"Forward together. We celebrate 25 years of RKP - Regional Culture Programme NRW!"

Cultural politicians and state cultural promoters from all over NRW celebrated the successful state funding programme "Regionales Kultur Programm NRW", or RKP for short, in a central ceremony last Friday. Around 150 guests from politics, cultural administrations, institutions and the committees of the ten cultural regions came together in the Historisches Bürgerhaus in Velbert-Langenberg in the district of Mettmann to discuss the successes and future of the RKP. In addition to NRW Minister of Culture Ina Brandes, the team from the Münsterland e.V. Cultural Office was also present.

Minister Ina Brandes praised the long-standing work of the cultural promoters, which ensures that the funding from the NRW Regional Culture Programme flows into projects that are meaningful and create value for the individual regions. In her speech, the Minister of Culture referred to the Cultural Code in which this funding programme, which is unique in Germany, is enshrined and thus reliably continued. In the course of a recent evaluation, the NRW Regional Culture Programme was given an "A" rating. The programme's unique focus on cooperation offers an opportunity even in the current crisis: "We are only good if we network and develop strengths together," says Minister Brandes.

The profitable benefits of cooperation were also emphasised again and again in the three discussion rounds during the ceremony: "Sustainable further together" and "even more agility" - that was the tenor. Cultural actors from all ten cultural regions discussed the successes of the programme, the importance of networks, the development of regional strengths and possible future-oriented further developments of the programme. Jan-Christoph Tonigs, Head of the Department of Culture at the Münster District Government, and Jörg Albrecht, Artistic Director of Burg Hülshoff - Center for Literature, took part in the discussion. "The strength of the programme lies in its interdisciplinary linkage: as a cross-sectoral promotion, the RKP has an impact across the boundaries of all cultural sectors, but also beyond them into society," Tonigs emphasised.

The ceremony brought together the actors who launched the RKP - Kultur Programm NRW 25 years ago (at that time still under the name "Regional Cultural Policy NRW") as well as those who are accompanying the programme today on its way into the future. The conversations and networking on the sidelines were among the informal programme points that make up the core of the RKP.

Andre Sebastian, head of the Münsterland Cultural Office at Münsterland e.V. makes clear the value of the RKP for culture in the region: "Our cultural practitioners have so many good ideas, but of course they have to be financed. The Regional Culture Programme is the best way to do this and has made many good cultural projects possible over the past 25 years. Surely the cultural landscape in Münsterland would not otherwise be as rich and diverse as it is now. We are also pleased that the field of applicants has become broader: In addition to established institutions, many smaller groups, associations and individual artists are also applying for funds."

Artistic contributions for the ceremony came from the MNEME collective from Münsterland, Charles Petersohn and band from Wuppertal, filmmaker Magnus Krenz from Bielefeld with a lively and humorous film clip about the ten cultural regions. Ten poetry slammers from ten different cities in the individual cultural regions eloquently and sensitively described their own region as an individual home with its own charm in the common house of North Rhine-Westphalia. Dilara Yüksek recited her text from Münsterland.

Further Information

Since 1997, the "Regional Culture Programme" has been funding projects that strengthen communication and cooperation between creators and those responsible in the cultural regions of North Rhine-Westphalia, bundle forces, network and strengthen the identity and attractiveness of the region. The state funding amounts to a maximum of 50 percent of the total expenditure. In Münsterland, the Cultural Council discusses the project ideas submitted. If it makes a recommendation, a formal application can be submitted to the Münster district government.

www.muensterland.com/kultur
www.regionaleskulturprogrammnrw.de