Òmnium Cultural

Òmnium Cultural
Motto Llengua, cultura, país
("Language, culture, country")
Founded July 11, 1961
Founder Lluís Carulla, Joan Baptista Cendrós,
Fèlix Millet, Joan Vallvé, Pau Riera
Type Cultural institution
Location
Coordinates 41°23′30″N 2°10′09″E / 41.39167°N 2.16917°ECoordinates: 41°23′30″N 2°10′09″E / 41.39167°N 2.16917°E
Area served
 Catalonia
Members
 38069
Website omnium.cat

Òmnium Cultural (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈɔmnium kuɫtuˈɾaɫ]) [1] is an independent association based in Barcelona (Catalonia). It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture.

Over the years it has increased its political nature and as of 2012 it had evolved into a Catalan separatist[2] movement demanding self-determination for Catalonia[3]

History

Òmnium Cultural was created on 11 July 1961 in the context of Francoist Spain when the institutional use of Catalan was forbidden. In 1963 the Francoist authorities closed down the association. Òmnium had to continue to exist as a clandestine association in the 1963-1967 period. In 1967, after a long legal case before the Francoist courts, the association won its right to exist and was once again authorized.

In order to promote the Catalan culture within the many limits of Francoism, Òmnium was the main sponsor of creating various awards and literary contests for works published in Catalan, such as the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes (1969). Then by the early 1970s it established the Nit de Santa Llúcia a festival of Catalan literature when three important awards are granted, Premi Sant Jordi (novel), Premi Mercè Rodoreda (short story) and the Premi Carles Riba (poetry).

After the end of the Francoist dictatorship in 1975, Òmnium continued its work promoting Catalan language and culture. Once democracy was restored, Òmnium supported and defended Catalan self-government, specially since the Spanish Constitutional Court’s rejection of the new Estatut.[4] One million people marched on July 10, 2010 in Barcelona calling for national self-determination in a 2010 Catalan autonomy protest organized by Òmnium.[5]

Now it is one of the main civic organisations that are pushing Catalan politicians to hold a Catalan self-determination referendum despite the Spanish government’s rejection of such an action.

Structure and Funding

The association is headed by Muriel Casals i Couturier. It claims to have more than 38,000 members and 30 regional offices besides the headquarters in Barcelona.

During the period 2005-2012 the association received up to 13 million euros in different grants from the Catalan regional government[6] from which, 1.4 million were received in 2012 alone.[7]

In 2013 the association announced that they had resigned from its public money grant. The same announcement was made in 2014. Currently it claims to be receiving less than 10% of its budget in public money, from the local or provincial administrations while the rest of its operation costs are own funds.

Òmnium Cultural works with other organizations that share similar goals in other Catalan-speaking territories: Acció Cultural del País Valencià [8](in the Valencian Community) and Obra Cultural Balear [9] (in the Balearic Islands).

It was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Generalitat de Catalunya.

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. ↑

External links

Òmnium Cultural