Croatia

Last update: June, 2023

Both public and private cultural consumption as well as cultural participation are not continuously monitored nor systematically promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Media or local communities. In most cases cultural organisations themselves promote their programmes and invest in reaching an ever wider audience. There are very few surveys and statistical information or analysis that could result in designing polices to link participation in cultural life to the broader issues of citizen participation. The absence of this kind of information affects the quality of decision-making, especially aimed at decreasing the existing disproportions in the level of cultural development throughout Croatia. However, selected research data indicates a strong correlation between both indexes of cultural consumption and several indicators of socioeconomic status, education level, gender and residential status in Croatia (Tonković et al. 2017). Research shows that there are significant differences in various Croatian regions: the wider Zagreb metropolitan area, Rijeka and Gorski Kotar are the only regions with an above average cultural consumption index. Thus, cultural consumption is strongly related to the overall development of an area (Tonković et al. 2017).This has also been corroborated in the research on cultural capital and cultural taste of Croatian youth in the cities on the Adriatic coast (Tonković et al 2020). It also has to be added that in Croatia, policies regarding access to culture remain mostly implicit and revolve around traditional models connected to instruments dating back to socialism; while on the other selected cultural organisations develop instruments for fostering it where European projects have an influence (Primorac et al 2017). Recently presented data on the cultural consumption and participation in culture point to conclusion that in Croatia, the level of participation in culture is lower that European average, and especially in comparison to ‘more developed countries’ as Tonković (2022: 251) concludes. She also notes that Croatia ‘belongs to those countries in which the differences in level of cultural consumption and participation are very stark so that we can even speak about forms of social exclusion. Therefore, it would be beneficial to envisage active measures of cultural policy for development of cultural participation and consumption of citizens from less developed regions and rural regions as well as among fragile groups such as retired persons and persons of lower socioeconomic status” (Tonković, 2022: 251).

There are no strategies on the national level or on local levels in relation to cultural participation and consumption, but there are several programmes that are oriented towards enhancing cultural participation (see also chapters 5.1. and 5.2). One example started in 2012, when the Ministry of Culture, in association with the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, started a pilot programme "Backpack (full) of Culture / Ruksak (pun) kulture", with the aim of bringing artists and cultural events directly to kindergartens, primary and high schools. The pilot programme was successful, and in October 2013 the Ministry of Culture issued a public call for expression of interest for artists, arts organisations and cultural NGOs to participate in this programme. The Ministry of Culture and Media provides financing for the selected programmes, while the Ministry of Science and Education was responsible for providing the network of schools that hosted the selected programmes. The Programme was oriented to children and youth from 3-18 years of age, while the artistic range of the programmes was diverse – from performing arts, fine arts, film, cultural heritage to literature, and in particular programmes oriented to the promotion of reading. In 2019 the number of submitted and accepted applications rose (184 and 66 respectively), and 6 369 children participated in the programme. Thus, the implementation of the programme resulted in a high number of quality artistic programmes distributed to a large number of pupils and students throughout Croatia, contributing to the decentralisation of culture and providing better access to culture for children and youth. Additionally, in 2018, a special pilot programme for the islands called ‘The Island Backpack’ was created that resulted in the execution of 43 programmes and workshops on a number of Croatian islands where more than 600 children participated. The programme ‘Backpack (full) of Culture’ continues on a yearly basis and in 2022 the Ministry supported 71 different programmes - 13 music programs, 12 theatre programs, 11 visual arts programs, 9 museum and cultural heritage programs, 7 film programs, also 7 dance programs, 5 book and 3 interdisciplinary programs, and finally 4 art academy programs were co-financed. After being tested as a pilot programme in 2017, in 2019 the Ministry of Culture and Media developed a permanent public Call for programmes in Audience Development. The aim of the programme is to create long-term processes that will raise the level of active audience participation in culture and art, make them more accessible, while also recognizing the diversity of audience needs, and their social and economic experiences. In 2022 it received 555 applications, out of which 93 programs were approved in the following categories: theatre (15 programs); film (13 programs); dance (11 programs); book (12 programs); music (13 programs); visual arts (9 programs); museums and cultural heritage (8 programs); interdisciplinary programs (12 programs). The total available funding for the programme in 2022 was 2 177 484 HRK (289 002 EUR). This is slight increase in the number of programmes and funding in comparison to 2020 when the 87 programs were supported with 2mil of kuna (265 446 EUR) funding provided. In addition, The National Strategy for Promotion of Reading is been implemented (see chapter 3.5.2) to focus on better access to books, development of reading and literacy activities etc. In 2019 the network of mobile libraries ‘Bibliobus’ celebrated fifty years in operation in the Republic of Croatia. This led to establishing the 9^th of June as a Day of Croatian Bibliobuses in order to highlight the importance that mobile libraries have for the cultural life throughout the country as many towns still do not have local libraries. 12 counties do not yet have bibliobuses and mobile libraries currently provide services in only 9 counties and a number of these bibliobuses need to be renewed or replaced due to wear-and-tear. The Ministry informed that 12 new bibliobuses are being purchased through the European Social Fund project in the total amount of 35milion kuna (4 645 298 EUR).  

