Public Cultural Institutions Research Articles

The role of the Modern Cities Program in the renewal of the cultural and creative sector

The Modern Cities Program is the largest-scale urban development effort in the history of the country, with which the Government of Hungary aims to promote the simultaneous development of municipalities at the same hierarchical level. Its projects focus on the preservation of intangible and tangible cultural heritage, the transformation of urban public spaces and green areas into community spaces, the creation of institutions for sports and recreational activities, research and development, digitalization, projects for innovative and creative professionals, and public educational and cultural institutions. The study aims to analyze the funding granted for developing the cultural and creative sector of cities with county rights through the Modern Cities Program in the period 2016–2025, by comparing the size of their population, their strategic importance in regional economic policy and the relationship between the value of the cultural heritage with the amount of funding received. The paper unveils the distribution of grants over time and space, the modalities and proportion of grants, and the way the cities that has received grants align with the national strategy. This will also reveal a shift in the regional importance of the cities and their relationship. Until February 2024, the Government of Hungary has contributed more than HUF 322.6 billion (809.5 million EUR) to the implementation of 98 cultural and creative projects in 22 cities with county rights through its urban development support program that has been established for the development and regeneration of cities with county rights and to counter the dominance of the capital.

Research on Brand Communication Methods of Public Cultural Institutions

This article explores the branding communication methods of public cultural institutions, analyzing the roles and impacts of traditional media, new media communication, event promotion, collaborative communication, and word-of-mouth marketing. Through case studies, the article illustrates how to enhance the social influence and cultural outreach of public cultural institutions. For small to medium-sized public cultural institutions, the article proposes communication strategies based on brand positioning, resource integration, and cross-industry collaboration, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation and practical guidance for improving brand communication effectiveness.

Os signos visuais de marca das instituições culturais de Belém às vésperas da COP30: uma análise semiótica Peirceana

This study investigates the identifying visual signs (logos) of public cultural institutions in Belém do Pará. After reviewing the literature on tangible brand manifestations, the logos of 12 institutions were analyzed following the methodological principles based on Peircean semiotics, specifically following the semiotics of Charles W. Morris (1901-1979). Analysis found syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic problems in the visual signs. To address them, this study recommends that the logos be redesigned as part of a comprehensive rebranding of the public cultural institutions in Belém do Pará, seizing the opportunity opened up by the proximity of COP30.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE CULTURAL SPHERE: DIAGNOSTICS OF TRANSITION EFFICIENCY

The article deals with the problems of transition of the cultural sphere to creative models of functioning. Based on the key documents of the state cultural policy regulating the development of the creative industries sector, the author investigates the effectiveness of the implementation of project initiatives in modern Russia. The following documents of the state cultural policy of the Russian Federation were used as the material of the analysis: “The Concept of Development of Creative (Creative) Industries andMechanisms of State Support in Large and Major Urban Agglomerations up to 2030”, “Action Plan for the Implementation in 2022- 2024 of the Concept of Development of Creative (Creative) Industries and Mechanisms of State Support in Large and Major Urban Agglomerations up to 2030” and the List of Instructions of the President of the Russian Federation following the visit to the exhibition “Development of Creative Economy in Russia”.The documents were analyzed by monitoring the open resources of the Internet space, media publications, as well as official websites of the projects and organizations designated as responsible executors. Diagnostics of the effectiveness of the development of the following areas was carried out: legal and regulatory framework, human capital and educational system of support for creative industries, development of cultural infrastructure, economic incentives and financial support for the initiatives being implemented, management of intellectual property and development of digital services.The author has studied in detail the following problematic aspects characterizing the transition of the cultural sphere into the mode of functioning of the creative sector and identified in the form of the following positions: 1) status-image imbalance in the perception of public cultural institutions; 2) exploitation of the shop window; 3) resistance of the environment; 4) attitude to exclusivity; 5) unpreparedness for business-collaborations.It is concluded that the development of creative industries, creative competencies and creative economy (as a long-term result) contributes to a new culture of adaptation - readiness to change, flexibility, mobility of response to challenges; as well as the consolidation of the “atmosphere of creative standard” - requirements and norms that promote creative self-realization in the cultural sphere.

