3. Cultural and creative sectors
Italy
Last update: May, 2022
Heritage has always been the main focus of the Italian cultural policy, starting from the name of the first Ministry established in 1974, Ministry for Heritage (“Ministero per i Beni Culturali e ambientali”), notwithstanding the broader competence on different cultural domains, such as performing arts, libraries, film, and landscape. In 2013 the name changed to the Ministry for the Heritage, Cultural Activities and Tourism (“Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali” /MiBACT), due to the enlargement of the competences, including tourism. Recently the responsibilities on tourism have been transferred for a short while to the Ministry of Agricultural policies and then (2021) to a new autonomous Ministry of Tourism. On this occasion also the acronym of the Ministry, MiBACT, changed again to become simply MiC, Ministry of Culture, (“Ministero della Cultura”).
The direct responsibility of the Ministry in managing national heritage institutions encompasses 464 museums with archaeological sites and monuments out of 4.880, 107 libraries out of 7.401 and 101 archives[1], while the whole domain of protection and valorisation of heritage is regulated by the Heritage and Landscape Codex, which synthetized in a single text a large number of previous specific laws on that topic.
Starting from 2014, Museums, Monuments and Archaeological sites, at national level, have been the object of a process of reorganization that implies for the most important ones an economic and organisational autonomy: now there are 40 Museums with special autonomy, coordinated by the General Direction of Museums (Direzione Generale dei Musei); the other national museums are organised under the Regional Directions of Museums (Direzioni Regionali dei Musei).
The Directors of Museums with special autonomy have been selected via a public international contest, rather then selecting personnel directly from the Ministry as usual, giving room to some debates. Anyway, this change produced positive effects on audiences and activities in almost all cases.
The other more than 4.200 museums, archaeological sites and monuments are mainly run by municipalities (2.097), Religious entities (491), other public bodies and Universities, Foundations, and private associations.
To better coordinate and promote high quality levels of performances of the whole universe of museums, apart from their property, the Ministry established the National Museum System (Sistema museale nazionale), providing in 2018 Livelli Uniformi di Qualità (LUQV) – Standard Quality Levels, divided into a minimum range and in an improvement level. The participation in the System is on a voluntary basis, and provides an accreditation, after having passed the minimum level. The System is managed by a specific commission, using a digital platform and it is intended as a tool to improve territorial and thematic networks, as well as an incentive for better quality in all domains of museum activities, starting from the relationship with audiences.
Apart from Museums, the Ministry has a specific structure for coordinating and sustaining the UNESCO World Heritage List, given the largest number of sites in Italy in comparison with other Countries, 58 in 2021. Adding to this, in recent years there has been growing interest in the cultural immaterial components of heritage, recognizing on the national level 14 cases within the Intangible UNESCO cultural heritage List. The growing importance for the intangible components of culture is witnessed by the decision of the Ministry to establish a new permanent Observatory on the Intangible UNESCO heritage List.
The central role of heritage, material and intangible, is also at the core of the Italian Capital of Culture, an yearly national competition to select a city for cultural merits, structured in a similar way to the ECOC European programme. This role is played not only by monuments and museums, but also by the quality of historical centres and vernacular dwellings, as in the example of Procida Island – Italian Cultural Capital for 2022. In 2023 the title will be shared by Bergamo and Brescia, as a tool to redesign the cultural future of these cities that suffered the most during the Covid 19 pandemic, with an enormous number of losses.
To better sustain the investments in protecting, restoring and enhancing the material and intangible Heritage, the Ministry established in 2020 a Cultural Fund (“Fondo per la Cultura”)[2]; the interesting innovation is that the total endowment could be increased in partnership with private actors, through activities of micro-funding and crowd-funding.
Another way of involving private actors and companies in sustaining cultural heritage is represented by the Art Bonus[3]: private actors or companies can invest in three different domains (restoration and maintenance of public heritage; sustaining cultural institutions, Opera Houses, Theatres and other bodies operating in performing arts; or funding new buildings or restoring existing venues of public institutions dealing with performing arts). The investors can obtain a tax credit equal to 65% of the money invested (see chapter 4.4 and 7.3).
