Culture is future » Financing and economic models

Proposal of Forum d'Avignon: Creativity in the financing models of culture

 There are many examples of tools by creators to live out of their passion, their art, their talent through the time. At every crisis, every technical revolution, they are either challenged or acclaimed. In the current context of budgetary tensions, in particular, in the European countries, culture must imagine new ways to think its economy and its financing.

With its proposal « Creativity in culture’s financing models », (October 2012, available online on the website the think tank of the Forum d’Avignon has three objectives: fostering cultural investment as creator of value(s); making easier the relationship between the entrepreneur and the cultural investor; and, promoting the private cultural investment.

This proposition relies on a triple conviction: culture is an investment creating value and must not be seen as a cost ; the public and private investment are not opposed ; the public authorities must keep their role of prescriber. Elaborated in the framework of working groups with the expertise of contributors, the suggestions aim at:

• Reasserting the value of the immaterial actives,
• Reminding the key role of the intellectual property rights on the notions of responsibility and risks of the cultural investment
• But also facilitating the initiating phase of the creative company, through ‘creative business angel’, investment funds, collective financing, cooperative status et of course cultural patronage.

The road map is clear: the future growth the tomorrow’s jobs are based on the economy of knowledge and culture. If the suggestions are not exhaustive, the ambition of the Forum is to promote collectively and individually the way to invest in culture. Far from the anathemas and declinologists, the call of the Forum d’Avignon for a renewed creativity on the financing models of culture aims at bringing concrete realizations in several perspective, to feed the debate and the emergence of complementary sources of financing of culture, and encourage the Europeans to draw the modernity of a European federative project from their common cultural roots, beyond the common borders, market and destiny.

Download the proposal (in French only)