Colombia 2017 report

1. Formalization: Registration of producers of public spectacles of the performing arts, authorization of online ticketing operators, registration of events in the Single Portal of the Law on Public Spectacles of the Performing Arts - PULEP.
2. Control: Permission or authorization for carrying out public spectacles in the performing arts.
3. Increased resources for the sector: Collection and remittance of the parafiscal contributions to public spectacles of the performing arts, which are invested in the construction, adaptation and endowment of venues.
4. Tax benefits and incentives in national and territorial taxes.
5. Strengthening the powers of inspection, monitoring and control of the National Government over collective management companies of copyright and related rights.

Support and strengthen the public television system (national, local and community channels), with cultural content. Support ethnic communities in the production of their own content, strengthening creative capacities through training and offering assistance for distribution. An increase in the free annual licensing of cultural content produced, co-produced or supported by the Ministry of Culture to the 10 public television channels of the country. Co-production of television series with Colombian and Latin American channels, of which the following have been produced: Hechos de Corazón, Danza Colombia. Co-production of series with Latin American producers: DOCTV Latinoamérica, Expreso Ventana Andina: Historias de vida en fronteras, Expreso Colombia, Andares, Andares por Colombia.

Creation of social awareness, using the potential of the documentary as an audiovisual genre, through the project Taller del Recuerdo (Living Memory Workshop). This measure is aimed at audience training (in culture, art, productive chains and television) and is directed to children and young people between ages 8 and 27 and seniors. To provide support to the communication processes that take place in border regions, through the strengthening of production centers such as cultural companies and entrepreneurship nodes, benefiting population such as broadcasters from community radio stations, indigenous people, cultural managers, creation groups, universities, and social and cultural organizations in the border departments.

Training for entrepreneurship: Implementing training and accompaniment processes in cultural entrepreneurship to develop the productive potential of each of the links in the value chain of the cultural industries, and their cross-sector activities Create and manage funding sources: The Cultural Entrepreneurship Group seeks to expand the funding for cultural entrepreneurship projects and cultural industries which promote and develop the use of new technologies in the different activities of the value chain. This is done through the creation and management of new lines of financing for cultural entrepreneurs Promote the dissemination of and access to cultural products and services: Designing platforms to stimulate the national and international dissemination of expressions and goods and services produced by cultural entrepreneurship, along with an internationalization strategy that allows the development of alliances between cultural entrepreneurship processes and cultural industries Foster institutional coordination: Promoting the coordination of agents, organizations, companies and institutions that are part of the ecosystem of cultural industries with the policies of economic and social development carried out by the State, to generate economic growth and social development in the regions, through: innovation, competitiveness and creation of spaces of work and exchange of experiences that will foster the appearance of networks between the projects of the cultural industries and those of cultural entrepreneurship in the country Generate research and knowledge for entrepreneurship and cultural industries: Producing information and knowledge on the economic and social impact and on the performance and problems of entrepreneurship and the different sectors of the cultural industries in the country, with the objective of providing input for the formulation of public policies that aim at strengthening cultural and social processes, and their productivity, at a national and local level

The cultural communication, childhood and youth project, works in three ways:

Claves Alharaca (Alharaca Keys):

Aimed to the cualification of the national sctor of child content sector, throughout the realization of pedagogic workshops with a national impact (seven cities visited)

¡ALHARACA! Los niños tienen la palabra (¡Alharaca! The kids have the Word): This event gather adult child creators content and children. It has a national coverage. (5 cities in the country)

Alharaca por la paz (Alharaca for peace): Formative process in participation, communication, reconciliation and peace, aimed to the country’s children and youngsters.

Iberescena promotes not only the circulation of artistic and cultural products, but also aims to enrich the creative exercise, to foster networks for the exchange of knowledge and to open the way to the recognition of interculturality and the dissemination of different cultural expressions.

Furthermore, the program has been crucial for finding ways of creating and disseminating artistic products, through circuits that increase their exhibition times and relevance, both in our country and in international venues.

Ibermúsica sponsors artistic residencies, composition contests (in the popular, symphonic and choral genres, among others), training sessions in the music business, diffusion projects and joint competitions with other Iber programs: Iberescena, Iberorquestas.

• To facilitate the entry, stay and circulation of citizens of Member Parties who are responsible for carrying out activities aimed at achieving the objectives of the Convention.
• To facilitate the temporary importation of goods from Member States to fulfill the objectives of the Convention.
• To encourage the signing of cooperation and co-production agreements within the framework of the Convention.
• To establish or improve systems and mechanisms for the financing and promotion of national cinematographic activity.
• Creation of a multilateral financial fund for the promotion of cinema.
• To stimulate the joint participation of institutions and associations representing producers and distributors of national films in the main events of the international audiovisual market.
• To promote the presence of film productions from the Member States in the existing – or to be created – audiovisual broadcast channels in each one of them.
• To exchange documentation and information that contributes to the development of film making in each Member State.
• It establishes as its main bodies the Conference of Ibero-American Cinematographic Authorities (CACI) and the Executive Secretariat of Ibero-American Cinematography (SECI).