New forms of Public-Private Partnerships are now possible starting from 2016, thanks to the new Public Procurement Contract (“Codice degli Appalti”)[4] that allows private actors not only to invest through sponsorships activities, but also to be partners in managing and running the cultural institutions on a long term basis, consistent with the dimension of the initial investment. The application of this opportunity, extended not only to the State Heritage, but also at the local government level, is providing successful experiences.
It’s obvious to remark that the frame and the entire organisation of heritage management at all levels has been hit with unpredictable violence by the pandemic, starting from the first months of 2020; ISTAT evaluates that approx. 78 millions Euros was lost during the three months from March to May 2020, due to the lockdown by the State museum alone. The business model of museums and monuments based not only on public funding, but also on a significant contribution of tickets sold, entered into a dramatic crisis after the lockdowns and the adoption of new constraints, reducing the carrying capacity for pandemic risks prevention, and in this very moment the uncertainty for the future evolution of the situation is dramatically high.
The extraordinary situation pushed the Ministry to adopt exceptional measures to sustain the crisis experienced by a large number of institutions: adding to this, new resources are being provided for the Cultural Fund and for the protection of heritage, combined with a new impetus for the digital strategy in the heritage domain and the adoption of a digital plan for heritage.
A significant amount of resources will be invested thanks to the PNRR, National Plan of Resilience and Resistance, starting from 2021, focused on a list of relevant Heritage sites (Grandi Attrattori), on the digital strategy for heritage and on historical villages in the rural and mountain areas.
Great expectations are placed on future investments of massive resources tied together with major concerns about the sustainability of previous business models, about the effects of social distancing on audiences, and about possible negative impacts on visitor behaviours.
[1] https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/251882
[2] D.L. 34/2020, L. 77/2020: art. 184.
[3] D.L. 83/2014, L. 106/2014.
[4] D.L. 83/2014, L. 106/2014, Art 151, comma 3).
Last update: May, 2022
In 2016 the Ministry of Culture established the Archives and Bibliographic Superintendences (Sovrintendenze Archivistiche e bibliografiche) with the precise task of protection of archives and on library patrimony, identifying cultural patrimonies exposed to specific risks and implementing protection plans.
The DARCAP System (Documentation of Public Administration Archives, Documentazione degli Archivi delle Amministrazioni Pubbliche) includes more than 3.400 archives, regularly analyzed by ISTAT, while 101 are State Archives, in every provincial capital. Adding to this core public dimension of institutions, there is a universe of private historic and industrial archives, that represents a big challenge in terms of protection and accessibility.
The exponential growth of documentation in many archives is also one of the motivations for experimenting with new systems of document navigation, based on artificial intelligence algorithms: the lack of time also for professional researchers and the objective to enlarge audiences outside of historians and researchers, spreading all the potentialities of extended use by local populations is a driving force for innovation and setting up more friendly interfaces for the entire citizenship.
In this direction, the Ministry established a special fund of 300 million Euros to remove physical and cognitive barriers for archives and libraries, that means investing in implementing all types of accessibility, including cultural and cognitive, opening this patrimony to non expert users.
Another fund of 105 million Euros is being established for 2022, addressed to purchase or realising a building for State Archives, or adapting an ancient building to new seismic and fire regulations.
According to ISTAT[1] the number of libraries in Italy is 7.459, 6.066 of which are public: 104 are directly managed by the State, 5.557 by municipalities and/or local governments, and 537 by religious bodies.
Thanks to their widespread diffusion, including in rural areas and in smaller centres, libraries play the role of an irreplaceable cultural stronghold in almost every territory of the nation, with prevalence in Centre-Nord Regions.
Many public reading libraries provide a greater service that just places for book loans – from 2008, in the long years of the economic crisis, the range of services rapidly increased, especially in big cities to cover language courses, workshops, education, digital literacy, shelter for people in difficult conditions, a welcoming place for migrants and new citizens, providing services as civic centres, and moved toward structures of cultural and social welfare.
This social dimension, described by Antonella Agnoli in the book Piazze del sapere, (Squares of Knowledge)[2], does not consign to the background the core mission of preserving the librarian patrimony and putting people in touch with books, but it’s a powerful push to evolve toward an institution open to social changes, available to change skin according to the evolution of social needs.
Anyway promoting books and reading stands still at the core of libraries, sustained by public funding at the different power levels, local government, regions, the state.
