Manaus City Council approves the first Municipal Plan of Culture

Mencius Melo – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The city of Manaus will have its first Municipal Plan of Culture (PMC). The Law Project (PL) No. 231/2023 is from the Manaus City Hall and was approved on the morning of this Monday, 15, by the councilmen. Instituted for the decade 2023/2033, the plan is considered an advance by the local artistic community and goes to the hands of Mayor David Almeida (Avante) for official sanction that should happen within the next 15 days.

For the president of the Municipal Council of Culture (Concultura), Tenório Telles, the plan structures the entire chain of culture in Manaus. “The approval of the plan is one of the greatest achievements of the management of the mayor David Almeida in the cultural area, because it defines actions, objectives, and goals to be carried out by the municipal public power, contemplating the most diverse cultural segments. It has a long-term impact, because from now on municipal managers will have a culture plan to guide their government programs and their actions in this sector”, he celebrated.

The PMC redimensions the way in which resources will be distributed, which before obeyed the procedures of diffuse calls for proposals. Based on the plan, managers will have, for the next 10 years, a guide within four defined axes.

Questioned about what changes from now on with the PMC, Tenório replied that the plan brings institutional security to those who produce and make art their “bread and butter”, and who help make Manaus a better city for all. “The artists now have a law that assures them legal instruments to propose and carry out cultural projects in the city of Manaus. Finally, our city will have a state policy for culture”, said the manager.

Document

According to the approved document, the entire productive chain of culture in Manaus will be under the coverage of the PMC, and it will be up to the Municipal Foundation of Culture, Tourism and Events (Manauscult) to manage the plan. “Art. 6 – The Municipal Foundation of Culture, Tourism and Events – MANAUSCULT, in the condition of executive coordinator of the Municipal Plan of Culture, shall stimulate the participation of cultural agents in edicts promoted by the municipality, the State, and the Union, in order to meet the objectives of this Law, and raise the total resources allocated to the sector, aiming to ensure its fulfillment.”

The approved plan that awaits sanction by Mayor David Almeida has a defined deadline and evaluation system. “Art. 10 – The Manaus Municipal Plan of Culture will be valid for 10 (ten) years and will be reviewed biennially, with the objective of updating and improving its guidelines and goals. Sole Paragraph – The first review of the Municipal Plan of Culture will be carried out after 02 (two) years, as of the effective date of this Law, ensuring the participation of the Municipal Council of Culture, agents of the Public Power and ample representation of the Civil Society.”

Impacts

The current president of Manauscult, Osvaldo Cardoso, celebrated the approval of the plan that will have a strong impact among the artistic community since it causes a deep structural change in market relations between producers and the city. “This victory in the CMM represents more job and income generation, more access to culture, a closer dialogue with the artistic segments, and, the main thing, a guarantee of resources since it is complemented by the Culture Incentive Law (LIC),” said Osvaldo Cardoso.

Dynamics

Tenório Telles explained to CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the dynamics of PMC. “The plan is structured in four axes that contemplate Cultural Management, Symbolic Production and Cultural Diversity, Citizenship and Cultural Rights, and Culture and Development. The managers must observe the objectives, goals, and actions established to implement the PMC for the next ten years. The society and the artists will benefit through the implementation of these defined public policies and the promotion edicts that will be launched”, he detailed.

In the final evaluation of the Concultura manager, the culture in Manaus as well as the producing agents have in hands the most important tool for the artistic making in the capital of Amazonas. “The Municipal Plan of Culture has the force of law and, with its validity, the public power should propose cultural projects and actions and, thus, provide the necessary means for their realization. Now, with the Plan and the Incentive Law, the cultural process in Manaus will have the necessary conditions to move forward”, concluded Tenório Telles.

Watch video in which Tenório Telles and Neilo Batista from Concultura celebrate the approval of the PMC

Check out the Municipal Culture Plan – PL 231/2023