Culture Minister announces new cultural policies

Culture Minister announces new cultural policies
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, August 30, 2012

Culture Minister, José Antonio Rodríguez, participated in the panel “Cultural policies in the Dominican Republic, according to the visión of young contemporary artists,” which was held under the Tertulia “Peña de los martes” party by the “La multitude (The crowd)” group.

He highlighted that the four percent earmarked for education, as established in the Dominican Constitution, will promote the learning of arts and culture, which will be accomplished through innovative programs.

Along with the presentation by the Minister of Culture, there were presentations by musicologist Rossy Diaz, Glaem Parls, journalist Alexei Tellerías, and Emmanuel Peña.

Rodriguez announced that during his tenure there will be new cultural policies that will provide for joint work with theMinistries of Tourism, Education and the Environment, emphasizing that this synergy will produce positive and innovativeresults.

He also announced that the Ministry is actively involved in the creation of “cultural villages”, which will be established in different parts of the country, and will operate together with the local authorities, tourism businesses, and communities and developers, for the advancement of the arts at the national level.

He highlighted that the four percent earmarked for education, as established in the Dominican Constitution, will promote the learning of arts and culture, which will be accomplished through innovative programs.

The Minister said that each of these projects has been under planning for the past two years by a technical team of brilliant professionals.

Meanwhile, Peña spoke about the cultural activities that could be undertaken by the new administration, while emphasizing the importance of implementing actions to promote the love of reading.

Rossy Diaz, in her speech, addressed different aspects related to the current state of music in the country, while indicating the need to have the area of music elevated to the rank of Vice Ministry.

For his part, Glaem Parls, presented a proposalto conduct a census of the arts and culture,in order to find out the number of new and experienced musicians, writers and artists who are in the country.

Finally, Alexei Tellerías defined cultural decentralization as the key element of any plan, so that art and culture become accessible to the masses. He praised the National System of Literary Creators (Sinacrea for its acronym in Spanish), which he considers an excellent initiative, and suggested to the new authorities to maintain it.

All these recommendations from these young artists were acknowledged by the Minister of Culture, who said that they would be studied and taken into account when the new cultural policies are implemented.

Culture Minister, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, participated in the panel “Cultural policies in the Dominican Republic, under the vision of young contemporary artists”, which was held in the party “Pineapple Tuesday”, the group “The crowd”. Group photo

Culture Minister, José Antonio Rodríguez