The binomial culture and business has not quite gelled in Catalonia because they are two worlds that often run in parallel, although when they intersect they generate exceptional assets. This would be one of the reasons why public-private collaboration is so recommendable in the cultural sphere, as defended by the director of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura, Maite Esteve, and the president of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Joan Oliveras, in the fourth edition of the The new Barcelona-Moments Estel·lars cycle, organized by The New Barcelona Post, in collaboration with Must Media Group, CASA SEAT and Barcelona Global, and presented by journalist and UPF-BSM professor Toni Aira.
Both protagonists of an interesting conversation about Public-private collaboration in the cultural sphere in Barcelona have agreed that culture has lost prominence in the field of patronage. And it has done so in favor of sponsorship, "which is based on the exchange of interests," a term that should not be confused, Joan Oliveras explained.
Oliveras and Maite Esteve believe that currently Catalonia lacks a business class that leads cultural patronage, understood as "an attitude towards life that arises from commitment to the environment, to the country," insisted the president of the MNAC. "I find it hard to see a future in new patronage vocations; we are entering the era of sponsorship," he considered.
One of the reasons for this loss of prominence is, according to Oliveras, that cultural patronage "gives little return" and is not very mediatic compared to donations that can be made, for example, from a company to medical research or social entities. In Maite Esteve's opinion, it is true that there is "little immediate return" and that the idea of risking for "intangibles that have a long-term return" is not understood, but she emphasized that the entrepreneur is clearly "an ally" for the sector and even more so now, when companies are asked, in addition to economic gains, to generate a positive impact on society.
For about an hour with an interesting dissertation, the heads of both cultural entities have assured that it is necessary to value culture to prevent "the era of sponsorship" from being the only ruler and that it is essential for Spain to have a new patronage law that not only sets fiscal incentives ---and if it does, that they are in line with those of the most advanced countries---, but also lays the foundations to boost the cultural sector which, to be successful, needs a functioning public sector and private sector.
Surrounded by an audience interested in the cultural future of Barcelona, and who took advantage of the question and answer session to find out why the city has said no to a Hermitage museum franchise or why there is no clear project for Montjuïc mountain, Maite Esteve and Joan Oliveras have given examples of how patronage, when it has existed, has also been beneficial for patrons and for the heritage of the city and of Catalonia.
In this sense, the director of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura has recalled the legacy of the Catalan bourgeoisie of the 19th century ---"which is still a tourist attraction today," she said--- because they understood culture "as a sign of identification," but for whom it seems "there is no replacement." "The added value that culture brings to the economic world is indisputable. It is an engine, a tool for development, social integration, territorial balance… it makes you broaden your perspective," she said. "We have to value culture, because it is what makes you who you are and how you are," she pointed out. Along these lines, the president of the Museu Nacional has considered that in a world as complex as the current one, culture "can end up being a determining element of balance."
As cultural managers, Esteve and Oliveras have reaffirmed that in the current context, new generations no longer believe in companies that only seek profit, but also ask them to have a social impact, and this can be an important element for promoting public-private collaboration.
However, Joan Oliveras has specified that cultural entities must change their way of acting because "we tend to beg for alms." "We must break with this and manage to intervene in the business world with proposals that directly improve companies' bottom lines; we must demonstrate that culture has that value and obtain a mutual benefit," he added. "Culture must understand that the entrepreneur is an ally who must be spoken to in their language so that they understand creativity," Esteve stated.
How to also be attractive to international patrons
The director of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura added to the debate that culture also needs to be promoted through education, that schools must bring culture closer to the classrooms, "because it has always been and continues to be the basis of civilization," Joan Oliveras emphasized. In addition to being critical of the educational system, Esteve has given homework to the political class and has demanded an increase to 2% of the weight of the Department of Culture in the Generalitat's budgets. "Culture has no color, it must be a strategy for all parties; we have to work together," she considered. At this point, the effort made by the city of Malaga to position itself as a cultural reference was given as an example of a good public-private collaboration strategy.
Esteve: "Culture has no color, it must be a strategy for all parties; we have to work together"Oliveras also complained about the lack of resources and the "disregard for culture from a budgetary point of view," which makes it essential to deepen public-private collaboration. According to the president of the MNAC, Catalan cultural institutions should not focus solely on local patrons, but should also be able to be attractive to international patrons, and for this, a new patronage law is necessary. "We have first-division museums and festivals that could enter the global market if we had a good patronage law," he stressed. After calling the current Spanish regulations "obsolete," Esteve demanded that countries like France be taken as references, where tax deductions can reach 65%.
Oliveras: "We have first-division museums and festivals that could enter the global market if we had a good patronage law"The director of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura also asked the cultural sector not to aspire to live only on subsidies and considered that artists should make their activity sustainable and operate with a micro-enterprise mentality"Culture must be sustainable, it cannot be precarious, and today we accept this precariousness as something normal and it cannot be," he stated. According to Esteve, "an artist must be sustainable, make the numbers work for them, and not want to live off subsidies, as these install them in precarity."
You can recover the conversation on our Youtube channel and on Spotify:
https://youtu.be/80hC4tBP-Lo
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2w4Sg6WExDqHPDlSDvvNDx