Culture in Cauca with barely $2,000 million annually.
The fact that culture only has a little more than 8,000 million pesos for the 4 years of the departmental government headed by Jorge Octavio Guzmán It demonstrates how little importance this important sector continues to have for the governors of the department.
Cauca, despite its betrayal and cultural and tourist wealth in the various regions of the department, is one of the few that does not have a Ministry of Culture. In most departments, at least there are Secretariats of Culture and Tourism.
In Cauca, culture is another dependency of the Ministry of Education and it faces a wide variety of issues and problems such as frequent strikes and community mobilizations, demanding the appointment of teachers, administrative personnel, construction and arrangement of educational institutions, etc. , etc., culture is relegated in all aspects. Not only in its administrative structure, but also in the priority of issues to be dealt with and even more so, in the budget, with the scarce 2,000 million annually that the department grants them for 42 municipalities.
The municipality of Popayán was experiencing a similar situation; But due to pressure from organized cultural managers, the previous administration created the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and for this year they have 10,000 million pesos. In one year they exceed the $2000 million annually that the department gives to the 42 municipalities by 4 times.
In this precarious panorama, the previous week he was in Popayán. Kutumbo Lucumi. delegate of the Ministry of Culture to try to organize cultural activity in the department.
During his visit, he met with officials from the department’s Culture Office, the Culture Secretariat of the municipality of Popayán and with few cultural managers, since they could not make a broader call or finance the travel of the delegates from the municipalities.
At a meeting, with little attendance scheduled on Saturday, June 15, in the auditorium of the INEM school, we took the opportunity to interview Esteban Rengifocultural manager of the municipality of Popayán, who actively participated in the campaign for the creation of the municipal Secretariat of Culture and Tourism and is also director of the Popayán Short Film Festival.
Proclamation of Cauca and Valle (PCV): Tell me. How has this day developed with the participation of the delegate of the Ministry of Culture?
Esteban Rengifo (ER): The Ministry of Culture and the coordination of Departmental Culture and the Secretariat of Culture and Tourism of Popayán invited the cultural managers to participate in these sessions that were Wednesdays with officials from the Secretariat of Culture, Thursdays with officials from the Secretariat of Culture and Tourism of Popayán, on Friday they linked the councils, the municipal and departmental counselors of culture and today, Saturday, the entire cultural and artistic sector of Popayán to a socialization around the presence of the Ministry, the institutional offer and also the reform of the Law General of culture. I have to say that the call was very regular, particularly in the department, since no possibility was guaranteed for the mobilization of the managers and in the case of the departmental and municipal councilors, there was little participation, yesterday there were eight or 10 cultural managers, “Everyone from Popayán, no one came, no one from another municipality participated, just an official from El Tambo.”
“This shows a little the low action of the department in these cultural terms, the little call that that office has and the little impact it has on the management and cultural action of the department.”
“We are gathered today from the municipality of Popayán, managers and artists, let’s say that we come with a dynamic of mobilization; However, participation has also been very small compared to other moments where there has been greater and broader participation. I particularly believe that the dissemination and communication of that call was not enough. However, we must recognize that on behalf of the Ministry of Culture we are close to the official in charge of the Department of Cauca and we hope that with this visit we can continue to implement the commitments and mutual agendas that the sector has. and the municipality of Popayán with the ministry of culture.”
PCV: And this meeting with the ministry is also about the reform of the culture law?
E.R.: One point that was discussed today is the reform of the general culture law, 87, of 1997, which has become outdated and the idea is to reform it. Today, concerns and reform alternatives were presented above all in terms of cultural governance and basically the functioning of municipal and departmental cultural councils; However, the need to know the articles was also seen because it is difficult to talk about a reform of a law without knowing the articles. We cannot really influence the reform if the articles are not known. In summary, here it was seen that the organization of culture in the department is very precarious in institutional development. We recognize that Cauca is a multicultural and artistically diverse department, we have great artists, great managers, many processes, however, institutionally, with a cultural coordination that is a third-level office, it will be difficult to develop institutionally. We have many problems, we recognize that there is an intention on the part of officials, but they really have little chance with few resources. Yesterday in the departmental development plan there was talk of $2,000 million annually for this cultural coordination. Annual. $2,000 million annually, however, taking into account the general budget of the department for culture, it corresponds to 0.001% of the budget, that is, hardly, with such a budget scale it is very difficult to achieve cultural development of the department.
PCV: The municipality of Popayán is in better conditions after the previous administration managed to approve the Ministry of Culture and the Ten-Year Culture Plan. How is the management of culture in the municipality going?
ER: Now that there has been a change in the secretariat we have a better budget, in Popayán there is three times more budget compared to the department, but this institutional change in any case delays things, there we have a delay in the calls for stimuli and coordination. The actions of the secretariat had focused above all on the approval of the development plan, which is somewhat what happens in all the municipalities, that the first six months are in the formulation and approval of the development plan, there has not been much municipal action and we are waiting for the opening of the calls, which are what strongly energizes the sector.
PCV: What month are the calls for?
ER: They haven’t said, there is no information. Speaking with the official in charge, César Cárdenas, he tells me that the call would be issued between the end of this month and the beginning of July.
PCV: Did you discuss the Bolívar theater with the ministry delegate and the help that Minister Correa promised in his previous visit?
ER: Well, they are also things that draw our attention, indeed Minister Correa came and promised help, however we see that the municipality of Popayán does not carry out the necessary management for that help to become effective, that is, the minister requested some technical studies of the theater, but in fact those technical studies do not exist, there is no institutional memory about that public good, so that means that everything is delayed, that studies have to be done again from scratch and ultimately we are at risk of telling the official that yes That is why the budget is not executed and those resources can go to another. Place and there was a confusion there that it was for the purchase of equipment or for restoration or locative repair. The fundamental idea with the Bolívar Theater is to make it functional, it is to effectively make the Bolívar Theater become a space for culture and the arts in Popayán, a little it is being turned around for infrastructure, that is, to paint, reinforce, improve infrastructure. We as managers stand on the line and say that this money has to be used to make the Bolívar Theater work, so that the Bolívar Theater is effectively equipped and they can not only rehearse as the many groups are doing today, but above all to exhibit the work, to put on a show, so that there is cultural offer. I don’t believe, that is, I believe that, and many of us in the sector believe that the Bolívar theater has to be functional for what it is, for what a theater is, not only for rehearsing but above all for offering cultural and artistic action. for the department.”