Introducing WALKER – Safeguarding Cultural Heritage through Evacuation Run Maps

The crisis management cycle contains the step Preparedness, in which the development of disaster plans takes place. Run plans for fire fighters are a well-established means for enhancing preparedness in public buildings. A wide array of plans is available, serving to aid firefighters in swiftly orienting themselves during emergency situations on-site. These plans may also include detailed information as needed, providing tactical insights into critical elements within the building. In this practitioner paper, we present the adaptation of run plans to the realm of cultural heritage preservation. We utilize the existing format for the communication of information about the safe handling of cultural heritage to the command staff and the fire fighters. These cultural heritage escape plans offer guidance on the safe handling, evacuation procedures, and the prioritization of cultural heritage items in the case of an emergency and can be added to the existing tactical firefighting plans in public cultural heritage institutions. The evacuation plan format has been developed by the Munich County Fire Fighters and was manually implemented for all cultural heritage objects of the Bavarian Palace Department. The format has proven beneficial. With this format, we aim to enhance the preparedness of cultural heritage sites against natural disasters. Given the inherent sensitivity of cultural heritage objects, which require careful handling, these escape plans encompass instructions for the secure dismantling and evacuation of these items to designated safe areas. Furthermore, we introduce the software WALKER, a specialized tool designed for the creation of evacuation plans tailored to cultural heritage contexts. WALKER has been deployed for test usage for cultural heritage institutions for testing and evaluation of its potential. Both evacuation maps and WALKER are part of an integrated crisis management for cultural heritage and can be classified as part of the Preparedness step in the crisis management cycle. Furthermore, when the plans are implemented during the response, they can also be considered part of the phase Response.

Koncepcje strategiczne polskich filharmonii i orkiestr

The high degree of the environment instability generates the need to apply not only a strategy, but also a range of management practices as well as tools to the day-to-day operations of cultural institutions. Strategy can therefore be seen as a modern way for continuous adaptation to the environment. Having and implementing a strategy, including marketing strategies, is important not only from perspective of the declining participation and attendance in cultural events in the Polish society, but also because of the need to meet the requirements of effective operation. Hence the emerging question: how to manage a cultural institution whose survival nowadays is more than ever dictated by an unclear future scenario? This paper will present the strategic concepts of the Polish philharmonics and orchestras, which are a response to the challenges of the environment with different attitudes and activities. Qualitative research in form of the individual in-depth interviews (IDI), which form the basis of the study, was conducted between May 2022 and May 2023. They were concerned with management tools currently used by managers and directors of public cultural institutions – in case of this study, these were philharmonics and orchestras. Transcripts of a total of 25 in-depth interviews were analysed, then categorised and compiled using qualitative research support software. The conclusions that emerged from the literature review and qualitative research indicate a strong diversification in the attitudes of philharmonic managers. The hybridisation of artistic activities means that, as never before, philharmonics are diversifying not only their identity, but also the range of activities as well as their effect. The environment plays an increasingly important role in this process.

Public cultural institutions in Mexico and precarisation of creative labour

The Mexican state has been an active agent in the construction of cultural institutions and infrastructure for more than a century. But the symbolic and political currency of the cultural sector is not reflected in stable conditions for creative workers who exist precariously. In this article, we explore a manifestation of the simultaneous state of prominence and precarity in procurement regimes implemented by federal government agencies before the Covid-19 crisis, and support programmes from the federal and local government of Mexico City to employ creative workers during the early phases of the pandemic. We examine the content and arguments of these programmes to highlight how cultural policies and institutional structures developed by the government are a continuation, and even a deepening, of the already precarious work opportunities in the cultural sector. Through policy analysis and qualitative interviews, we contrast the officially stated goals of government institutions with the lived experiences of creative workers.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local government cultural institutions – the productivity of theatres


 
 
 The new reality has led us to investigate the changes in productivity in public cultural institutions. The research describes the pandemic period in the theatre sector. We are investigating whether productivity changes occurred and which indicator affected them. We hypothesize that the productivity index in 2020 was most dependent on the technological change. We use the Malmiqusit index to show changes in productivity between 2011–2020. Our results seem to fully reflect the pandemic reality when the technological factor was of crucial importance. However, we would like to point out that technological growth alone does not bring satisfactory results in terms of productivity growth. Properly coordinated actions are also necessary for the broadly understood activities of the theatre. Depending on the organization, the impact of digital technologies may differ. The use of technology alone is not sufficient to achieve an increase in the productivity of the organization.
 
