Saxony-Anhalt is providing millions of euros for the battered cultural scene. However, the help from the third edition of the "Culture on the Net" funding program, which started with a delay, has not yet arrived.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Freelance artists are complaining about significant delays in the current edition of the "Culture on the Net" funding program. "The third implementation of "Culture on the Net" is being delayed," said the Landeszentrum Freies Theater Sachsen-Anhalt. Although applications could be made, they would not be approved. The associations that are supposed to evaluate the applications do not have access to the online application system. To date, no actor has responded to the application. The Ministry of Culture confirmed that there are still no permits.
The associations actually do not yet have access to the applications in order to be able to process them. The Investment Bank (IB), where applications can be submitted until March 11, is in the process of creating the appropriate conditions. Minister of State and Culture Rainer Robra (CDU) wrote to IB Managing Director Marc Melzer and once again urgently asked for the necessary coordination to be accelerated. "I assume that the necessary coordination will be completed very quickly," said Robra.
According to the Ministry of Culture, as of February 13, 290 applications had been received by the Sachsen-Anhalt investment bank. With a total funding amount of 6000 euros for a three-month work grant, this corresponds to a previous possible total funding amount of 1.74 million euros. Not only representatives of the performing arts benefit from the scholarships, but also musicians, visual artists, media artists, writers and others.
The third edition of the program should have started last year. Applications could now be submitted from January 11th. The 2.75 million euros planned for 2022 have been carried over to 2023 and are still available, according to the ministry.
In the first two rounds of the funding program, the funds available were far from exhausted. For "Kultur ans Netz I" in 2020, the available volume was six million euros. Of this, 1.32 million euros were paid out. For "Culture on the Net II" in 2021, 4.5 million euros were available, 2.63 million euros were awarded.
After consultations with professional associations, the state formulated the application requirements in a lower-threshold manner, the Ministry of Culture reported. For example, both full-time and part-time artists can apply for a grant. A statement about the existence-threatening situation due to financial difficulties caused by the corona pandemic has been omitted. The subsidy amount was increased from 1,500 euros to 2,000 euros per month.
