Education, Culture, and Communication Committee at House of Representatives Reviews Situation of Arts and Culture in the Light of COVID-19
The Education, Culture, and Communication Committee at the House of Representatives held a meeting on Tuesday, June 30th, 2020, under the chairmanship of Committee's Chairperson Mohammed Mellal, with Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports Othmane El Ferdaous. The meeting discussed two topics relating to the situation of arts and culture in the light of COVID-19.
In his address before the Committee members, the Minister stated that "his department has launched an exceptional program to support the publishing and books sector in 2020 by allocating a budget of 11 million dirhams (MDHs) to the profit of all cultural actors, including authors, publishers, booksellers, and associations. The Ministry has also launched calls for proposals to support art projects, with a total budget of 39 MDHs."
Regarding the support of the publishing and books sectors, the Minister noted that the Department of Culture had taken action to settle the financial entitlements fixed at 13.5 MDHs for the projects supported in the said sector in previous years.
The support program includes buying books from libraries and publishers and distributing them among school and public libraries, publishing paperback and electronic cultural magazines, promoting reading, and the participation of Moroccan authors in writing residencies.
As regards supporting art sectors, the Minister noted that "his department has taken several measures that concern the rights of authors, the situation of filmmakers, theatrical, music, and plastic arts to alleviate the severe impacts resulting from the near-total cessation of activities within these sectors."
On copyrights, Mr. El Ferdaous noted that "the Moroccan Copyrights Office (BMDA) has taken a series of exceptional measures for the benefit of its member artists and creators, including the reprogramming of disbursements and advancing their deadlines so that authors can benefit from them (starting March 25th, 2020). Thus, more than 10 MDHs was disbursed as compensations related to the special edition, and 9 MDHs was paid for the profit of authors and creators members of the BMDA under the copyright revenues (starting April 22nd, 2020.)”
The Speaker also highlighted that his department has been working on emergency accompaniment measures. The measures include creating an electronic platform to receive applications for membership of authors and creators and to declare their works to protect them. The measures also include the development of a new website to provide online services.
Concerning the situation of filmmakers, the Minister noted that "the health crisis caused the total cessation of film and audiovisual production activities for more than 50 private production companies, and the closure of cinemas and the postponement of film releases, as well as the unemployment of technicians in the film and audiovisual industry, and artists." The Minister added that "this was the case for all the professional technicians, including those who hold a professional identity card issued by the Moroccan Film Center, those subscribing to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), those who hold business licenses, or the ones who work in the informal sector."
As for theatrical, music, and plastic arts, the Government official stressed that "the Ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to address the situation of cultural and art projects of 2019. Hence, more than 80% of the remaining compensations (nearly 22 MDHs) were disbursed to artists and art groups who are eligible to the support of art projects for the past year and who have fulfilled their obligations.
In this respect, the Minister stressed that around 20 MDHs was allocated to national theatrical tours while 12 MDHs was allocated to music, singing, performing arts and choreographies. Also, 2 MDHs was allocated to exhibitions of plastic and visual arts in exhibition halls while 3 MDHs was devoted to the acquisition of plastic and visual artworks from artists. In addition, 2 MDHs was allocated to participating in the National Museums Foundation's initiative for acquiring plastic and visual artworks.
Regarding the artist card and the situation of artists, and after revealing that the Committee on Professional Artist Card held meetings remotely and reviewed more than 4,000 files, the Minister indicated that "2,000 new cards will be issued in the coming days." He also highlighted that "3,700 artist card holders benefited from the Covid-19 support program, which amounts to more than 70% of artists."
Following the Minister's address, the deputies representing the parliamentary groups and caucus commented on the Minister's statements. The deputies unanimously stressed "the importance of the cultural sector as it constitutes an introduction to education on the values of patriotism and a framework of society's dynamics, especially considering the mutations that mark the period of COVID-19 propagation."
The participants also discussed the national strategy to create a national cultural industry and increase the value of intangible capital and give it a direct economic value. They also called for adopting a new approach to create artistic and cultural platforms to promote dynamic and alternative economic models for financing projects, such as the Moroccan Film Center, considering the latter a model to follow. In addition, they called to create a Moroccan copyright protection system to achieve effective management of this vital sector.
At the local level, the Committee members called for enabling local authorities to play their full role alongside other sponsors in reviving cultural activities after this crisis. They also urged the Ministry to support intellectuals and artists in vulnerable situations and technicians working in this field. In this regard, the Committee members called for rapid and effective digitization of cultural activities at the local level to match the general sanitary situation in the Kingdom.
Besides, the Committee members agreed on the vulnerability of many artists and authors who enriched the national cultural heritage. In this respect, they called for greater support for music and choreographic arts and the book industry, both in the amending finance act and the 2021 Finance Act.
As for talent support, the Committee members called for coordinating with the Ministry of National Education and civil society organizations to open schools to cultural activities, encouraging reading, and providing facilities for youth to access cinemas and theatres to promote the demand on the national cultural product.