Citizens of culture

Background

In Poland most cultural institutions and cultural education is financed by the national budget.

Until 2011, only 0,3% of the budget was intended for culture.

Financing for cultural institutions was arbitrary and insufficient.

Challenge

Why would the government care about financing culture with other investments showing faster ROI and more voter support?

Solution

Show the government that Polish citizens care for culture and cultural funding.

Execution

We established an informal group of well-known artists, arts administrators, media representatives, educators, and activists to publish a CITIZENS of CULTURE MANIFESTO, calling out the mere 0,3% invested in culture.

The main demand was to increase the government cultural expenditure to 1% of the national budget.

Citizens of Culture logo

We engaged the members of the informal group to:

  • Make special art pieces about the movement

  • Use their institutions to educate audiences

  • Distribute the manifesto and video testimonials through their networks

1% for culture by Marek Raczkowski - a satirical ilustrator

We decided to pressure the authorities in two ways: first, by an open petition which was signed by more than 120,000 people in just one month. Second, by informally engaging government representatives with the most influential artists, managers, and educators

Impact

On May 14th, 2011, the Prime Minister committed 1% of the national budget to culture, tripling the historical precedent.

The most influential members of Citizens of Culture were integrated into governmental committees to draft a new bill improving Polish cultural funding.