Side Programme

13:00, Monday, March 7, Kino Šiška (Komuna Hall)

Culture = Aesthetic Enjoyment + Economic Impact

Ljubljana has recently been awarded UNESCO’s permanent title of City of Literature, thus joining UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. A Slovenian city (Maribor) has also been the European Capital of Culture, and the country has participated at the Milano EXPO and the Venice Biennale and is currently planning a presentation at the world’s biggest book fair in Frankfurt. According to the Turizem Ljubljana institute, the number of art tourists is on the increase and currently stands at about 1% of all tourists visiting Ljubljana.

All of the above led us to put the intangible capital of the arts and creativity industry aside and consider their potential and actual economic impact. Starting point for consideration: Arts are not just a drain on the public budget – they contribute to it as well.

Why should this be a reason to use public funds to subsidize the arts? How can the arts contribute to economic growth or stability? How many people are employed by the Slovene arts and creativity industries? Do we (know how to) measure the contribution of the arts to the budget? Are these questions beside the point and merely serve to cheapen the essence of the arts – our aesthetic enjoyment?

Discussion participants: AIDAN CERAR (Regional Creative Economy Centre of the Ljubljana Region), MIHA MAZZINI (writer and journalist, Vice-President of the Slovenian Organization of Authors and Publishers for Reproduction – SAZOR), EVA MATJAŽ (cofounder of the Poligon creative centre and Slovenia Coworking and Crowdfunding inititives), NATALIJA MEDICA (Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Directorate for Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Technology), ANDREJ SRAKAR (Institute for Economic Research of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics).

The discussion will be moderated by LENART KUČIČ (journalist and columnist), audience participation welcome.