In 2017 the Ministry established a Fund devoted to promote reading in libraries[3]; the objective is to empower local networks and systems of libraries, improving performances of services for audiences.
Very similar objectives are shared also by Cepell, the Centre for books and reading, (Centro per il libro e la lettura), an autonomous Institute established in 2007 by the Ministry, under the General Direction of Libraries and Copyright.
Cepell is in charge of implementing policies of promoting books and reading in Italy, as well as Italian culture abroad, being a meeting point for all the professionals working in the book and publishing domain. The Centre is active also in book promotion for children, sustaining festivals, supporting the Book fairs of Turin and Rome and taking part in other initiatives
The pandemic storm, followed by lockdowns meant the interruption of the vis à vis relationships with audiences and the parallel strong increase in digital services. At the national level in 2020, the MLOL platform, the first Italian service of digital lending, used by approx. seven thousand libraries had a dramatic increase of 89% in new users and a 102% in loans.
There was a strong impact connected with the loss of public library spaces to socialise in person, particularly felt by students using libraries as quiet places to study, especially during the pandemic, or for elderly people used to meeting in the reading rooms.
The Ministry reacted by providing new funds to overcome the crisis, addressed to book promotion and to new book purchases for libraries, recommending the involvement of bookshops as a target also of other public incentives.
[1] www.istat.it/it/archivio/264586
[2] Antonella Agnoli, Le piazze del sapere, Bari, Laterza 2009-2013.
[3] DL n. 50/2017, art. 22, comma 7-quater, Promozione della lettura nei sistemi bibliotecari.
Last update: May, 2022
In Italy, the Performing Arts sector is primarily supported by the Ministry of Culture. For reasons of space, we limit our analysis to the period which began in the sixties with the enactment of Law 800 of 1967, New regulations for opera houses and musical activities. Law 800 outlines the framework of the live music sector, identifying its categories, primarily for the Enti Lirici (Opera Houses), which were then transformed into Fondazioni Lirico-Sinfoniche (Opera-Symphonic Foundations) following a legislative decree of 1996.
Law 163, New regulations of State Interventions in favor of performing arts, dates back to 1985 and embraces performing arts and film. The central element of this provision is the creation of the FUS – Fondo Unico per lo Spettacolo (Unified Fund for Performing Arts), which is further strengthened by an increase in the funds earmarked for this sector, which were previously allocated through circulars, also known as “leggine” (minor laws) issued annually. Law 163 was also defined as the “mother law” as it should have given rise to a series of sector-specific laws. However, this did not happen, with the sole exception of the film sector which would later be governed by the separate Law 220 of 2016 Discipline for the film and audiovisual sector, with Law 800 maintaining its overarching scope.
The years following 1985 were marked by numerous attempts to design a new specific law governing the performing arts, with many announcements and missed opportunities, due to a series of contributing causes, mainly linked to the difficulty in finding agreements between decision makers. At last the long-awaited law came about at the end of the 17th Legislature of the Republic of Italy with the enactment of Law 175 of 2017, Provisions on the matter of performing arts and delegations to the Government for the reorganization of the sector (often referred to as the Performing Arts Codex as it was expected to provide for a single comprehensive regulatory measure for all the performing arts). The Law established that the Government would issue – within twelve months after the provision had come into effect – one or more legislative decrees «for the coordination and reorganization of the legislative and regulatory provisions (...) regarding activities, organization and management» of the opera-symphonic foundations, as well as «for the reform, revision and reorganization of the current discipline» of the other sectors contemplated in the new law pertaining to the performing arts. The provision did obviously generate many expectations.
In reality, also due to a subsequent change of government, the deadline was not met, and only measures not included in the Delegations to the Government were adopted. Among the more wide-ranging innovations introduced there are the establishment of the Higher Council of Performing Arts – aimed at guaranteeing «the best and most effective» implementation of the law – and the enlargement of the scope of the activities promoted and supported by the State, in favor of “contemporary popular musical activities” and “carnivals and historical re-enactments”.
