 EUR, under the condition that the public funds don't exceed 70%. The criteria for selection are quality; inclusion of younger artists; creativity and innovation; Slovene visibility; official invitation of event organiser; and criteria for exclusion of double public funding.
In the last few years, a pronounced attention to financial measures addressed to individual artists can be noted, yet with little visible success. So-called working scholarships have gained impetus at the end of previous decade in different fields such as literature, visual arts, multimedia and music, with more than 250 000 EUR provided in 2007. Yet, in 2014, only 72 000 EUR was provided for working scholarships to only 9 authors: 4 in the field of visual arts and 5 in the field of music. In 2013, the minister Uroš Grilc introduced a new measure, so-called "pocket-money" as a form of direct grant to individual, self-employed artists, intended to raise their financial status. Another important budget line is dedicated to scholarships for students of different artistic disciplines on both levels, undergraduate and postgraduate. In 2009, 56 such scholarships have been provided by the Ministry of Culture. In 2010/2011, the average monthly scholarship amounted to 325 EUR for home studies and 651 EUR for studies abroad.
The amount of financial support for scholarships and school fees provided by the Ministry of Culture, in 2011, was 836 000 EUR. The scholarships and school fees were provided for students in different fields of art and audio-visual culture, post-graduate study abroad and education for cultural professions in multimedia cultures, as art critics, in restoration, for translators of classic works of literature and humanism. Support for under-graduate studies abroad are only financed when there is no similar under-graduate programme in Slovenia.
Another scheme to support individual artists that was debated in past years was the Percent for Art Scheme. A group of researchers under organisational cover of the Slovenian Sculpture Association presented two pieces of research and an elaborated legal proposal for introduction of a Percent for Art Scheme in Slovenia, which stipulates that 1.25% of funds from any new public infrastructure investment would be invested in artworks in or around the constructed building. The legal proposal was adjusted and prepared for parliamentary discussion in 2011 by different sectors of the Ministry, yet the proposal is still awaiting political support and remains one of (several) proposals "in the drawers of the Ministry's chambers".
Last update: December, 2014
In the past, professional artists associations were funded in the same way as public institutions and their employees received the same salaries as other public servants. In 2003, they lost these privileges. Consequently, they have to apply via public tenders for project or programme financing.
The Chamber of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, by law, is to operate as a communication point between public authorities and the cultural field. The amount of public money it receives depends on its activities, which are still very modest.
Last update: December, 2014
There is no special system for monitoring the implementation of incentives for private investment in the arts and culture in Slovenia. The implementation is followed by the Statistical Office of Republic of Slovenia (SORS), but they also struggle in methodological terms, as shown by Čopič and Srakar (Čopič & Srakar, 2010). It has been calculated by the same authors that the money raised by the main tax incentive for donations (0.3% of taxable income for any charity contribution) ranges between 9.32% of all possible funds that could be given for that incentive for 2003 and 16.17% for 1997. In recent years (2010-2013), this share has been constantly declining, and has amounted to only 6.27% in 2013. Also, only 8.53% of eligible taxpayers use this incentive. The realisation of the second incentive (additional 0.2% of taxable income for particular charitable contributions, including culture) has been even drastically lower, amounting to 1.25% of all possible funds in 2013. Only 1.50% of all eligible taxpayers used this incentive.
Table 20 clearly shows the trend of decline in the amount and share donated by companies for culture from 2004-2013. The second allowance (0.2%) became available only in 2007.
The realisation of the "percentage legislation" incentive introduced by the Law on Income Tax in 2005 has been increasing since its introduction. In 2013 the gifts to culture constituted 2.6% of all gifts to charitable activities while in 2007 this amounted to only 1.5%. In total, this amounts to about 90 000 EUR in 2013, which shows that this incentive can provide only a very small source of income at present. Most of the gifts provided to culture have been dedicated to the fields of books, music, performing arts and foundations in the arts.
Table 20: Trends in the amount given for culture by private companies in the form of tax allowances 0.3+0.2%, by sector, 2004-2013
Year | Actual amount in EUR of payments for humanitarian, invalidity, social care, charity, scientific, cultural, educational, health care, ecological, sports and religious purposes, in the amount of 0.3% of company income | Share of actual donations in the possible (topmost) amounts for donations 0.3% | Number of eligible companies donating the allowance of 0.3% | Share of eligible companies donating the allowance of 0.3% | Actual amount in EUR of payments for cultural purposes and protection from natural disasters, in the amount of 0.2% of company income | Share of actual donations in the possible (topmost) amounts for donations 0.2% | Number of eligible companies donating the allowance of 0.2% | Share of eligible companies donating the allowance of 0.2% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | 19 489 067.03 | 10.72% | 1 317 | 2.11% | ||||
2005 | 22 916 596.26 | 11.82% | 7 664 | 11.95% | ||||
2006 | 26 800 000.00 | 13.63% | 8 934 | 13.06% | ||||
2007 | 31 332 133.79 | 12.22% | 8 946 | 11.84% | 3 819 282.00 | 2.24% | 1 844 | 2.44% |
2008 | 10 788 802.30 | 3.59% | 8 867 | 11.00% | 3 480 359.00 | 1.74% | 1 826 | 2.26% |
2009 | 22 763 806.11 | 9.38% | 7 795 | 9.66% | 3 339 696.00 | 2.06% | 1 398 | 1.73% |
2010 | 21 377 342.37 | 8.34% | 7 722 | 9.00% | 3 595 327.54 | 2.10% | 1 515 | 1.77% |
2011 | 19 756 295.42 | 7.39% | 7 890 | 8.85% | 2 845 488.84 | 1.60% | 1 454 | 1.63% |
2012 | 18 199 026.80 | 6.81% | 7 733 | 8.39% | 2 405 094.87 | 1.35% | 1 349 | 1.46% |
2013 | 16 752 054.37 | 6.27% | 7 861 | 8.53% | 2 234 641.84 | 1.25% | 1 386 | 1.50% |
Source: Ministry of Finance (2014).