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Theaters strapped for cash

After funding changes, cultural groups struggle to make ends meet

November 21st, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
The Semafor, which recently premiered Lysistrata, is one of the theaters grappling with grant reforms.
Photo by TomÁŠ VodŇanský
Archa's productions could need backup funding if uncertainty persists.
By Kimberly Hiss
Staff Writer
The past few months have been a bumpy financial ride for a number of Prague’s arts organizations — and the rough road promises to continue into the new year.
In August, City Hall shut down its culture and arts funding in response to a lawsuit by a commercial theater owner. Although the grant system has been revised and re-opened as of Nov. 6, the particulars of the new policy, and its time frame for administering funds, are a source of great anxiety for affected arts organizations.
Prague has awarded grants in the field of culture and the arts since 1996. The funding system — which has drawn criticism for issues such as corruption and nontransparency — was last modified in June 2006. But that reform, which introduced the Grant Policy of the City of Prague in the Field of Culture and the Arts, still drew complaints, largely from private theater owners. According to City Hall spokesman Rudolf Dobiáš, these organizations felt the system used “unclear criteria, unobjective decision making, and broke the rules of fair competition.”  
Such concerns came to a head last August, when Petr Kratochvíl, co-owner of the commercial theater Divadlo Ta Fantastika, sued City Hall in the European Court in Strasbourg, France, for disruption of economic competition.
City Hall responded by suspending allocation of grants altogether, until the legal situation could be “clarified and resolved.”
The decision sent a surge of anxiety through many of Prague’s theaters and arts organizations, a number of whom depend on municipal funding for the majority of their budget (more than 700 grant applications are received each year). With a cloud of uncertainty cast over their upcoming 2008 productions, many theater owners wondered why it was necessary to shut down the entire system in order to handle the lawsuit.
Dobiáš says City Hall was aware of such questions, but points out that some welcomed the suspension of funding as an opportunity to revise the grant policy. “Our decision was appreciated by the mangers of commercial theaters and by so-called little applicants for grants who thought that an update of the system could be fairer to them.”
In the interest of reform, the council asked law firms to provide legal expertise on the grant system. Milan Richter, city councilor responsible for culture, also held roundtables and workshops to analyze the situation and hear suggestions.
On Oct. 25 a new grant policy was passed, and its Nov. 6 approval by the city council officially reopened the grant process.
The revised system involves a new grants committee, and an updated division of grant money. In terms of funding allocation, 25 percent of the grant budget is distributed according to ticket sales (a segment of funding that’s available to both for-profits and nonprofits), 25 percent will go to “artistic activities,” 20 percent will go to arts students and young artists, and 30 percent will go to multiannual grants.   
The arts community reaction
While arts organizations are relieved that the grant system has been reopened, they have mixed feelings about the particulars of the process.
One potential positive is the fact that the grants committee itself, which was previously made up wholly or in part by politicians, will now be a body of arts experts.  
“It’s a good step,” says Ondřej Hrab, director of Archa Theater. “But, of course, politicians will decide on the nominations, so you never know.”
But other features of the new system have drawn criticism — among them is the sense that policy revisions have little basis in research.
“It didn’t come from any real deep analysis,” says Yvona Kreuzmannová, founder and former director of Tanec Praha, now an independent expert and adviser to the culture minister. “So, in theory, it’s good; in practice, we’ll have to see.”
Local theater owners are of a similar mind.
“It sounds very reasonable but there are so many questions,” Hrab says. “It’s impossible to develop a system in such a short time.”
Vladimír Hrabánek, manager of the Semafor Theater, is likewise cautious. “This concept needs to be put into practice first so we know it really works,” he says.
In addition to worries over the division of grant money (namely the operational grant linked to ticket sales) there’s a more immediate concern about the new system — its tight time frame. The Dec. 7 deadline makes it impossible for the grants committee to review applications and decide on the allocation of funds by January, meaning that, for the first few months of 2008, a number of theaters will be financially crippled.
“Many theaters will have to stop in January or at least limit their activities,” Kreuzmannová says. “Working the first part of the year without money is very dangerous. It could destroy some of the most important activities in the city.”
Hrab feels that even the most optimistic time frame means months of uncertainty. He’d consider it fortunate if funding approvals could be completed by late March or early April — a reality that has many theaters searching for a backup plan.
The Semafor, for example, will depend on the private funds of co-founder and owner Jiří Suchý, as well as ticket sales, to support itself. “We cannot plan anything until we know how much money we will have,” Hrabánek says.
As for Archa, Hrab says the theater’s existing financial commitments leave it no flexibility to respond.  
“It’s too late to make changes to our 2008 season,” he says. “We have contracts with artists and employees that we cannot cancel.”
Still, Hrab considers the theater lucky to have supporters — not only its patrons, many of whom have sent letters of encouragement, but also its board, which has decided to approach the city for a loan.
“We cannot suggest how to find the money; we can only present our situation,” Hrab says. “And we’re doing it in the most honest way possible. We’re not asking for a gift — just a loan. If the city recognizes Archa as an important part of cultural life in Prague, it will support us.”
— Hela Balínová and Naďa Černá contributed to this report.


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