Skopje North Macedonia

#combineappliedarts

Applied arts Programme

Explore and apply the world of art in Skopje. Encourage and take innovative approaches in the organization of cultural activities.

During the Cultart programme of management in Applied Arts the international groups of 25 young cultural managers will meet up to 10 key speakers, experts and practitioners, who will mentor the 10 specified modules of the Cultart programme – Cultural Innovations, Business & Entrepreneurship, Management & Administration, Project Development, Fundraising, Leadership, Conflict Management, Media & Communication.
What is essential to the Cultart programmes is the Cultart Case Study Challenge when the group will have the chance to participate in the real working process of a cultural organization in the field of applied arts in Skopje. The Case Study Organization will outline its main tools and models, the current work and projects, and will give a specific ‘challenge’ to the group. The Case Study Challenge is the final exercise where the group can present its new skills of giving cultural management solutions.
The Case Study Organization in Skopje will be soon announced.

Manage locally, art globally

Overview of the situation in the creative and cultural sectors in North Macedonia during the Covid-19

Coronavirus has dramatically changed cultural life in the Republic of North Macedonia. Everything that we recognized as normal in public life, in social interaction and communication, is now being tested, like never before. They have taken very serious and drastic measures. Some of them, such as the introduction of a state of emergency and restrictions on movement, were the result of difficult but inevitable decisions.
Many of Macedonian citizens do not go to work, our children do not go to kindergartens, school, or colleges. With the first measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, all museums, galleries and a number of small and medium-sized enterprises like creative ateliers had to be shut down.
With protective measures against KOVID 19 spheres in culture begin to work on 03/07/2020.
The Decision of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia also adopts protocols adopted by the Commission for Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, for the operation of libraries, museums, galleries and exhibition spaces, dance and ballet clubs, and activities and work can be started by organizing events and manifestations in the open space, with mandatory compliance with the Protocol on the manner and conditions for organizing events by the Commission for Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health and the Association of Event Industry.
During the Covid – 19 crises the North Macedonian government has adopted six packages of economic measures to deal with the crisis. Simulations in cultural and creativity sphere began and taken a place in Second package, with the following measures:
– Measure – help for artists – A minimum wage for the months of April and May 2021 was provided for 141 independent artists, as well as contributions through the Ministry of Culture.
– Measure – Monthly wage (monetary compensation) for citizens who lost their jobs due to the crisis, in the amount of 50% of the average wage of the employee – There was planned for the citizens who lost their jobs due to the crisis, to be paid monetary compensation every month in the amount of 50% of the average monthly net salary of the employee for the last 24 months in accordance with the Law on Employment and Insurance in Case of Unemployment and Article 68 of this Law, according to which the citizens who lost their jobs will receive compensation through the Employment Agency according to their years of service.
For example: For 5 years of service, 4 months of compensation, or for 24 years of service – 12 months of compensation.
In the third package of covid measures, compensation were provided and provided for different types of economic entities, but not for those working in the field of culture and art, unfortunately. The third package of economic measures actually aimed to enable the revival of the Macedonian economy through direct support of the citizens and the economy, ie. to increase consumption and stimulate the protection, promotion and growth of the domestic economic supply.
The fourth package aims to ensure the sustainability of domestic economic activities and jobs, to recover certain activities, to ensure the stability of social transfers and to provide policies that will help implement a rapid exit strategy when the crisis is over.
In the fourth package there was intended a place and one measure for the cultural and creative association. This is the measure – Support for artisans – reduction of the VAT rate on their services and products from 18% to 5% in order to strengthen their competitiveness in the market. Other measures, such as support for payment of wages or access to favorable loans from the Development Bank of Northern Macedonia, remain available to the self-employed artisans.

Additional measure that was included in Fourth package was:
– Measure – Grants for the Association of Dance Associations. 40 associations from the Association of Dance Associations was grant with 2,000 euros for each association.
– Measure – Financial support for design studios – Financial assistance for 12 design studios for organizing weddings that are prohibited in this period with a one-time amount of 90,000 MKD;
– Measure – Financial assistance for independent artists, filmmakers, artists and cultural workers – Gradual payment of financial assistance to: independent artists, filmmakers, artists and cultural workers, from 14,500, 18,000 or 21,500 MKD depending on the income for a period of 3 months, for a total of 462 beneficiaries for which a total of 24,948,000 MKD are provided for which payment will be announced a call from the Ministry of Culture;
– Measure – Financial support for all musicians and tour guides – Financial support of 30,750 MKD will be given to all musicians, members of musicians’ associations as well as licensed tour guides, who during 2020 had an average monthly net income below 15,000 MKD.
Financial support for registered craftsmen for 2021 was provided in Fifth package. Artisans will be allowed the solutions for advance payment of personal income tax to be reduced by 50% in 2021 compared to the solutions from 2020.
In this package was planned support for the industry and the operators for organization of events for realization of projects of exceptional public interest in the amount of 61 million MKD. This measure is intended for legal entities that organize public events, i.e. marketing and event agencies, productions and other operators in the event organization industry, which, among other things, will hire performers, educators, cultural workers, artists, musicians and other professions in the industry that are directly affected by the pandemic. The program was implemented by the General Secretariat of the Government and the applicants, ie the operators who organize public events will have to adhere to the following criteria: first, events on a given topic of exceptional public and state interest, second providing visibility of the event to the general public through partnerships with national and other televisions as well as through other types of media and third, involvement of performers, educators, cultural operators, artists, musicians and others in the production of content within events of public interest.
Sixth package of measures
The ban on social activities affected mainly micro and small companies in the catering sector and culture, and the travel ban affected sectors tourism and transport and seasonal workers. The situation further deteriorated during the second quarter from the year when the strongest impact on the economy was felt, and the impact on health was most pronounced in the last quarter of 2020.
The overall, general side effect of this pandemic on the cultural institutions in North Macedonia is the radical reduction of their programmes and the drastic decrease in public attendance. Macedonian cultural institutions have always had a “problem” with a small but more or less constant number of visitors, but the pandemic has pushed it to the very limit.

Iliyana Atanasova
CEO EDUCENTER

You can read the full report here: Report North Macedonia

Team Skopje

The Association ’EduCenter’ is a non-profit organization from the Republic of North Macedonia, the city of Skopje. The Association is a voluntary, self-governed, community-based organization whose main goal is to promote, encourage and support the sustainable development of individuals and communities through solidarity and collective action for social change, inclusion, and innovative educational approaches by using all types of innovations, formal, non-formal and informal methods empowering individuals, marginalized groups and other social collectives; supporting and empowering young people from different communities to develop new ideas and tackle the challenges in the field of education, innovation, and entrepreneurship; developing the capacity for collective action toward social change and social inclusion; conducting advanced sociological research by applying innovative approaches.

The city of Skopje