Enhancing cultural participation in audiovisual activities is provided by the National Audiovisual Programme for digitalisation of cinemas throughout Croatia (see chapter 2.4). An additional feature of the measure was the establishment of the new Croatian Network of Independent Cinemas – ‘Kino mreža’ in 2014, which has grown to more than fifty members. However, the number of specialised cinematéques is minimal – ‘Kino "Tuškanac"’ and Kino “Kinoteka” in Zagreb, Kinoteka "Zlatna vrata" in Split and Art kino Croatia in Rijeka offer film programmes with special focus on audiovisual heritage. The first cinema specialised for documentary films in the region of South-eastern Europe opened in Zagreb in June 2009 – Dokukino, but currently it is based only as a programme in various different venues. New programmes in this area are being developed through funding from the EU programmes that encourage cultural participation of older populations and youth (see chapter 2.6).

Special categories of the population (school children, people with disabilities and senior citizens) pay only 50% of the full ticket price for some events. Rebates for university students are also available from selected theatres, museums, etc. There are also reduced cards or tickets available such as the "Zagreb ticket" or "Dubrovnik card" which can be used to buy cheaper tickets for various cultural events, but which are primarily oriented towards tourists.

Last update: June, 2023

A total of 140 theatres operated from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. A number of professional theatres have permanent venues at their disposal, either in-house or located somewhere else. Therefore, along with 80 professional theatres, there were 12 operating permanent venues. In addition, there were 27 professional children’s theatres out of which 7 puppet theatres. A total of 33 amateurs’ theatres operated in the 2021/2022 season (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2022d).

As noted by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2022d), after an extremely difficult 2020/2021 theatre season due to the epidemiological measures introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a better season for performing arts followed in terms of the number of plays performed and the number of visitors. Professional theatres for all ages performed 41% more plays in Croatia and abroad, and had 116% more visitors than in the previous season. 'A total of 9 243 plays were performed, which is 73% more than in the previous season. The plays in the Republic of Croatia and abroad were attended by 1 149 037 visitors, which is an increase of 160% compared to the 2020/2021 season. A total of 1 311 titles were performed in all theatres. Out of that, 830 titles, or 63%, were created by domestic authors' (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2022d).

