National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA)
FONCA was created in order to financially support quality artistic and cultural productions; encourage the promotion and dissemination of culture; stimulate the work of emeritus creators and cultural groups; finance cultural projects; support artistic residencies in other countries; increase the cultural heritage; promote investment in professional cultural projects; among others.
FONCA has many programs, including:
- Center of Experimentation and Production of Contemporary Music (Cepromusic).
- Center for Production of Contemporary Dance (CEPRODAC).
- National Theatre Company (CNTeatro).
- Opera Studio of Fine Arts (EOBA).
- Promotion of Cultural Joint Investments and Projects.
- Mexico: Performing Arts Meeting.
- Support Program “Edmundo Valadés” for the publication of independent magazines.
- Cátedra cultura de México program (Mexican Culture Professorship Program).
- Translation Support Program (PROTRAD).
- Scholarship program for overseas studies.
- Support Programs for Performing Arts Professional Artistic Groups, "México en Escena".
FONCA is the result of the efforts of the State, the private sector and the artistic community. The Fund aims to support the creation and artistic and cultural production quality , operating under the premises of democratic participation, equal opportunities and judgments parity in project selection.
For this purpose, from 2012 to 2015, FONCA invested close to $550,000,000 MXN for the implementation of support programs for overseas scholarships in order to promote artistic and cultural research; development of the fine arts (dance, music, theatre, painting, etc.); translation and publication of works; edition of magazines; assistance to cultural companies, etc., benefiting more than 1500 projects, artists and cultural companies.
The "Scholarship Program for overseas studies" stands out in this period, whose main objective is to promote national education and research through the granting of scholarships for Mexicans in order to foster postgraduate studies in foreign universities.
This program benefited 402 artists, promoters, managers and workers within the culture field, giving them the opportunity to experience academic mobility outside the country: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Spain, United States, France, Italy, to mention a few. A total of $64,356,039.47 MXN were earmarked for the program. It is expected to strengthen the professionalization and update the curriculum of performers, promote training for teams of researchers and specialists with high standards and excellence in various artistic and cultural disciplines.
On the other hand, the "Promotion of Cultural Joint Investments and Projects" program is an initiative whose purpose is to promote the creation and development of comprehensive artistic and cultural projects within a period of 12 months, in order to promote the cultural development in our country. The FONCA supported 397 applications and allocated a budget of $82,956,286 MXN for this program.
In addition to this, from 2012 to 2015, the Fund launched public calls to participate in the "Support Program for Performing Arts Professional Artistic Groups, México en Escena", which seeks to benefit economically professional artistic groups in Mexico in the medium and long term. During the period in reference, 130 artistic groups were benefited, spending $188,956,478 MXN.
During the same period, translation projects were also encouraged through the "Translation Support Program (PROTRAD)”, with the intention of spreading Mexican literature abroad and presenting works of foreign authors in Mexico. For the execution the public call, $23,339,192.62 MXN were employed and 95 projects were benefited, 66 of which were foreign and 29 Mexican.