SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 9. (EUROPE PRESS) –
A performing arts company from the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands has to assume an additional cost of more than 30% compared to a peninsular company when carrying out its activity outside the island territory, and the Canary Islands are even more affected than the Balearic Islands in the cultural context due to their geographical distance.
These are some of the conclusions of the ‘Study on the inequalities of the insular territories of Spain in the consumption and contribution to the performing arts. Analysis of factors that affect the inequality of opportunities in the production and exploitation of shows’.
The report, prepared by the Insular Federation with the aim of improving the visibility of theatre, dance and circus made in the Canary and Balearic Islands, was presented this Saturday to the media and public of the South Atlantic Performing Arts Market , MAPS Market, in the Tenerife Auditorium.
The presentation featured Rubén Pérez Castellano, General Director of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands; Catalina Solivellas, general director of Culture of the Government of the Balearic Islands; Javier de Dios, deputy general director of theater at the INAEM of the Ministry of Culture; Ricardo del Castillo and Carles Molinet, president and vice president of the Insular Federation.
Based on this study, carried out in 2020 by the consulting firm Bissap, an action plan has been designed that favors the development of island performing arts companies in the medium term, in which the INAEM and the governments of the Canary and Balearic Islands participate; an institutional collaboration that aims to reduce the inequality of opportunities in the production and circulation of stage productions of the two archipelagos.
The General Director of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands explained that this report “is the starting point for a job that the administrations have to start now”.
On the other hand, it was highlighted that the report is an example of the union between administrations to optimize resources. “Insularity is a disadvantage and we are here to alleviate this situation,” said Catalina Solivellas.
Javier de Dios, deputy general director of theater at INAEM of the Ministry of Culture, spoke of this document as an “excellent step for the three administrations to keep dialogue open. “From the Ministry of Culture we are sensitive to insularity,” said Javier de Dios, who continued to allude to the fact that “a review of the regulations will be carried out to generate proposals and their application.”
REPORT DATA.
Carles Molinet began to break down some data from the report together with the president of the Insular Federation. Molinet said that the origin of this report took place precisely in MAPAS Mercado three years ago.
Within the study process, 25 surveys were conducted to performing arts companies in the Canary Islands, 25 to performing arts companies in the Balearic Islands and also 25 surveys to companies in the peninsular area. The results allowed to make a map of determining factors in this situation, in addition to knowing what is the impact of inequalities in companies and the cause-effect relationship in this cultural context.
The Canary Islands are more affected than the Balearic Islands in the cultural context due to their geographical distance. It is one of the data provided by Ricardo del Castillo, president of the Insular Federation. “It must be recognized that Spain has been a centralist culturally speaking,” said Del Castillo.
On the other hand, the difficulty of the performing arts companies from both island territories is in both directions: “when leaving the territory and also when the theaters receive companies from other points,” he explained. To this, Del Castillo added that the island fact “needs a separate consideration and its problems must be recognized.”
Molinet pointed out various representative data from the report, among others, that 40% of the performing arts companies on the peninsula have functions outside their community, while in the case of the Canary Islands it only reaches 8% and in the Balearic Islands 22%. The Balearic also explained that the Canarian performing arts companies have twice as many functions abroad as in the peninsula, a representative figure.
The action plan resulting from the study is divided into three blocks: measures to be incorporated into state stage policies, measures to be incorporated into stage policies of the two autonomous communities, and measures to be promoted by stage operators.
