Arts Council Malta launched a new funding programme to support the creation and development of clusters for various niches in the Creative and Cultural Industries. The Creative Industries Platform is designed to facilitate the creation of support platforms that will provide targeted services to accelerate sector growth in a sustainable fashion and help creative professionals improve their product and take their creative ideas to market. Supported platforms may provide niche sectors with a variety of services ranging from access to professional mentoring, networking and international participation opportunities, shared services, work spaces and export development support.
'This funding programme will result in an improvement in the quality of the cultural and artistic sector,' said Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government Owen Bonnici. He explained how this leap in quality will be reflected on three levels: more opportunities as a result of collaboration between artists, more job opportunities in the cultural sector and more professionality in the sector. Minister Bonnici sustained that at the end of the day this programme will continue with our mission to help artists pursue a career in the cultural sector.
Through this fund, Arts Council Malta will enter into a three-year collaboration agreement with platforms that bring together a number of industry stakeholders and selected proposals may receive up to 50,000 euros annually. Toni Attard, Director of Strategy at Arts Council Malta said that the programme builds upon the Council's Create2020 strategy on business development and the goal to support creative practitioners turn their artistic ideas and disciplines into sustainable economic activities that can reach new markets locally and internationally.
Clusters are localized concentrations of interconnected businesses and organizations that provide products and services to a particular field or industry. Clusters typically include businesses in the same industry that share infrastructure, suppliers, and networks. Together they can develop joint solutions and combine resources to take advantage of market opportunities.
In 2015 the Culture and Creative Industries accounted for 7% of the total gross value added created by the Maltese economy, up from 6% in 2010 as indicated in the last update of this report. The CCIs continued to grow at an average of 9% per annum between 2010 and 2015, almost matching the performance recorded in 2005 and 2010. In 2015 the CCIs also accounted for 6% of total full time and part time gainful employment equivalent to 14,000 jobs. Job creation in the CCIs almost tripled in the latter 5-year period. The CCIs created 2,800 new jobs between 2010 and 2015, compared to an increase of 1,100 new jobs between 2005 and 2010. Employment in the CCIs increased by a significant rate of 5% average annual growth between 2010 and 2015.
An information session and workshop about the programme and support on how to submit a proposal will be held on 5th July at Malta Enterprise. Registration for the information session is via email on fundinfo@artscouncilmalta.org.
The application and guidelines of the Creative Industries Platform are available here http://artscouncilmalta.org/funds/creative-industries-platform/main-strand/application-form. Applications close on 13 September 2017.
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