Hungary
Hungary's cultural administration is dominated by the culture ministry,
whose official name is the Ministry
of National Cultural Heritage.
Since 2002, this Ministry sponsors transnational cultural activities both
at home and abroad, and gives out travel grants, funds projects and programmes.
It is also responsible for the national cultural institutes abroad through
a Directorate of Cultural Institutes which aim is to promote Hungarian
culture at home and abroad, disseminate information and news on developments
in Hungary's arts sector, and organise cultural events.
Although there is an audio-visual department, the Ministry has no mandate
with regard to radio and television. Artistic education as well as general
financial support for culture by local governments are beyond the responsibility
of the Ministry. There is, however, a separate unit in charge of providing
professional guidance to multi-functional local cultural institutes (cultural
centres).
Two organisations are also active in the execution of the international
cultural programme of the Ministry:
Hungarofest which function is to organise major cultural programmes
in Hungary and abroad and the Central
European Cultural Institute which runs programmes of literature and
visual arts in Hungary and in other countries in Central Europe, involving
writers, intellectuals and artists from these places.
The National Cultural Fund distributes
grants to project; it has supported international cultural exchanges and
programmes in the field of architecture, environment, photography, literature,
fine arts; applied arts, libraries, amateur arts, national Archives, movie
pictures, museums, folk art, theatre, dance and music.
Hungarian Institute for Culture
The training and mobility of youth is also supported by the Ministry of
Child, Youth and Sport, and especially by the Youth Mobility Service (under
the Ministry).
The establishment of the Ministry
of Informatics and Communication in June 2002 indicated an increased
attention paid to new technologies. With the involvement of the Cultural
Ministry, strategic co-operation is being prepared in the field of the
preservation of digital heritage, with special regard to the audio-visual
area. In the cultural sector, the most important activity has been the
on-going telematic development of the public library system.
National Cultural sites