There is also a noticeable recovery of the concert season for professional ensembles, orchestras and choirs: compared to the 2020/2021 season, the number of performed concerts increased by 31% and their attendance by 181%. A total of 573 concerts, performances and festivities were performed, which were attended by 151 698 visitors. It has to be noted that in the 2021/2022 season, 33 professional orchestras and ensembles operated, out of which 6 were symphony and large orchestras, 6 chamber orchestras and 21 chamber ensembles. The professional choir performed 24 concerts, that is, two concerts more than in the previous season. They were attended by 7 650 visitors, that is, 226% more than in the 2020/2021 season. Taking also the attendance to the shows of LADO – National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia, this amounted to more than 208 thousands visitors to professional orchestras, ensembles and choirs shows. The Table 4 shows also that in 2021 the situation still differs within subsectors and that the pandemic has taken its toll in that year still.

Table 4:      Attendance data for specific cultural fields (in thousands), 1983-2021

Source: Republic of Croatia – Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Yearbooks for noted years and from ‘First Releases’ of ’Cinematography’, ‘Artistic production and live performances’ and ‘Museums, galleries and collections’ (see also Sources and links).

Note: Table is compiled from four different Tables (Culture and Arts, Museums and Museum Collections, Professional Children's Theatres, and Professional Orchestras, Ensembles and Choirs) given in the section "Culture, Arts and Sport" in all yearbooks and ‘First release’ data collections(see also Sources and links).

* The data provided concerns seasons not years, thus data for 2002 reflects the season 2001/2002.

Figure 3: Television and radio subscribers in Croatia (2015-2021).

Source: Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2022) Culture. Statistics in Line.

There have not been any representative surveys taken in recent years on receptive or on active participation. In addition, there are no special surveys monitoring the participation of national minority groups or immigrant groups in cultural life or specific research on the composition of audiences at multicultural or other type of festivals.

Last update: June, 2023

According to the data of the the personal expenditure for "Recreation and Culture" in December 2022 represented 5.27% of the total household expenditure. This data shows a further decrease during the last decade, as in comparison to e.g.2017 when it represented 5.5%, while in 2014 it represented 6% of total household expenditure. In 2011, it represented 5.3%, in 2010 it was 5.6%, and it in 2009 it amounted to 5.99% (see sources in Compendium 2020 report, Primorac (2020)).

Data available by Eurostat (as presented in Tonković (2022)) shows the structure of the personal expenditure in culture of Croatia in comparison with the EU28 average as it can be seen from the Table 5. It shows similarities in the categories of personal expenditure in books and magazines and attendance of cultural content, but large disparities in the percentage of personal expenditure in TV subscriptions, equipment and artistic expression. In order to understand these disparities one should include the data on the purchasing power parities (PPP). According to Tonković (2022: 248), when one compares the data on cultural expenditure with the purchasing power standards, one can notice that Croatia belongs to countries with below average levels of expenditure and purchasing power, which makes it most similar to Slovakia and Poland, and below EU28 average in 2015, when the last comparative data by Eurostat was collected.

Table 5: Structure of personal expenditure in Culture, Croatia and EU28 comparison, data by Eurostat (2019) as presented in Tonković (2022: 249).

In continuation, we present the latest data available by Croatian Bureau of Statistics on the distribution of consumption expenditures for ‘recreation and culture’ in 2019 according to the detailed subcategories.

Table 6: Distribution of consumption expenditures, 2019, per 10 000

Source: Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2021) Results of Households Budget Survey, 2019. Statistical Reports. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Last update: June, 2023

The relationship between culture and civil society in Croatia has to be viewed on several levels: the first refers to the infrastructure of cultural and educational centres throughout the country and its changing role; the second is related to the long tradition of amateur arts and folk culture; the third refers to the impact that civil society organisations in contemporary arts and culture have (including the role of professional cultural organisations), and finally the role that the Kultura nova Foundation has in their development and the development of civil society in culture in general.

