The Ministry of Culture and cultural policies

A democratic and plural spirit was the main mark of Gilberto Gil’s term heading the Ministry of Culture.

Focusing on the building of public policies, Gil and his team found in this design—the main tool for the State to serve society in its different areas—the main method for permanent participation and dialogues, building bridges and tuning leadership in. 

Grounded on the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity issued by UNESCO, the first ever artist to have that seat understood culture as a fundamental dimension of the civilization process and not only as an artistic manifestation. 

The Ministry of Culture held, in 2005, the first National Culture Conference, promoted by the federal, states and cities governments.

Under this initiative, the Government recognized, as per the Brazilian Constitution, the importance of having civil society directly participating in the creation of public policies and in the formation and consolidation of a democratic political culture. 

The Ministry of Culture estimates that this process directly engaged about 60,000 people, in over 700 cities and 25 federal states and the Federal District.

When the Conference came to an end, 63 directives for cultural public policies for Brazil were approved, creating a participative network and a cooperative process never seen in the history of Brazil’s cultural movement. 

Resulting of the social engagement set off by the 1st National Culture Conference, the National Cultural Plan [PNC, in the Portuguese acronym] had met the goal of guiding public policies for Brazilian culture.

Civil society from then on had (from 2010 on, when approved by National Congress and valid for ten years) a tool to evaluate the commitments for which governments are responsible for.

These commitments must be evaluated periodically in conferences, public hearings, meetings, and panels that articulate both the state and the civil society.

It is not an overstatement to say that the process of creation of the National System of Culture [SNC, in the Portuguese acronym] has become one of the most remarkable and promising events in the context of cultural management, during the time Gilberto Gil was ahead of the Ministry of Culture.

Many states and municipalities have adhered to the system, voluntarily, by signing agreements with the Ministry of Culture. In the first place, the SNC articulates with the local governments, not subordinating one sphere of government to another.

Thus, it establishes a sense of dialogue between public entities themselves and between public entities and society. Secondly, the idea of a system implicates the articulation of institutionalized cultural practices.

Especially held in well-defined public spaces, i.e., cultural facilities.

In this new scenario, stimulated by the National System of Culture, new Culture Councils were organized, with the clear goal of promoting a comprehensive dialogue and listening between the public entity and the civil society.

They made it easier for common people to have a voice, for the stories, versions and collective narratives to directly interconnect within the creation of cultural policies.

The Cultural Councils of the federated entities and the different sectors of culture are also a strong social instrument for monitoring and evaluating the achievement of the goals and priorities defined by the National Culture Plan.

They are composed of sector chambers, with representatives of the organized civil society in various artistic areas, such as music, dance, performing arts, literature and cinema.

These actions can be understood as a pack of initiatives that aimed to contribute to a deep and effective change of the perception of culture in Brazil, its value as symbolic production, as a citizenship right and as - also but not only—a economy.

As per minister Gilberto Gil, “it is not up to the State to create culture, except in a very specific and unavoidable sense. In a sense that, creating public policies towards culture is, to create culture as well…

“… In a sense that all cultural policy is a part of the politics culture of a society and of a people, in a given moment of their existence. In a sense that any cultural policy cannot fail to express essential aspects of the culture of this people…

“… But also in a sense that intervention must not follow the book of the old conservative model, but, instead, must to enlighten paths, open clearings, stimulate, shelter.”