Bern cultural message approved
Bern's municipal council has approved the cultural message and thus determined the allocation of funds for the city's cultural funding for the years 2024-2027. The city is introducing orchestra funding together with the canton.
According to its press release, Bern's municipal council is focusing its cultural funding on sustainability, diversity and cultural variety. It is halving the number of funding loans and pooling funding and expertise. The municipal council has also approved service contracts with 25 cultural institutions and forwarded the corresponding commitment credits to the city council. The voters will be asked to decide on four loans in June 2023.
The loan for project and program funding will have uniform funding criteria and instruments for all cultural projects. And the existing expert commissions will become a pool with additional expertise from many areas that were not previously covered. This important innovation in cultural funding is supported by all parties and most associations and organizations.
The Bern Puppet Theater and the Freiraum / Heitere Fahne collective will now receive a tripartite contract and the Bern Music Festival a municipal contract. The Bern Chamber Orchestra will no longer be supported by a tripartite contract. Together with the Canton of Berne, the city will introduce orchestra funding. All ensembles that meet certain professional criteria can apply for a four-year sponsorship in response to a public call for applications. This gives the ensembles the same funding conditions and the necessary planning security to survive in international competition.