 

Transformation of The Activities of Public Libraries of Polyd's Under the Conditions of Marital State

The purpose of the work is to represent the main areas of activity of Podillia public libraries under the conditions of martial law in Ukraine. The research methodology consists in the use of activity-based, human-centered and socio-communication approaches, which reflect changes in priorities in the functioning of the library and information sphere in the conditions of social threats. Also, general scientific (analysis, descriptive and generalization) and special (library) methods were used, which made it possible to realize the set goal. The scientific novelty of the presented work lies in the expansion of ideas about the role and significance of public libraries in Podillia in the life of communities during the difficult time of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The peculiarities of the main areas of activity of Podillia public libraries in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine are revealed. The relevance of the proposed topic is that work during the period of martial law in Ukraine shifted the emphasis on the priority of the basic functions of libraries, because they quite naturally, as socially oriented institutions, focused on the consolidation of the Ukrainian people on the way to Victory over the treacherous invader, which significantly increased their social role and positively affected their responsibility to society in general. Conclusions. It is proved that today the public libraries of Podillia are free public cultural and educational institutions that quickly provide open access to their own funds, information and knowledge for community residents (from preschoolers to the elderly, people with special needs) and all categories of remote users. successfully satisfy educational, leisure, spiritual, informational, educational, socialization and other needs of readers, try to "be everything to everyone". The priority of universal values ​​in the activity of public libraries of Podillia, which in the conditions of martial law function in line with all-Ukrainian trends, put new tasks on the agenda, which are implemented through the active introduction of innovative forms, especially in the multimedia environment. Keywords: library function, Podillia public libraries, information resource, consolidation, information space, digitization.

Encounter with the Father of Op Art, Victor Vasarely: Research in Conservation and Art History, and Conservation Work on the Barson Collage

ABSTRACT The father of Op Art, Victor Vasarely, is the author of a paper collage called Barson, owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Zagreb, which is the only such example in Croatian public cultural institutions. The collage was created in 1967 using the screen printing technique on paper glued to a paper support and then onto large-sized hardboard, and its creation was influenced by the leading objectivist artistic and philosophical trends and knowledge of the time, under the influence of which Vasarely created his art. The collage was found very dusty and with many damages on the entire surface of the paper support, such as cracks, dried and detached parts and traces of activities of insects. Works of Op Art imply an undisturbed perception of the artwork, which in the case of the Barson collage, due to caused damage, was impossible. Therefore, conservation and restoration work was carried out that included extensive research and numerous tests, followed by dry cleaning, gluing both layers of the paper carrier, removing traces of insects and the necessary, minimal retouching. The corresponding wooden frame was cleaned of a layer of dust, and the smaller, missing part was reconstructed with the same type of wood and finally retouched.

A Free Art Calls for a Free Society: On the Freedom of Art and Autonomy as Project

In recent years, the far right “culture war” has to an increasing extent been allowed to set the terms for cultural policy debates, in Sweden and internationally. In the Swedish context, empty accusations against public cultural institutions of “wokeist” bias and “cancel culture” have found support in a public report from the governmental Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis, which claims that national public funding bodies are imposing politically correct demands on their applicants, with a “detrimental influence” on the freedom of art. This article shows that the ACPA lacks grounds for these claims. Taking its cue from the ACPA’s report, it instead focuses on the fundamental and contested concept of the freedom or the autonomy of art. It seeks to outline what would need to characterise a critical concept of the autonomy of art today, and asks what the political implications would be of a rigorous understanding of such a concept. It argues that cultural policy should be understood as a project of cultural democratization, which should in turn be understood as a project of autonomy.