The law was enacted after two ministerial decrees, the first called Criteria and methods for the allocation, advance and settlement of grants to the performing arts sector from the Unified Fund for Performing Arts (FUS) issued in 2014 for the three-year period 2014-2017. The second decree referred to the three-year period 2018-2020, issued in 2017, made only non-relevant changes to the previous one, and was extended for one year due to the Pandemic. The two decrees have in fact redesigned (the first, to a much greater extent) the geography of the performing arts sector and introduced (not without generating conflicting reactions) new evaluation systems, at qualitative and quantitative level, with algorithms used to define grants. The first decree comprises the following areas, still valid today: Theatre, Music, Dance, Circus and Traveling Shows, Multidisciplinary Projects and Transversal Actions, each subdivided into specific sectors. It has also redesigned the categories of sectors (here we refer mainly to theatre) – for example, the National Theatres have in many ways replaced Teatri Stabili (public Permanent Theatres). It should also be emphasized that these decrees did not include opera, subject to ad hoc regulations, also designed to reduce budget deficits.
The picture is completed with the enactment, in July 2021, of the Bill, Delegation to the Government and other provisions on performing arts, which assigns a new role to the Government «for the reorganization of the legal provisions on performing arts and for the reorganization and review of the support tools in favor of workers in the sector». A third decree was issued in December 2021, Criteria and methods ... referring to the three-year period 2022 - 2024, which makes further changes to the overall system of the performing arts sector, first of all by introducing new categories, such as the National Choreographic Centres, Centres of Relevant Interest in the field of dance, Music Production Centres and Regional Orchestras.
In 2021, the state awarded a total of approximately 408 million euros to the sector of performing arts and over 1,600 grants were awarded.
In general, it should be noted that, as a result of the pandemic, the urgency of identifying and implementing strategies aimed at ensuring a full restart of the performing arts sector was felt and shared at the various levels of government. State and regional funding from previous years was largely maintained, although in the absence of the same activity standards, and extraordinary funds were also allocated to help companies to overcome the critical phase and reactivate their connections with audiences, in order to recover and further enhance the social importance of culture.
Last update: May, 2022
The Italian Ministry of Culture has a specific General Direction for Contemporary Creativity, (DG Creatività Contemporanea)[1], supporting arts and contemporary architecture - urban planning, photography, video-art, design and fashion, and the creative and cultural industries.
One of the most important policy tools is the Pact for Contemporary Art (PAC) established in 2001, focused on implementing the public stock of contemporary arts through a policy of purchasing artwork from Italian and international artists (see chapter 7.2.1). The PAC also supports museums and public institutions to enlarge and increase their collections. One of the important goals of the PAC is increasing the public commissioning of artworks for emerging and established artists, also for site specific works.
Another domain of intervention is represented by the promotion of comics at national and international level, helping network strategies at national level to get the critical mass for better communication.
PAC sustains museums, non profit associations, foundations, and cultural institutions promoting comics in Italy and abroad through festivals, exhibitions and other initiatives.
The Photography Strategy, 2020 (Strategia Fotografia 2020) aims to exploit the potential of contemporary photography as a tool for preserving memories and understanding society, nurturing a critical look at contemporary times. It supports four axes of different actions: purchasing, commissioning, conservation and displaying Italian and international photography: they are addressed to non-profit organisations and cultural institutions active in promoting photography.
A big player in the field of contemporary visual arts is represented by the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which is a large campus for culture in the fields of contemporary architecture and visual arts, with the mission of bridging past forms of art with contemporary creativity, being a laboratory of innovation, and experimentation of new languages.
The MAXXI Foundation as a National Museum, created directly by the Ministry of Culture, is not a standing alone institution: a large number of contemporary visual arts museums is diffused in all the territories, underlying the important role of the regions and local government in promoting the contemporary visual arts, starting from the pioneering experiences of the Rivoli Museum in Piedmont (1984) and the Pecci museum in Tuscany (1988).
Departments of culture of cities and regions are active not only as funding museums but also in promoting a large number of temporary exhibitions of visual art, as one of the most important axes of activity, notwithstanding a sensible decrease in the last decade due to the huge cutbacks to public funds for culture.
Visual arts represents also a domain in which the banking foundations are particularly active, whether increasing their private collections or sustaining foundations, museums and cultural institutions. Adding to this also, the financial institutions can play a key role in the visual arts, as in the case of the cultural Pole of Gallerie d’Italia, three museums and exhibition centres located in Milano, Napoli and Vicenza managed by Intesa San Paolo, the biggest banking group in Italy, with a network of partnerships within prestigious institutions active in the visual arts domain. A new venue devoted to photography will be opened on 2022 in the centre of Turin.