The aim of this Project is to promote the social appropriation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and use these tools to help communities strengthen reading, writing and learning skills; recover their collective memory; access more easily literature, education and media, and consolidate innovation and economic well-being. This will in turn allow new manifestations of the tangible and intangible heritage to appear all around the country.

This measure offers guidelines on mechanisms for the protection of Colombian radio and television through the following mechanisms:

Colombia reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure granting preferential treatment to persons of any other country through any treaty between Colombia and that country which contains specific commitments in matters of cultural cooperation or co-production, with respect to cultural industries and activities. (Annex II-COL-7y 8)

Colombia may apply incentives for the promotion of cultural industries and activities, without violating the National Treatment and Most-Favored-Nation Treatment obligations of Chapter 10 on foreign investment. (Annex II-COL-8)

Only Colombian companies can receive concessions for the operation of telecommunications services. (Annex I-COL-18)

Concessions can only be granted for the operation of subscription television and audiovisual production services to Colombian national companies. They must transmit the open television channels completely free of charge. If these subscriber television operators broadcast advertising of non-Colombian origin, they must comply with the requirements of screen quotas of the open TV channels. (Annex I-COL-23 and 24)

Additionally, concessions can only be granted for the operation of open television services to Colombian national companies that must acquire the form of a public limited company, and cannot have more than 40% of foreign capital. These companies must comply with the screen quotas established in article 33 of Law 182 of 1995. The regional open television service providers must only be supplied by entities owned by the State, and also must comply with the screen quotas established by the same Law. (Annex I-COL-21 and 22)

In addition, concessions for radio services can only be given to Colombian national companies. The number of concessions that can be granted to operate radio services is subject to the criterion of "economic necessity". (Annex I-COL-20)

Furthermore, in the framework of the FTA with the European Union, Colombia has made a general reservation

The nations of South America share identity traits and a common history, which are elements that facilitate cultural exchange. However, it is necessary to continue to strengthen the sector at the regional level, empowering trade corridors, promoting the association of value chains, and seeking complementarity in fair, festival and international market participation, among other aspects.

MICSUR works with six sectors of the cultural industries, namely:

• Performing arts
• Audiovisual
• Design
• Publishing
• Music
• Animation and Videogames

The first version of MICSUR was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in May 2014, with the participation of:

• 10 countries.
• 800 buyers and sellers from South America.
• 80 international buyers from Spain, Japan, Finland, United Kingdom, USA and China.
• 500 face-to-face meetings during business roundtables.
• 50 activities between forums, conferences, workshops and sectoral talks.
• 1 fashion show with the participation of designers from the 10 countries of South America.
• 30 live performances (showcases).
• 8 Institutional meetings of Latin American cultural organizations.

MISCUR has six main lines of action:

Forums (academic agenda)

Artistic presentations (showcases of music and performing arts)

Catwalk (fashion show)

Business roundtables

Cafés (networking spaces)

Fair (stands for countries and entrepreneurs of culture)

The measure is structured around the lines of training, research, creation and circulation; the modalities in which the incentives are granted are:

• Scholarships: they aim to increase the opportunities for creation, research and circulation, through the development of artistic and cultural projects. They are awarded for the development or conclusion of a particular project.

• Internships: their objective is to complement training and teaching. The internships must take place in a department other than the one of where the recipient lives (in the case of national internships).

• National Prizes: they are awarded to the work and trajectory of creators, researchers and cultural managers, whose work has enriched the cultural memory of the country.

• Acknowledgments: they shine light on artistic and cultural endeavors whose distinguishing feature is excellence and a positive contribution to the sector. They are awarded to works, projects or processes already completed.

• Artistic residences: inscribed in the line of creation, they support the development of creative projects and artistic explorations in a different place to the residence of the artist, either in Colombia or abroad.

The measure is implemented through an open call.

• Research and knowledge: To identify and characterize the ecosystem of cultural and creative industries in the municipality, its potentialities and the main difficulties that impede its development.

•Linkage: To coordinate the public and private institutions of the municipality that develop activities linked to the ecosystem of the cultural and creative field.

• Defining a structured work agenda based on a process between the agents that belong to the node, either public, private or belonging to civil society.

• Training: Providing and managing spaces for training and development for cultural entrepreneurship.

• Funding sources: Managing sources of funding and projects to strengthen the ecosystem of cultural and creative industries in the municipality.

• Fostering an encompassing vision of the cultural sector, in which diverse cultural agents are interrelated and necessary.

