Lithuanian Council for Culture, photo by Vytenis Budrys.Lithuanian Council for Culture (LCC) introduces its Report to the Public 2023. The Report provides a comprehensive overview of the year – information on funding and artist grants, the structure and achievements of the Council, and the steady cultural development across the country. Furthermore, the Report outlines the successful implementation of the last phase of the project Design Wings, the initiative to support Ukraine, and shares the most important goals for this year.
“2023 marked the tenth anniversary of the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The Council has faced various challenges and changes over the years, but it has always actively supported the vitality of culture. Over the past 10 years, almost 1,000 people have contributed to the Council’s activities: Members of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, administrative staff, members of the Regional Councils for Culture, and a pool of peer assessors. I would like to thank you and everyone who recognise the significance of cultural vitality in our country,” said the Chairwoman Asta Pakarklytė.
“Despite the challenges and stress of the previous year, we remained optimistic and full of inspiring, motivating ideas that pushed us to persevere and overcome all fears,” added ethnologist Aušra Žičkienė.
Brief overview of 2023
In 2023, we bolstered arts and culture by funding 1,520 projects, distributing nearly €22.4 million. The majority of funding was allocated to projects in music, performing arts, and visual arts.
We granted 590 awards, totalling slightly over €1.9 million, to foster the individual creative endeavours and professional growth of cultural professionals and artists. Similar to previous year, this year’s grants were predominantly awarded to music (145 grants), with fine arts (82 grants), interdisciplinary arts (67 grants), and theatre (64 grants) following suit.
To promote sustainable cultural development nationwide, encourage diverse creative expressions, nurture local cultural identity, and facilitate cooperation, we allocated nearly €3.3 million to projects under the Sustainable Cultural Development initiative, implemented across ten Lithuanian counties. Projects from Šiauliai County received the highest amount of funding, consistent with the previous year. It should be noted that Šiauliai County Municipality made the most significant additional contribution to the financing of cultural projects, amounting to over €508 thousand.
We continued our support for Ukraine and its cultural community. Last year, we awarded 77 individual grants to artists and creators residing in Lithuania, totalling €138.6 thousand. The largest share of grants went to the fields of music and performing arts.
2023 saw the final phase of the Design Wings project. The assessment of the project’s outcomes shows its genuine success, with numerous organisations having already adopted design solutions rooted in digital and circular economy principles. Additionally, the project facilitated 13 informative and engaging training sessions for designers, mentors, and the project team.
You can read the Lithuanian Council for Culture’s full Activity Report to the Public 2023 here. To read the Lithuanian Council for Culture’s detailed 2023 operational plan implementation report, click here.
Prepared by Orinta Pileckaitė, an intern at the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