As far as artistic crafts are concerned, actions of promotion, exhibitions and different forms of support are more relevant at the local level (not always involving cultural departments) rather than at the national level. In this field the main stakeholders and actors are trade unions, professional organisations, Chambers of Commerce, and the CNA National Confederation of Craftsmanship, (Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola Industria).
Anyway, at national level, starting from 2022 the Ministry of Culture established a measure of some tax exemption for those crafts activities that move toward small centres, contributing to preserving the vitality of the internal areas of the country.
Last update: May, 2022
In Italy, thanks to the pioneering studies of Prof. Walter Santagata, the cultural and creative industries have been at the centre of scientific debates that have progressively defined its borders and elaborated methodologies for collecting quantitative and qualitative data. In recent years, thanks to the collaboration of public and private research bodies, the definition of the cultural and creative sector is identified by the 4-digit NACE codes as in the main international studies. In detail, macro-domains that refer to the cultural and creative industries (CCI) have been defined as follow: Architecture and design, Communication, Audiovisual and music, Video games and software, Book and Press, while those relating to the Performing arts and arts visual art and the historical and artistic heritage are defined as cultural and creative sectors (CCS).
Different authorities lead the Italian regulatory system for cultural industries, while ministries and public bodies develop policies, strategies and measures with a different level of coordination. Different government authorities govern the CCI: the press sector is governed by the Publishing Department at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, just as the rules relating to radio and video broadcasting are the responsibility of the Presidency of the Council and the Parliament. The Ministry of Culture governs the Film and Audiovisual sector like other cultural and creative sectors at national level while the activities abroad are the result of actions by both the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Latter acts through the Agency for Development Cooperation and the Italian Cultural Institutes, peripheral offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Authority also regulates the Communication sector for Communications (AGCOM). The Ministry of Culture regularly finances activities for the promotion and dissemination of Italian cultural products by supporting international festivals in various sectors (Film, Publishing, Television, Live Entertainment). Through a specific programme called the Boarding Pass, The Ministry of Culture promotes the dissemination, co-production and hospitality of Italian live show projects at an international level. The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation supports heritage protection and conservation projects in various countries of the world using skills and technologies developed in Italy.
It can therefore be summarized that the main Italian strategies for the cultural and creative industries is to support the production of cultural contents, to support the distribution in Italy and abroad of Italian productions and to support the diffusion of Italian and European productions in Italy and abroad. The policies are developed through regulations aimed at financing the activities of the cultural industries directly by grants and indirectly by different systems: tax credits and purchase facilitations for certain categories of users: 18Apps for students, the Teachers’ Charter for teaching staff of the schools etc. In recent years, attention to new forms of dissemination of cultural products has been progressively increasing.
Through the service agreement, signed in April 2017, between RAI (the Italian public broadcaster) and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, RAI has to provide television and film content through a digital platform (RaiPlay). Recently, on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a digital platform dedicated to the dissemination of content that represents Italian culture was developed in collaboration with a private company[1]. In the context of the health emergency, several private digital platforms have emerged to exploit opportunities for the dissemination of digital content in various areas of the cultural industries. Various companies are experimenting with new forms of production and distribution linked to digital and immersive technologies.
In 2017, a profound reform of the third sector was launched. It is partially still in the stages of implementation and will provide profound change in the associative structures and in Italian cultural enterprises. The third sector reform poses innovative and structural challenges to a large part of the live entertainment sector and cultural associations but also to small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the cultural and creative sector. Cultural industries are also the object of this new regulation, especially for the recognition of the social function of community radios and cultural tourism. The main objectives that the new legislation sets itself are greater transparency and greater evaluation of the impact generated by the organizations of the third sector. Public-private partnerships in Italy are mainly of a traditional type. The private sector intervenes through public tenders for the concession of services within public spaces (museums, archaeological sites, etc.). In recent years, actions taken have increasingly seen public actors (public bodies and universities) and private actors (associations, foundations, cooperatives) collaborate in the management of public cultural heritage. The third sector reform provides new forms of collaboration between third sector organizations and public administrations for the development of public-private partnerships. Due to the recent introduction of this new regulation, there are no cases of application.
