An event to mark the Day of Hungarian Culture at Budapest?s Museum of Applied Arts. Photo: Tibor Illyés (MTI)
At a ceremony to mark the day in Budapest's Museum of Applied Arts, Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller said the state does not intend to withdraw from the area of culture, adding that it has always played a role there.
On the Day of Hungarian Culture we recognise the traditions of the past and the bonds of Hungarian culture and customs, Hiller told representatives of cultural institutions and civil organisations as well as artists and teachers at the ceremony. At the same time, from time to time we show our resolve and obligation for renewal, he said.
Hiller said cultural policy should not designate or determine, rather it should create opportunities. He stressed that his ministry's new cultural policy, unveiled at the end of last year, makes a clear distinction between the culture of politics and cultural politics. While cultural policy before Hungary's change of system "designated, determined and qualified," today's cultural policy must create opportunity and serve as a framework, he said.
The question of the role of the sate must still be debated, Hiller said. The budget will not allow "more, much more" to be spent on culture, he said.
He pointed out that it is not only the state which can participate in financing culture. In other countries, a connection between businesses and culture has been successfully established. Cultural policy should act as an instigator, showing businesses the value of supporting culture in the long term.
Among the most important issues facing cultural policy are the matter of cultural development in areas outside of Hungary's largest cities, the task of making culture more readily available to everybody, linking culture and education more closely and nurturing talent.
Addressing criticism of big and expensive exhibitions organised at several Hungarian museums, Hiller said the fact that these exhibitions have drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors justifies them.
Hiller stressed that Hungarians' mother tongue is a determining part of their culture, and sustaining their language is the task of all Hungarians. He added that Hungarian literature is experiencing a new golden age, as can be seen by the number of Hungarian authors read not only at home, but in translation abroad.
At a separate ceremony in Parliament on Monday, House Speaker Katalin Szili called for the creation of a culture of patronage in Hungary.
