Conversation with László Harsányi

The draft of the Hungarian Culture Strategy was completed in July. In the fall, Culture Minister István Hiller initiated a public professional debate about the draft. The concept, which is in in line with the EU program of 2013, was created by a committee of 9 and a group of experts. The project is headed by economist László Harsányi, the chairman of the National Culture Program. We spoke with him about the birth of the concept and its main principles.

The work started in coordination with Culture Minister Hiller. The concept intends to put cultural thinking into a perspective, Harsányi said. The current draft was compiled by representatives of different cultural fields, mostly social researchers and experts.

The draft was completed by July, and in September the minister initiated a public debate about it. The committee set the period of 2007 to 2013 as the time horizon of the cultural strategy, since in line with the planning program of the EU, the Second National Development Plan is also scheduled for this period.

The most important background material of the cultural strategy was the research conducted in 2003 – and previously in 1996 - lead by Iván Vitányi and Péter Hidy. This approaches the issue from the aspect of the population, the consumption and the reception of culture. The team lead by Harsányi consciously avoided approaching the strategy from the point of view of institutions, cultural fields and financing schemes. As a starting point, they accepted that Hungarian culture – here and now – fills basic sociopolitical tasks and functions.

The guiding principle they defined includes eliminating the unequality of opportunity, the preservation of the cultural heritage, the support of contemporary art and the acceptance of industrialization tendencies.

The current draft is theoretic, it does not include a detailed list of the actual tasks, Harsányi stressed. Many consider this a positive feature of the approach, since it is not diluted and divided by conflicting interests already in its earliest phase.

The work continues: by the end of January certain parts of the concepts will be elaborated, priorities will be defined. In the meantime, the drafters expect the professional discussion to start. The film industry, for example, has a potential role in diminishing the unequality of opportunity and the involvement of smaller settlements. The Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation and the National Culture Fund have already launched a technological survey in this field.