Finally, the role of banking foundations as actors in public policies is experiencing a growing phase also with respect to the forms of support for third sector initiatives and involving private investors. One of these examples is the first joint-stock social enterprise funded entirely by private investors and the Cariplo Foundation, which is dedicated to technological innovation in the music sector.
Eurostat cultural statistics shows that cultural employment in Italy is stable in the last 10 years ranging from 3.4% to 3.6%.
Cultural employment
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| % of total employment | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
The cultural enterprises are about 5% of total enterprise and turnover from 2010 and 2018 increased from 2,0% to 1.6%.
Number of cultural enterprises and generated turnover as a percentage of total services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Enterprise | NA | NA | 4.87 | 4.76 | 4.79 | 4.78 | 4.81 | 4.89 | 4.95 |
| Turnover | 2.01 | 1.83 | 1.81 | 1.74 | 1.7 | 1.68 | 1.65 | 1.59 | 1.64 |
The average number employed in the cultural sector is about 2%, ranging from 2.3% in 2010 to 2.1% in 2018.
Persons employed per enterprise in culture and in total services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Average number | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
The following table shows the added value in the cultural and creative sector and in the culture and creative industries. The main trend from 2010 to 2018 is a slow decline of all the cultural industries following the general trend of cultural services.
Publishing and press from 0,34% to 0,26%; Audiovisual from 0,18% to 0,15%; architecture and design slightly decreased from 0,15% to 0,9%; the other sectors seem to be stable also.
Added value in Culture and Creative Industries
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Value added in cultural sectors (% of value added in total services): | 3.08 | 2.79 | 2.72 | 2.67 | 2.56 | 2.5 | 2.32 | 2.25 | 2.26 |
| Publishing of books, newspapers, journals, periodicals and computer games | 0.34 | 0.29 | 0.29 | 0.27 | 0.27 | 0.25 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.26 |
| Motion pictures, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing activities | 0.18 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.15 |
| Programming and broadcasting activities | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.32 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.28 |
| News agency activities | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Architectural activities | 0.15 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 |
| Specialised design activities | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 |
The cultural and creative sector has a limited impact on the trade balance. Export in this sector represents about 0,78% of total Italian exports and increased from 2010 to 2019, while in the same period the cultural and creative services imports decreased from 1.8% to 1.7%.
Trade balance of cultural goods and services
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Exports of cultural goods as a percentage of total imports | 0.73 | 0.75 | 0.76 | 0.67 | 0.72 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.85 | 0.79 | 0.78 |
| Imports of cultural goods as a percentage of total exports | 1.81 | 1.72 | 1.77 | 1.87 | 1.84 | 1.85 | 1.76 | 1.78 | 1.71 | 1.74 |
Last update: May, 2022
The promotion of books and press is in the remit of the Ministry of Culture and specifically of DG Libraries and Copyright. The DG’s activities range from promoting reading, to coordinating libraries and the national library system. It promotes the digitization of Italian library heritage and from 2020 assigns the “quality libraries” brand to the points of sale that have specific requirements.
From 2017, a specific Tax Credit is envisaged for small independent bookstores. In the context of the Covid-19 health emergency, data analysis reports a considerable increase in reading and buying books and, due to the digitalization of the press industry, in the use of audio books as a complementary to exploit the book industry. This new way of enjoying reading is also one of the elements of growth in the sector's sales. Furthermore, it represents a transversal tool that allows publishers to expand their distribution channels and to collaborate with cross-sectoral production subjects such as radio and the web as well as new devices such as podcasts, ebooks, etc.
The promotion of Italian books abroad is managed by a project of collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Cultural Institutes abroad, the Treccani Encyclopedia, a private foundation, the “Foundation for Art and Culture Lauro Chiazzese” and the Associazione Italiana Editori (Italian Publishers' Association).
