Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities The actions of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities are very different in the performing arts sector and the visual arts sectors, the latter evolving positively thanks to recent agreements and changes in the organisational structure of the Ministry and a specific focus on contemporary architecture and arts.
As far as the performing arts sector is concerned, at central government level the main public supporting programme for theatre, dance, music, circus (and cinema) is the FUS – Fondo Unico per lo Spettacolo (Single Fund for Performing Arts, from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities). It supports the activities of venues and companies but there are many limitations, some of which are even perceived as a disincentive to international activities: -
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Rigid quantitative and qualitative eligibility criteria: for instance, a minimum number of performing and working days per year is required (with differences depending on the kind of venue or company), companies must prove at least 3 years of continuous activity before applying, the artistic directors’ and the artists’ CVs must have a “certified artistic quality”. These conditions, which are based on a law going back to the eighties, mean that only “structured” companies and institutions can apply and are totally out-of-date; the situation has changed a lot since then. The FUS covers different activities for the different subsectors. It funds ordinary activities (production, distribution, promotion, training, management), festivals and special projects. International activities (e.g. touring abroad) can be funded as part of the ordinary or special activities of the applicant; however, performances held in other EU countries only count for 22 30% (or 20%, depending on the artistic field) of the number of days performed in Italy and performances held in third countries cannot be taken into account in calculating the working days (see example below). This system is perceived as a disincentive to international activity and touring. Applications must contain details of the programme of the following year (e.g. a venue/company has to submit the application in 2008 – normally by the end of the autumn – in order to get funding
http://spettacolodalvivo.beniculturali.it/normativa/D.M.Danza_8_11_07.pdf 23