| Secretaría de Cultura | |
Palacio Casey, headquarters | |
| Secretariat overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1973; 52 years ago (1973)[1] |
| Superseding Secretariat | |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Argentina |
| Headquarters | Palacio Casey,Buenos Aires[2] |
| Annual budget | $ 9,134,481,604 (2021)[3] |
| Secretariat executive |
|
| Child agencies | |
| Website | argentina.gob.ar/cultura |
TheSecretariat of Culture (Spanish:Secretaría de Cultura, formerlyMinistry of Culture) ofArgentina is aministry of thenational executive power that oversaw the government's public policy on theculture of Argentina.
The culture portfolio was first established in 1973 during the presidency ofHéctor Cámpora as part of the responsibilities of theMinistry of Culture and Education;[1] the first minister responsible wasJorge Taiana. The ministry existed only briefly before being demoted to a Secretariat. It would remain under the scope of the broader Ministry of Education until 2014, when it was re-established by PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner.[citation needed]
After presidentJavier Milei dissolved the Ministry of Culture in December 2023, it turned into a secretariat.[5]
The culture portfolio was first established as theMinistry of Culture and Education on 25 May 1973 upon the accession to the presidency ofHéctor Cámpora; the first minister responsible was the physician andJusticialist Party politicianJorge Alberto Taiana.[6] Taiana remained in office through the resignation of Cámpora, the interim presidency ofRaúl Lastiri, the brief third presidency ofJuan Domingo Perón and part of the presidency ofIsabel Perón, and was succeeded byOscar Ivanissevich in 1974.[7][8]
During thelast military dictatorship (1976–1983) the issue of culture and education was left, for the most part, in the hands of civilians.[9] Upon the return of democracy in 1983, PresidentRaúl Alfonsín mandated the creation of the Secretariat of Culture as a dependency of the Ministry of Education and Justice; the first Secretary wasCarlos Gorostiza.[10]
In 2014, PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the establishment of a ministry dedicated exclusively to culture, with singer-songwriterTeresa Parodi being appointed to the new position.[11] The ministry was again demoted to a Secretariat under the Ministry of Education with the cabinet reorganization imposed by PresidentMauricio Macri in September 2018, but this was undone by the administration of PresidentAlberto Fernández after it assumed power in 2019.[12][13]
The attributions and responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture are specified in Article 23, section 5 of the current Law on Ministries (Ley de Ministerios), published in 2019.[14] According to this law, the Ministry was in charge of assisting thePresident of Argentina and theChief of the Cabinet of Ministers in all matters pertaining to culture, as well as designing and executing public policy, planning, programs and projects to stimulate and favor culture; elaborating and promoting policies that strengthen Argentina's cultural identities, promoting policies destined to the development of the economic activity of the cultural industry, directing policies of conservation and protection of Argentina's cultural heritage, promoting policies that safeguard cultural diversity, among others.[14]
The Secretariat of Culture has a number of centralized and decentralized dependencies. The centralized dependencies, as in other government ministers, are known as secretariats (secretarías) and undersecretariats (subsecretarías); there are currently three of these:[15]
The Secretariat of Cultural Heritage, through the National Directorate of Museums, is tasked with overseeing and maintaining all of Argentina'snational museums, such as theNational Museum of Fine Arts, theNational Historical Museum, theSarmiento Historical Museum, theNational Bicentennial House, theHistorical House of Independence, theNational Cabildo Museum, among others.[16] In addition, a number of decentralized institutions depend on the Ministry of Culture, such as theNational Library of the Argentine Republic,[17] theNational Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA),[18] theNational Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought (INAPL) and theNational Institute of Music.[19]
The secretariat is headquartered in theCasey Palace, a residential manor originally built for theIrish Argentine businessmanEduardo Casey. The building was designed by the United States-born architect Carlos Ryder and finished in 1889.[2] It is located at the intersection ofAlvear Avenue and Rodríguez Peña street, in the Buenos Airesbarrio ofRecoleta.[20]
| No. | Minister | Party | Term | President | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Culture and Education (1973–1981) | ||||||
| 1 | Jorge Taiana | PJ | May – Jul 1973 | Héctor Cámpora | ||
| 2 | Carlos Burundarena | Independent | Mar – Dec 1981 | Roberto Viola | ||
| Ministry of Culture (2014–2023) | ||||||
| 3 | Teresa Parodi | Independent | 7 May 2014 – 10 December 2015 | Cristina Fernández | ||
| 4 | Pablo Avelluto | PRO | 10 December 2015 – 5 September 2018 | Mauricio Macri | ||
| 5 | Tristán Bauer | Independent | 10 December 2019 – 10 December 2023 | Alberto Fernández | ||
| Secretariat of Culture (2023–) | ||||||
| 6 | Leonardo Cifelli[4] | Independent | 27 December 2023 – | Javier Milei | ||