What was the activity of the Ministry of Culture during the PiS government? What changed after the departure of Minister Piotr Glinsky? The head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Hana Wroblewska, spoke about this in #BezKitu. He admitted that when he entered the institution he found “a lot of valuable officials and complete chaos.” He said that he has made “reforms” and “from now on, who will receive subsidies under the Minister's program, not the political cabinet, but experts will decide.”
The Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Hana Wroblewska, spoke in the “#BezKitu” program on the TVN24 channel about the changes that took place during her six-month tenure in the ministry and in the institutions under the control of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
He recalled that he started working as the head of this ministry in December this year with the appointment of Bartlomy Sienkiewicz and, as he recalled, became the director of the department of national cultural institutions, that is, one of the most important departments that all cultural institutions artistic and non-artistic”.
“Too many valuable officials and total chaos”
He told how the situation was there at that time. – I was introduced by a very young man who says that he has been acting director here for a month. Unfortunately, the former director retired and is now on leave, and the former deputy director moved to the institution under his leadership. So what did I find in the Ministry of Culture? I found a lot of valuable officials and complete chaos, chaos and general desertion of those who were responsible for (…) many decision-making processes – he said.
Wróblewska: I found many valuable officials in the ministry and completed chaosTVN24
He was also asked whether, during the time of Piotr Glinski, the PiS government made decisions related to spending public money based on evaluations and objective criteria.
Wroblewska replied that it became clear that “you can inject a lot of money into the system without any rules, breaking the rules and giving people who have no managerial or cultural competence.”
– You can direct and use this money only for political purposes, destroy the whole system. So, big money is good, but it is as good as rules and regulations and a clear and transparent way of distributing these money, he said.
The minister was asked whether these procedures were avoided during Glinsky's time. – I say this, one of my first decisions was to reform the programs of the minister, – she answered. – And I say this, from now on, experts will decide who will receive subsidies according to the minister's program, not the political cabinet, – he added.
He explained that “there was a so-called strategic assessment that went through the political cabinet.” – I say clearly that this time the money will not be given by the political cabinet, Facebook or other social networks, which are being tested to check the efficiency of this company or beneficiary. This time, experts will distribute the money for culture, the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage emphasized.
Wroblewska: who will receive subsidies under the minister's program will be decided not by the political cabinet, but by expertsTVN24
“In the first stage, the experts decided. In the second stage, the system of political relations”
In response to the question, what is the process of providing assistance from the minister's programs in the previous government, he emphasized that “carefully selected experts made a decision at the first stage.” – But in the second stage, the system of political contacts was crucial. At least in a very, very large part, said Wroblewska.
– Sometimes despite experts and their recommendations? – asked the host of the program Radomir Vit. – The strategic assessment was high enough and the power of the minister was high enough that he could solve everything – she answered.
He admitted that “many of his decisions are culturally and substantively incomprehensible to me.” – More from the political side – added Wróblewska.
The situation at the Polish Film Institute. Minister: no director has the right to act against his institution
The Minister of Culture also touched upon the situation of the Polish Film Institute. Karolina Rozvod resigned from the management of the institution on October 30 and later retracted her resignation, claiming that she was forced to resign by “illegal threats”. In his letter to the ministry – according to the media – he must indicate that during the meeting with the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage “an attempt was made to pressure me to resign from my position”.
According to the ministry, Rozwod has terminated the position of director of the Polish Film Institute and “there is no appeal against this decision.” One of the accusations against the director of the Polish Film Institute is “improper conclusion of the subsidy contract”. The Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office received a notification that the former director of the Polish Film Institute may have committed a crime.
In the “#BezKitu” program, Wroblewska noted that “no manager, regardless of whether he was elected four months ago, three years ago or seven years ago, has the right to act against public institutions and finances.” – And here we had such a situation – she said.
– As for the stressful situation, I know that speaking (…) about leaving work is not an easy conversation for someone. Not for me and not for the person being fired. But, of course, I always believe that such conversations should be done with respect for the person I am talking to, he emphasized.
He further referred to Rozvod's allegations, insisting that he was “intimidated”. – My conversation with the director lasted more than an hour. He noted that it was not a 15-minute conversation.
Minister of Culture about the situation in PISFTVN24
“A new competition will be held” for the director of the Polish Film Institute
The head of the Ministry of Culture also announced what will happen to the institute now. As he said, “this is an institution that, and I'm very happy about it, requires that the director be elected in a contest by members of the public.”
“And that's how the next director of the Polish Film Institute will be elected,” he announced.
He argued that “what we are doing at this point is to ensure the functioning of the institute.” – I know that the cinema community perceives this situation as a crisis. I have met with the Board of the Polish Film Institute frequently to update and try to work on this situation. But the most important thing is that even in this crisis, the Polish Film Institute does not stop its work, it does not stop distributing money, announcing sessions, he continued.
He reiterated that “it will be a completely new competition” and announced discussions with the public on increasing the transparency of the competition. – Because I heard that they said that maybe the previous competition was not transparent, there was no program. (…) We can work and develop this competition so that the public feels that they themselves choose and this competition is as transparent as possible, she stated.
Main photo source: TVN24