In addition to the financial support that the government allocates annually for books and reading, the tools provided to support the sector are also an incentive to purchase by means of vouchers: the Culture Card worth 100 Euros is dedicated to lower income families, while the 18App card is dedicated to the youngest. The Ministry of Culture also supports important fairs (national and International) and many initiatives: The Turin International Book Fair, the “Book City” in Milan, the “Più Libri più Liberi” in Rome, just to name the most important. There are numerous projects held by the Ministry of Culture to raise awareness of the book heritage of historical libraries and archives. The publishing sector is supported by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Information and Publishing, which has among its institutional tasks the promotion of support policies for publishing and grants direct and indirect contributions to publishing companies. The support activity for the publishing sector is aimed both directly at publishing and radio companies and indirectly through support for schools and training programmes that stimulate the reading of newspapers and magazines.
Last update: May, 2022
The Cinema and Audiovisual sector is governed by various regulations and by various institutes. The Ministry of Culture, through the Directorate General for Film and Audiovisual, carries out support activities both for film production, distribution and dissemination, supporting institutions, enterprises, cinemas and festivals throughout the national and international territory. Many regional administrations have specific policies that are usually developed by regional Film Commissions. Specific support is given to Cinecittà Studios and the Venice Biennale International Cinema Festival as well as the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - National Film School.
A central role in Italian film production is played by public and private television broadcasters and special attention is dedicated to film production by RAI with a specific Business Unit called Rai Cinema. Technologies are transforming the production and distribution of audiovisual products and in Italy the development of new distribution channels connected with new technologies are increasing. At the same time new production and dramaturgical methods offered by new technologies are being experimented by producers and dramaturgs.
During the Covid-19 health emergency, specific projects were initiated for the dissemination of Italian audiovisual culture through a private public platform called ITsArt[1]. Other web platforms have embarked on a repositioning path by working in collaboration with film distribution houses and festivals across the country. The film sector has also seen a transformation with initiatives that have brought the public closer to quality films and at the same time have allowed the development of new forms of enjoyment.
The audiovisual sector also benefits from indirect support through the Tax Credit system (see chapter 2.5.3). The debate that has arisen in recent months focuses on new technologies such as those of Virtual Reality (VR) also thanks to the surge in purchases of 3D visors generated during the lockdown. VR production experiences are taking place all over the country and festivals dedicated to these types of audiovisual products are becoming more numerous.
One of the sectors in which Italy is acquiring relevant skills is animation, which is acquiring more and more spectators and investment as well as skills in both narrative and production terms. The interest in this production segment is growing and sees more and more national and international institutional and private organizations, from Rai to Netflix, working with small production companies that now have international reference markets.
Radio and television are undergoing a profound process of change also due to the new distribution methods linked to the web and linked to new devices.
The videogame sector is witnessing rapid development in Italy as well, thanks both to virtual gaming platforms and to the production capacities that exist in the country. The videogames segment in Italy also deals with gamification and the use of cultural assets and activities, also through specific funding programmes in some Italian regions.
[1] https://www.itsart.tv/it/
Last update: May, 2022
The music sector in Italy is regulated by means of a 1967 law which mainly regulates classical music, opera and musical theatre activities as well as music festivals.
Recently, musical activities that have a more popular dimension, and in particular jazz music, have been included in the sphere of state public funding. Each region also has specific regulations that finance music, concert activities and festivals. An important part of the Italian music industry sector is carried out by private, profit-oriented companies, which often operate with risk capital. Profit-oriented companies are not allowed to apply at national grants that are exclusively dedicated for nonprofit organizations (associations, foundations, social enterprise). National legislation also provides a Tax Credit for music promotion.
In Italy there are 14 Opera-Symphonic Foundations which absorb over half of the state public funding for performing arts (see chapter 3.3). They represent the extraordinary musical tradition of Italy. On the other side, the most important festival dedicated to the music industry takes place in San Remo, a Ligurian town, where every year a popular music festival takes place. The Sanremo festival is live broadcasted on the main Rai channel and is one of the flagship events throughout the television season.
Due to the pandemic, over the last few years the music sector had an acceleration of the digitization process and at the same time a very strong contraction of live music which caused a huge loss of resources generated by ticketing and a consequent loss of employment especially for technicians. The music sector also brought attention to the lack and inadequacy of a live entertainment welfare system fostering advocacy during the pandemic and promoting measures that are trying to modify the social safety nets.
Even for the historical institutions, the production of music has dealt with different production ways that have enhanced the more “industrial” skills transforming the usual way of production for live performance to productions for television and web broadcasting or platforms. Interesting projects are being developed in many opera houses, which has seen productions transformed into audiovisual products for television and the web and which have been seen by thousands of people around the world.
