Could a breath of fresh air be on the cards for Ravni Kotari?
As eZadar writes on the 5th of September, 2018, Minister of Culture Dr. Sc. Nina Obuljen Koržinek and her associates have paid a visit to the popular Dalmatian city of Zadar.
At the very beginning of the program, the minister met with County Prefect Božidar Longin and his associates at Zadar's county hall. They discussed issues related to cultural institutions founded by the County of Zadar, as well as the topic of the programming of projects for the next financial period of the European budget.
Longin pointed out the problem of founding rights and the funding of the National Museum and the Puppet Theater of Zadar, due to the fact that, namely, these cultural institutions are being funded entirely by Zadar County. This is especially evident in the fact that the Zadar County is the founder of the Zadar National Museum and that the City of Zadar is the only larger Croatian city without its own museum.
He also pointed out that as much as thirteen percent of the original Zadar County budget revenue goes to various cultural programs. In this regard, Minister Obuljen Koržinek said that although the new Museum Act does not regulate the ownership/founding rights of local and regional self-government units, contractual obligations and the agreement of both parties may redistribute "ownership" in such matters.
She also made sure to emphasise the overall importance of libraries as proper focal points for encouraging reading.
Later, Longin also pointed to valuable resources in the Zadar hinterland where, as he pointed out, the history of the Croats as a people were written. He noted that these somewhat neglected areas could use some welcome revitalisation with the help of the ministry in order to raise the quality of supply, as well as to help to point the direction of tourism towards very much overlooked local locations such as Ravni Kotari and Bukovica.
