Puste kanony. O liberalnej i nacjonalistycznej polityce kulturalnej w Polsce 1989-2020 ………. 47

EMPTY CANONS: ON LIBERAL AND NATIONALIST CULTURAL POLICY IN POLAND 1989-2020

Culture in Poland after 1989 was managed in two ways. In the last decade of the 20th century and in the beginning of the 21st century cultural policy was based on the dogma of self-financing culture. The second period was initiated by the right-wing government in 2005, and its continuation was management after 2015; in this concept, cultural policy was based on the dogma of the supremacy of national values. Both concepts result from the belief that the canon is empty: according to neoliberal practice, everyone has the right to have their own canon, but each canon matters only insofar as it leads to success in life; for a right-wing party, the canon is empty because a work of art is included in the canon not for artistic value, but for national-religious benefit. In the first concept, culture is doomed to rapid commodification, in the second – to nationalization. In the first period, culture was granted independence on the condition that artists would earn for themselves, and moreover, the bond-creating role of culture was neglected. In the second period, the state provides financial support to culture, but limits funding to nationalist initiatives, censoring expressions of independent art. The question to be asked: is there a third canon?