The main directions that can be identified in the Italian music industries are: greater attention to digital broadcasting platforms; rethinking of the outputs of musical production considering the new audiovisual users behaviour (podcast, web, television, digital platforms); greater convergence between radio, web and digital radio.
The new awareness on the part of operators and artists for the importance of copyright and the balance between digital distribution platforms and content producers has led to a partial revision of the legislation on copyright. Finally, the attention to new technologies and innovation in the music sector is even more pronounced and projects such as the Music Innovation Hub (MIH), a private company of the third sector financed by the public and private sector, appears today more than ever projected towards a new way of designing music products.
Last update: May, 2022
In the design sector there are a large number of companies in Italy compared to other European countries. The sector is very complex and interacts with many other sectors of the economy, including automotive, communication, architecture and urban planning, as well as food.
Since 2017, the Ministry of Culture has in its organization chart a Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity that brings together policies in a vast field of action: from cultural and creative businesses to contemporary art, photography, fashion, and urban suburbs. The policies implemented by the DG in various fields are different and there are many regulations that have an impact on the sector. From the promotion of young artists, to training, residencies in Italy and abroad, to the development of international relations.
Many of the policies for the creativity sector come from regional and municipal administrations which allocate resources and support programmes dedicated to contemporary creativity. From the Salone del Mobile in Milan, one of the most important events in Europe in the design sector, to the Milan and Florence Fashion Week, to the Venice Architecture Biennale, to the support for creative start-ups and to the mentoring provided by universities and specialized training institutes (IED, NABA just to mention the two most important) there are many public and private initiatives that promote creative services and design.
Also in this area, the pandemic has given a push towards the use of new digital technologies. In the same way, the key words of the climate emergency and the need to reorganize our cities and our lifestyles involved architects and designers in projects that push the use of secondary or regenerated raw materials. A strong stimulus for the architecture sector was given by the incentive legislation of the building bonus (in Italy known as the 110% bonus) and other similar bonuses which are having a significant impact on the energy efficiency of homes and a renovation of the interiors by expanding and creating a new market for exterior and interior architects. The debate on territorial governance is being stimulated from many quarters not only in terms of economic and social policy but also in areas relating to urban space and the organization of cities.
The key word that emerges strongly in the field of communication is “digital”. The largest Italian companies have turned to artists and communicators by requesting innovative communication projects, mainly online and on social networks. An interesting case of study is the fashion industry that, during the lockdown, used digital tools to recreate the environment of the fashion shows. Finally, one of the most important events is the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale which organizes a vast exhibition of Italian creativity.
Last update: May, 2022
The tourism sector in Italy is one of the sectors that significantly affects GDP. Cultural tourism is characterized by trips that aim to increase one's knowledge and usually places where there is a wide cultural offer as a destination.
Recently the Directorate General for Tourism has been assigned to the Ministry of Economic Development untying it from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in which it was previously based. The main legislation in the sector is the Tourism Code, a law dating back to 2011. The legislation dedicates a specific part to cultural tourism aimed at enhancing the historical, artistic, archaeological, architectural and landscape heritage.
The cultural tourism segment is undergoing a significant change of course, as is the case in various parts of the world, and from many parts it is highlighted that especially for the usually overcrowded cities of art before the pandemic it was an unsustainable strategy for good city management. New practices are emerging and starting an interesting debate on the development of new strategies for tourism and cultural tourism. A slower and longer mobility aimed to enjoy better and more deeply the environment and the cultural services of cities, but also policies for freelance workers who do not necessarily have a constraint in physical location and can revitalize villages in inner areas. As there is a renewed tendency to live in non-urban places that are equipped with efficient technologies and connection networks, nomadic work and workations (a combination of the words work and vacation) are being re-evaluated.
The Strategic Plan for Tourism currently being updated focuses on 4 key words: sustainability, accessibility, hospitality, innovation, and includes 13 specific objectives and 52 lines of action. In the Plan, the cultural sector and the attractiveness of heritage is considered one of the main characteristics in Italy. Finally, the PNRR provides for actions that encourage the digitization of cultural heritage which will likely be a driving force for new ways of using it both in presence and at a distance.