Estonian culture policy at a crossroads
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Minister of Culture, Estonian Centre Party
The Estonian government cannot be accused of lacking a cultural policy. The problem lies above all in the fact that the elitist-conservationist culture policy followed to date does not conform to the needs of a dynamically developing community, which is why the aim of cultural policy is changing.
The dominance of the norms of high culture in assessing culture is weakening. They are being replaced by a democratic view of culture based on, for the purposes of shaping and assessing culture policy, the criteria of availability, diversity and satisfaction of people’s needs for culture. Along with this, the defining role of the state (read: politicians and officials) in directing cultural activeness is receding. It is being replaced to an increasing extent by civil society and the market.