Culture Points Program THE CULTURAL POINTS
Culture Points Program promotes democratic access to training, creation, dissemination and enjoyment of culture to the public through a partnership with organizations, artists and cultural agents working steadily in education, citizenship and integral development. After, they are recognized as Culture Points, have several resources for strengthening, replication and extension of its action. The main objectives of Culture Points Program are:
RECOGNIZE AND SUPPORT CULTURAL INITIATIVES: The Culture Points program recognizes the existence of a large number of civil society initiatives that need boost, articulation and recognition for a better and further development.
STRENGTHEN THE ART AS SOCIAL TRANSFORMER: The Culture Points program recognizes that culture is a social transformation tool. The program also allows having a tool for public investment in human development.
REINFORCE THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN INTERCULTURAL CITIZENSHIP: The Culture Points program promotes interculturality through the valuation of diversity about cultural artistic expressions.
It is considered as Culture Point any non-profit organization, association, cooperative, collective or cultural grouping from civil society that develop and/or promote initiatives in diverse fields, taking in consideration the art and culture as a primary tool to construct a more just, peaceful, supportive, inclusive and democratic society which recognizes and values its diversity, memory and creative potential. It is a priority for the Ministry of Culture to strengthen, articulate and promote from the Government these important initiatives.
In February 2011, Points of Culture begins as a project to establish basis of the Points of Culture National Program, the following steps were made from that date until the end of 2011:
Definitions of the program including all peruvian culture sector particularities.
Participative construction of the proposal with cultural organizations in Lima.
Developing of two pilot projects in two popular and historic districts, Villa El Salvador at the south of the capital and Carabayllo at the north of Lima. These projects were developed in partnership with popular theater organizations that are working a long time in the area.
Another point in the implementation was to develop a Web Channel: www.puntosdecultura.pe
In the process of implementation of the program has strengthened the relationship with other countries that are promoting strategies around the Living Culture in Community and Culture Points (Colombia, Argentina and Brazil).
The program goals are:
- Articulate a network of 90 organizations nationwide to exchange good practices and capacity building, identification of best practices and a significant improvement in management capacity of cultural organizations.
- Generate a wider range of alternatives and ways of development for children and youth at risk, increasing their self-esteem, leadership; decreasing gang violence, lack of prospects of life and social gaps.
- Contribute to the valuation and dissemination of the Peruvian cultural richness, strengthening cultural production at community level and creating public mechanisms that allow dissemination and recognition nationally and internationally.
It is expected that over the next two years, the Culture Points program can promote the work of approximately 90 organizations that offer integral training opportunities and empowerment through the arts and culture to more than 350,000 children, adolescents, young and adults. The next steps for program implementation are:
The launch of the National Registration - Culture Points Network, conducting training workshops for the Culture Points in Lima and provinces; develop a legal framework of Points Culture program; conduct a First National Meeting of Culture Points. In the medium term, actions that allow the program impacts more directly on organizations and their communities, as the definition of a Competitive Fund will allow the funding of planned projects by Culture Points nationwide. It will also acquire technology to disseminate the work of the Culture Points (digital cameras, computers, memory sticks). Furthermore, it also will continue to develop training workshops and meetings for community cultural organizations.
Challenges identified in the implementation of this measure:
Find institutionalized and democratic workflows between cultural organizations and the Ministry of Culture.
Development of a legislative proposal, due to the competitive funding require a legislation to direct resources to organizations through a framework agreement and conditions that ensure the proper implementation of these amounts.