New department to be established within the Ministry of Culture raises criticism

Published: 25 November 2021 20:35

Minister of Culture Anar Karimov announced the creation of the Department of Creative Industries and Digital Development on 23 November.

According to him, since the creative industry is one of the most developed in the world today, the Azerbaijani government would like to bring this trend to the country. He added that the purpose of establishing the department is to stimulate GDP growth and economic development.

However, some are not so optimistic about it.

Economist Togrul Mashalli believes that the Ministry of Culture does not have the necessary capacities to develop the national creative industry. According to him, in order to foster it, there must be economic incentives to do so.

Mashalli argues that cultural public policies usually receive benefits so that there is an incentive to produce. These can come in the form of taxes exemption, grants and subsidies. If this type of economic stimulus does not accompany the creation of the new creative industry department, it will most likely not achieve its purpose.

A second opinion comes from Elmo Badalov, artistic director of the ADO Theater. He told Meydan TV that there are no basic investments in art expressions that already exist in the country, such as street art and contemporary theater. Therefore, he does not think it is reasonable for the Ministry of Culture to establish a creative industry department while there are no real investments in other art forms that struggle to exist in the country. “Before anything, it is necessary to create conditions for the development of art”, he adds.