The funds can be used until next June 30 to support the professional work of workshops at home and abroad, to finance the annual activities of dance halls, folk craft programs, dance ensembles, folk music groups and folk song circles – said Eszter Vitályos.
The purpose of the Sándor Csoóri Program is to promote the transfer of knowledge, to develop the professional work of the Hungarian and ethnic Hungarian folk dance and folk music ensembles and folk song circles, and to develop their professional work, to strengthen the communities, and thus to preserve and pass on our folk art values and traditions.
The Parliamentary State Secretary emphasized that
Hungary is a great power in folk art, and it is our duty to protect the treasures of Hungarian culture in folk traditions and folk art values for the sake of current and future generations. Completing the task is in the national interest.
He added that the strengthening of identity and the consolidation of the national community are at least as necessary in Hungary today as among Hungarians abroad, “especially with regard to the role of cultural mediators of local communities, which is a cornerstone of the culture of national unity and also represents cultural diversity”.
Eszter Vitályos emphasized: the program has a serious advisory board, in which prestigious specialists representing all fields of folk art work together. He also mentioned that
the application system developed in connection with the program resulted in a secure, predictable basis for professional work, many new ensembles and creative communities were created even in settlements where respect for folk traditions was disappearing.
Since the launch of the program in 2017, more than ten thousand applications have received support.
