Brazilians are spending more on culture

Cultural activities account for 2.64% of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and at least one million direct jobs. According to Culture Minister Sérgio Sá Leitão, promoting the creative economy is one of the most important ways to drive these numbers up even further. The minister assesses that the Brazilian population has already become more aware of the role of culture in this growth process.

“Artists and culture professionals cannot live off applause alone. We must build a culture of remuneration, and data from IBGE [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics] shows that monthly household spending on culture has grown year after year. People are slowly becoming aware of the advantages of cultural consumption," he said.

                                                                                                                                                           Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil

Leitão also commented on the efforts of the Brazilian government to fight piracy and increase investments through the Culture Incentive Law. “Piracy drains at least 50% of revenues from cultural and creative activities. We are developing a policy to combat this practice, and have already made recommendations to Ancine [National Film Agency] to create a department to deal specifically with this issue," he added.

   Incentives from North to South

In November 2017, the Ministry issued a Normative Instruction that changes, reduces and simplifies the text of the Rouanet Law. The new law should make fundraising significantly easier, more democratic and, above all, decentralised. "We have included a series of inductors so that companies in the North, Northeast and Midwest regions have better incentives to participate. The issue of regional culture is a concern of the Ministry of Culture," Leitão explained.

Still according to the minister, the new Normative Instruction facilitates the understanding of the law’s wording, and was written from the point of view of users. The provisions create more attractive mechanisms for companies from all regions to become sponsors of cultural events, including an end-to-end digital platform to manage the fundraising process.

“The goal was to rationalise standards without losing control. Now, we have a more advanced law, one that is more modern, agile and adapted to the dynamics of the cultural sector. We expect more efficiency and additional benefits, not only for the sector, but for the whole of society," said the Culture Minister.