Cultural Endowment Celebrates 20 Years
The Cultural Endowment, known as Kulka, was restored on July 1, 1994, after a hiatus during the Soviet times.
The restoration of the fund, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary, meant culture and art experts replaced state officials as those responsible for dividing tax funds to artists, said Olavi Laido, the current head of the organization, to ERR on Tuesday.
The structure of the fund has remained the same, with eight foundations and 15 regional expert groups, one for each county, although the volumes have increased. The first round of funding, in 1995, attracted 517 applications. That figure in the last round was 2,867.
“In 20 years, thousands of projects, creative people and initiatives have been funded. We have shared the journey with many on their creative journeys and helped various festivals and grand events,” Laido said.