Community (cultural and educational) centres are mostly established by local authorities or run by NGOs on the local (city or municipal) level. There are a growing number of such centres (especially in small cities) involved in different aspects of cultural life, from traditional amateur arts activities to new media. A Network of the open community learning centres (Zajednica pučkih otvorenih učilišta / Association of Community Centres) consists of community cultural and educational centres offering educational programmes for children, youth or adults and cultural programmes. All of these centres are mostly funded by local authorities but there is no data available on the state level that would give some indication of their penetration, impact and overall budgets. In small towns, these centres are very important as sometimes they are the only host of cultural activities. Unfortunately, no new overall data on these centres exists, and the latest data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics relates to 2008/2009. In that season there were 217 institutions that belonged either to public open universities, houses of culture, cultural centres or to similar types of organisations, and they are spread evenly around the country (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2012: 505). In the last couple of years, the role of these centres and the sustainability of their financing are under question, thus creating a number of initiatives for their redefinition (see chapter 2.7). The latest data by the Ministry of Culture and Media shows that in 2021 there are 57 houses of culture and cultural centres in Croatia, while the data for the public open universities are not available within this survey, nor within the latest review of this field (Perišić, 2022).

One of the main characteristics of cultural life in Croatia is a diversified landscape of amateur cultural activities that usually take place in halls and in schools; considered to be the most evenly distributed form of cultural infrastructure in the country. Although the Ministry of Culture and Media considers that local authorities should take responsibility for amateur activities, it nevertheless provides funding for their activities. The reasons for the Ministry's support are: there are hardly any other cultural activities in small towns / villages; the difficult financial situation in many local communities; protection of valuable forms of traditional heritage; and stimulation of awareness about the importance of culture for the identity and revitalisation of towns and regions. The Croatian Culture Assembly (Hrvatski sabor kulture) has its roots in the hundred-year-old tradition of amateur cultural and artistic activities and its mission is oriented to the support and development of amateur cultural and artistic activities. It unites 11 county associations, and it comprises of 1 040 NGOs with 2 366 different performing groups (drama, painting and drawing, literary, dance, ethno, majorette groups, orchestras, vocal and choir groups) with more than 80 000 members. It is a member of CISM, AITA, AMATEO, etc. In 2018 and 2019, Croatian Culture Assembly received the yearly support of 700 000 HRK (92 905 EUR), while the support for the activities in cultural and artistic amateurism through the yearly public calls of the Ministry of Culture and Media was around 6.2million kuna (822 881 EUR) (Jelavić, 2022: 232).

The Law on the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Assets (Article 9), under immaterial cultural heritage, stipulates the special status of folk activities. Two examples of a long tradition of activities in folk and traditional culture have to be mentioned, together with one research institution:

• The National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia "Lado" was founded in 1949 in Zagreb as a professional national ensemble, with the aim of researching, artistically interpreting and presenting on stage the rich tradition of Croatian music and dance; and
• The International Folklore Festival Zagreb that celebrated over 50 years of continuous activities.
• The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Culture is a scientific institution that among its other activities regularly publishes research on folklore and traditional culture in Croatia.

The Kultura nova Foundation was established by The Law on the Kultura nova Foundation in 2011 with the purpose of promoting and developing civil society in the Republic of Croatia in the fields of contemporary arts and culture. The foundation is in full operation since December 2012. Since then it has supported a number of organisations and programmes through programme areas dedicated to the support for organisations, conception and preparation of new projects, development of cooperation platforms in the Republic of Croatia and development of cooperation platforms in Southeastern Europe. The funding for the Kultura nova Foundation is obtained partly through the Lottery Fund, donations and other sources according to the Law. The Foundation is very active in different activities related to the redefinition of existing cultural centres and building of new types of socio-cultural centres based on participatory governance – see chapter 2.7 for more information. Clubture Network is an important actor on the national, regional and international independent cultural scene and was a key lobbyist for the establishment of the Kultura nova Foundation. Established in 2002 as a platform of exchange, it continually develops programmes that are based on direct collaboration among independent cultural organisations (associations, artistic organisations and informal initiatives). is also an important factor as it provides support for NGOs in arts and culture as a part of support of the overall civil society sector in Croatia.