The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, announced on Monday an investment of 34.3 million euros in digital art. An announcement made on the sidelines of the 7th International Digital Creativity Market, Hub Montréal, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Posted at 12:17 p.m.
Minister Lacombe recalled that the development of digital creativity is one of his three priorities, a sector that he sees as “the culture of the future”. His presence at the Montréal hub, a first in seven years, served as a starting point for the government’s strategy for the next two years.
For Phase 1, the government wants to promote the accessibility of digital works in public spaces, promote companies’ export of digital creativity, launch an aid program for producers of digital experiences, expand the tax credit for the production of events and offer additional support for the realization of Projects between community partners, such as Hub Montréal, which receives a grant of $350,000, Xn Québec, the La Piscine incubator, etc.
The lion’s share of this investment, namely 15.4 million, will be awarded through project tenders under the “Project tender for the influence of Quebec culture” program.
“Our first goal is to bring digital creativity to life,” Minister Lacombe said at a press conference. We aim to work with municipalities, First Nations, Inuit, museums and public libraries as needed to organize events across Quebec. Specifically: in city centers, on buildings that give meaning to our communities, in parks or on commercial streets. »
Mathieu Lacombe cited as examples the historical tour of the Cité Mémoire in Old Montreal, the Flight of the Mechanical Bird in Charlevoix and the Foresta Lumina multimedia trail by Moment Factory in Coaticook.
The ministry’s second objective is to “better support companies and artisans of digital creativity”, in particular by mobilizing the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the SODEC on whether to support producers of digital experiences (10 million are provided). or they offer an advisory service, a financial assistance program and tax measures, including a refundable tax credit for the production of events or multimedia environments, increased from 50% to 60%.
Finally, the government’s third goal is to strengthen the digital creation ecosystem. “We need to work with the Ministry of Economy and Innovation to gain access to even greater resources. » 1.2 million will be invested to finance these “networking” projects.
The Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, was also present at the launch of Hub Montréal and took the opportunity to announce a direct aid of 3 million to the Société des arts Technologies of Montreal (SAT).