Republic of Slovenia Public Fund for Cultural Activities -
JSKD - Javni sklad RS za kulturne dejavnost

The Public Fund for Cultural Activities (JSKD) is a governmental institution covering all branches of youth and non-professional (amateur) culture and art: vocal and instrumental music, theatre and puppetry, folklore, film and video, literature, fine arts and dance. JSKD has its headquarters in Ljubljana and 59 branch offices all over Slovenia, 10 of them functioning at an inter-regional level. This network seeks to foster public interest in culture and stimulate the development of Slovene youth and amateur art. It also investigates and connects non-institutional cultural activities all over the country and organises international, national and regional education programmes, presentations and reviews of culture and art created by 2,250 cultural associations. Together with local branches of the Union of Cultural Societies of Slovenia (ZKDS), JSKD’s branches function as a mediator between cultural associations and cultural policy at both municipal and state level.

JSKD programmes in the field of film include film scriptwriting and editing courses and an annual film and video seminar-laboratory. In the field of visual arts, drawing, painting and pottery classes and art, sculpture and photography workshops take place annually, cf Summer Visual Arts Workshops. Since 1978 the Mentor magazine has stimulated young creative writers and illustrators via literary competitions. JSKD organises regular literary workshops, a literary summer school and a summer translation school that usually results in small publications. There is a festival of young literature calle Urška and recently a competition for the best rock lyrics has been launched. In the field of folklore and vocal music inter-regional seminars for folklore tutors are organises plus choral seminars, meetings and workshops. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring dance schools take place in several cities around Slovenia, the results being presented at the traditional Živa and Opus (Solo) festivals. Regional and inter-regional theatre seminars and an annual Summer theatre school are quite popular and groups compete for awards at the annual Linhart's Meetings of amateur and secondary school performing arts groups and (since 2006) at the Visions Festival of Young Theatre Groups. Some JSKD programmes are run also in co-production with professional organisations, eg the Visuality Summer School.

JSKD prepares seminars for members of various professional societies as well as for enthusiasts who are interested in art and other creative processes. Festivals, competitions, seminars and workshops in different genres involve the participation of professional pedagogues, mentors and artists. The Fund encourages international co-operation between Slovene artistic societies and associations. It co-operates closely with Slovene organisations, associations and clubs in other countries all over the world, as well as with similar European organisations.

In addition to its co-ordination and training activities in the field of culture, the Public Fund for Cultural Activities issues annual public calls for cultural projects in the field of youth and amateur cultural activities. The call is open to cultural societies, unions or groups seeking support for different cultural projects in various fields or disciplines, including Film and video, Music, Dance, Theatre and puppets, Folklore and ethnic culture, Visual Arts, Literature and Intermedia. Further annual calls are aimed at non-governmental institutions and local cultural agencies who possess or run facilities and need co-financing for urgent building works, venue maintenance and equipment purchases. Funding for these investments comes from the so-called 'cultural tolar' budget, which was set up by the Ministry of Culture in 1998. In 2007 modest support was granted to 700 cultural projects (out of 1,233 applications). In 2007 JSKD gave grants to around 50 minority groups engaged in arts and culture, and also supported projects by around 50 cultural groups of Slovenes living abroad. Also from the 'cultural tolar' budget, 115 cultural organisations and 56 youth cultural centres were afforded support, and 80 societies received grants for the purchase of instruments and folkloric costumes. The JSKD branches in Ljubljana and Maribor issue an additional call for programmes and projects by non-governmental cultural societies active in Ljubljana and Maribor Urban Municipalities respectively. Projects and institutions are selected by expert committees.

The website kreart.si contains the database of societies or associations round Slovenia.