Multilingualism, culture, museum learning

AbstractLanguage difficulties can be a problem for foreign students studying in Hungary: they see as Hungarians do not speak foreign languages, which hinders the well-being of foreigners. At the same time, students studying at Hungarian universities also have different cultural expectations: it is important for them to gain cultural experiences, expand their knowledge of Hungarian culture and history. Classical public cultural institutions, such as museums, can be perfect places to learn about the culture and history of a country.The aim of this study is to introduce our research findings whether foreigner students studying at the University of Szeged have to face these problems. Our goal is to find out how important it is to them to get to know Hungarian culture, and whether they think about museums from this point of view and what kinds of language barriers do they have. In our study, we present the results of focus group research with foreign students studying at the University of Szeged.The results show that the students who took part in the research had language difficulties in Hungary which has affected their knowledge of Hungarian culture and history. They don't usually go to museums to gain more information but they think museums can be great places for this purpose although the students have problems with museums' multilingual aspects.We have come to the conclusion that foreign students are interested in Hungarian culture but the language barriers are building walls between them and the museums.

THE MANAGER PROFILE IN THE CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS. CASE STUDY – THE STUDENTS’ CULTURAL HOUSES FROM ROMANIA

The article focuses on several relevant directions for what the profile of the cultural institutions manager in the Romanian public domain represents, accentuating a specific type of public institution, meaning, the students’ houses of culture. The questionnaire was the method used to obtain the data concerning the manager’s activity and his role within the Romanian public cultural institution. The research survey consisted of a questionnaire made up of five questions, which was sent to all the managers of the cultural houses of the students in Romania and to some other managers of cultural institutions (theaters, museums, libraries, cultural departments). The answers received were summarized and ranked according to the most important areas of interest regarding management and the institutional role assumed by the cultural manager. The results of the questionnaires showed that the role of manager of a state cultural institution in Romania is challenging and full of contradictions and dilemmas. All respondents agreed that being a manager in a cultural institution requires knowing very well the target group(s) or the beneficiaries of the organized activities and having the necessary vision to satisfy exactly those cultural needs that they require. The main problem is that the human and material resources to satisfy these needs are often limited, so the manager is the one who must make correct and firm decisions regarding the distribution of these resources so that the proposed objectives turn into the expected results. Mainly, the measures for change and a productive management are: facilitating the attraction of income (own, subsidies, other types of financing) for the development of the activity of the students’ culture houses, including on the part of investments in the existing cultural heritage; increasing the number of employees, as well as their appropriate motivation in terms of salary (and/or other benefits); the creation of effective levers for closer collaboration between similar institutions in Romania; promoting the institution through professional marketing means; continuous adaptation of the institution’s actions to the current needs of students.

Cultural institutions in Poland: the nature of their organisation and financing

Motivation: Previous research regarding the external conditions of public cultural institutions inspired us to analyse the internal conditions of individual institutions.Aim: The purpose of the current study is to answer the question of whether and how the internal regulations pertaining to theatres based on financial, organisational, and creative autonomy affect the financial and substantive performance of public cultural institutions. In order to achieve the aim of the study and answer the research question, we analysed cultural institutions in terms of their system. Additionally, the financial and substantive situation of the studied theatres was analysed.Results: The lack of clear process and entity requirements affects the dependence of the performance of public cultural institutions on individual, internal organisational arrangements, suggesting the need to unify these processes through a reform of these institutions. Attention should be paid to the transparency of public spending, organizational culture and effectiveness of public cultural institutions. In the current legal status, the conducted showed a large discrepancy in the results of the theatres studied.

Attributes of African Culture: The Problems of Race and Gender Discriminations

In modern decades, sociologists have increasingly adopted an parallel framework to inspect and explain the complex and interconnected nature of inequalities in the areas of race, class, and gender. The land of Africa has suffered tremendously under the rule of the English colonisers. Racism and Gender discrimination in South Africa has existed throughout the history of South Africa. The effects of racism were still felt today, and South Africa had developed the National Action Plan to fight against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance. Women are strongly represented and even over represented in the cultural and creative sector, or at least in some fields of this sector. However, despite what one could think when looking at their quantitive superiority in public cultural institutions or programmes of higher education in cultural management and the arts, the creative sector is far from offering equal opportunities for women and men. The barriers found in the creative sector for women are not different from those observed in other economic sectors. This paper aims to discuss some points on Attributes of African Culture i.e. the problems of race and gender discrimination in Africa.South Africa has a painful history of racism connected to the criminal injustices of the apartheid era, which institutionalised oppression against all people of colour.