The LASO project has been present in 18 municipalities throughout the country through cultural content production centers (CPCC).

It has provided training in audio production to about 4,000 young people since 2012. Through this initiative, the beneficiaries of the Project have created 494 productive units, with further participation of around 400 beneficiaries in circulation and commercial spaces such as business roundtables, festivals and cultural markets.

Its components are:

• Granting of equipment for audio production studies.

• Training in audio production.

• Construction of collaborative projects.

• Circulation in musical markets.

The forum was created in 2006 and has been coordinated since then by Argentina, from the Argentine Cultural Information System (SInCA), with the participation of 11 South American countries, including Colombia. 

The SInCA assigns a professional to follow the project, who is in charge of linking those responsible in each country with Mercosur’s cultural information agenda.

During its trajectory, a solid regional working group has been constituted, involving 11 countries. This group carries out its work plan through constant communications, face-to-face and virtual forums, teleconferences and, once every year, a meeting of all the delegations. It is worth mentioning that at the time of the creation of SICSUR, only one country in the bloc performed an economic quantification of culture, and only three organized cultural information in a CIS. After more than 10 years of progress, all countries have their own project, with different complexities and developments, but still allowing for effective comparability among them.

The SICSUR has carried out and published four measurement exercises: Satellite Account of Culture: First Steps Towards its Construction in the Cultural MERCOSUR; We and the Others: Foreign Trade in Cultural Goods in South America; The States of Culture: A Study on the Public Cultural Institutions of the SICSUR Countries - available in Spanish and Portuguese. A Look from the South: Indigenous Peoples. Study on Cultural Policies and Indigenous Peoples.

The Expreso Sur project strengthens cooperation between the Ministries of Culture and public television of the countries of the region, with the aim of exchanging content, co-producing, conducting training and defining joint content dissemination and marketing strategies.

ICTs are a transversal axis that allows ethnic communities to improve their quality of life. Through the gradual assimilation of these technologies, they will be able to effectively protect their rights, culture, education, and political and socio-economic organization. Limited or almost no access to ICTs is a serious drawback and a high indicator of exclusion, which increases social and economic inequalities. For this reason, it is imperative to reduce the digital gap by enabling the access, use and appropriation of ICTs by these communities.

ICTs have a great potential for stimulating and developing the creativity of ethnic populations, but these technologies need to be appropriated and incorporated into their daily lives and processes, which means, on the one hand, the promotion of digital culture, and, on the other, that conventional institutional offers must change to adjust to the needs and challenges facing these communities.

A process of dialog and mutual agreement with the target communities and populations needs to take place, in order to know the issues and from these determine the lines of action (rights to be prioritized) and the measures to be implemented (public policies).

Cine para todos (Cinema for All) has two major components: Access to cinema and Transformation of viewers into creators:

Access to cinema

It encompasses all the activities aimed at the access and familiarity with film by people with disabilities. The list of films in this component includes commercial movies, arthouse films and those appearing in national film festivals. It is carried out through four strategies:

• Regular functions: The screening of accessible films to people with disabilities is done in Cine Colombia cinemas in 12 cities of the country, the last Saturday of each month.
• Screening in Vive Digital centers: They take place the second Saturday of each month in municipalities and cities where there are no movie theaters.
• Radio Cine: Broadcasting of films with audio description through the 51 frequencies of Radio Nacional de Colombia. Listeners from all regions of the country will enjoy every public holiday of the year.
• Special functions: With the objective of raising awareness about the importance of movie accessibility in the Colombian film production and distribution community, we have participated with accessible films at Colombian film festivals.

Cine para todos works through three strategies.

SmarTIC Inclusive: Colombians with any type of disability can make short films of a maximum of five minutes with their cell phones and, in this way, compete for a prize. 58 short films by 339 applicants were received.

Workshops for creating cinema with mobile devices for people with visual, hearing and physical impairments: Three theoretical / practical workshops have taken place to teach moviemaking with mobile devices (given to people with visual, hearing and physical disabilities). As a result, the first 96 filmmakers with disabilities in the country were certified. The main objective of these activities was to provide basic knowledge to motivate these people to make short films to participate in SmarTIC Inclusive.

INCLUCINE: www.inclucine.gov.co is a web platform with free film lessons accessible to people with vision, hearing and cognitive impairments.

The Mujeres Tejedoras de Vida project is mainly carried out in vulnerable areas, where the population been a victim of violence and forced displacement. The groups of women are gathered around the particular interests of the affected population, aided by the data collected by the Victims Unit. A process of psychosocial accompaniment and training in gender issues, product design, entrepreneurship, associativity and marketing is then carried out. The groups that participate in the project improve their handcrafted products and in turn develop new prototypes that meet the needs found in the market.