A Comparative Study of Public Art Education by the State Theaters in Korean and China

As a contributor to the construction of a modern public cultural service system, theaters, together with libraries, art galleries, cultural centers, etc., shoulder the social responsibility of public art education. Public art education takes public art service institutions as the carrier. At present, schools are the most popular and developed institutions among public cultural service institutions. With the advancement of socialization, public cultural and art institutions are flourishing. Funded and operated by the government, more and more public institutions bear the social responsibility of public art education in the new era and shape the diversified forms of public arts education. With National Theater of Korea and the National Theater for the Performing Arts as the objects for its research, this paper analyzes the similarities and differences between the measures for public art education in the two countries through a comparative study.

Research on Museum Accessibility for the Visually Impaired

As a public cultural institution, the task of museum accessibility is particularly important. Visual is the main source of information reception when visually impaired groups visit museums, and they have certain difficulties in finding, viewing and organizing visual information, which affects the formation of representations of collections in the brain. The survey results show that the infrastructure accessibility of museums is not perfect, information accessibility needs to be strengthened, and more importantly, psychological accessibility should be achieved.

ТВОРЧЕСКИЕ (КРЕАТИВНЫЕ) ИНДУСТРИИ: ВЫЗОВЫ ДЛЯ НЕКОММЕРЧЕСКОГО СЕГМЕНТА СФЕРЫ КУЛЬТУРЫ

The article provides a detailed analysis of the concept of creative industries, which is currently being actively introduced into the cultural practice of modern Russia. The author attempts to revise the terminology (the industry of culture – cultural industries – creative industries). In the case of creative industries we are talking about the combination of the following three elements: creative activity, entrepreneurial skills and intellectual property rights, as a result of which an added value is created in the economy, and the product is traded on the market. However, the majority of cultural goods created in the non-commercial segment of the cultural sector have no relation to creative industries. The substitution of concepts results in the cultural sector being required to earn more and more, and this contradicts the mission for which public cultural institutions were created: introducing the population to cultural values. Though experts admit that there is currently no consensus among researchers regarding clear criteria for classifying certain activities as creative industries, Russia is facing increasing challenges for the non-commercial segment of the cultural sector – it is gradually being pushed towards commodification and commercialization. The Concept of Developing Creative Industries… adopted at the end of 2021 completely identified the non-commercial segment of the cultural sector with creative industries, which included theaters, museums, and even libraries. Moreover, the latter became “entry points” to the creative industries. The article shows that the task of boosting economic growth in Russia’s regions, for the sake of which The Concept of Developing Creative Industries… was designed, cannot be solved solely by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, as it lacks the appropriate functionality, financial and administrative resources, and professional staff for this purpose.

On the leading role of Library in strengthening cultural self-confidence

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, combining the cultural requirements of comprehensively building a modern country in the new era, the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the Core systematically explained cultural confidence and formed Xi Jinping cultural confidence ideology. The concept of cultural confidence is of great significance in contemporary China, which has entered a new era. As a public cultural service institution, libraries should be guided by Xi Jinping cultural confidence ideology in their own development, combined with the functions of the library, and fully play the leading role of the library in strengthening cultural confidence.

Natural Knowledge at the Threshold of the Enlightenment

Italian contributions to the Enlightenment are most often discussed in terms of the slow acceptance of Newtonian science (Ferrone) or the obstacles to change within a quaint museum of antiquated states (Venturi). This case study of an important naturalist attempts to identify the paths to change between tradition and revolt, in fields of natural knowledge that are sometimes less regarded in the context of an international movement of intellectual emancipation. In spite of an early attachment to some form of physico‑theology, Antonio Vallisneri, professor of medicine at the University of Padua from 1700 to his death in 1730, made a number of innovative contributions to biological description and natural history which placed him among the forerunners of Georges Buffon. Heir to the empirical approach enshrined in the work of Marcello Malpighi, for the most part he attempted to avoid much of the philosophical and theological speculation raging between deists and atheists. However, the implications of his work, including activity as a science communicator to wider audiences, pointed to a reassessment of the importance of accurate natural knowledge in the ongoing reform of public instruction and cultural institutions then occurring in the major cities of Italy and abroad, an important plank in the Enlightenment program in the years leading up to the French Encyclopédie.