Inherited, Important and Invisible: The Role of Zagreb Cultural Centers without Cultural Policy Frameworks

Kruno Kardov, PhD, Anamaria Klasić and Jelena Ostojić are the authors of the paper “Inherited, Important and Invisible: The Role of Zagreb Cultural Centers without Cultural Policy Frameworks”, which is published in the thematic number of the journal “Sociology and Space”, 61 (2). The thematic number is dedicated to the exploration of new public culture and spaces of sociability.

Abstract: Next to numerous public cultural institutions and other cultural organizations in the non-profit and for-profit sector, in Zagreb there are also 15 public cultural centres. Their initial establishment and purpose were determined by specific post-Second World War cultural policies. In the transitional period, public cultural centres remain without a clear position and role in the Croatian cultural system. Therefore, this paper deals with the question of how the leaders of these institutions construct the roles of cultural centres. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in nine cultural centres in the city of Zagreb, and the thematic analysis showed six themes related to their role and purpose: accessibility of culture, creativity and mediation, first entry into culture, (re)production of community, public service and useful rest. The first four themes are related to the cultural paradigms of excellence, democratization of culture and cultural democracy, which show that they have not disappeared, but still have an active role. The last two themes signal the crisis of cultural centres in the transitional and post-transitional period, which concerns the social base and the position within the framework of public policies. These insights provide us with better understanding of local reactions to social, cultural and political changes and reveal different rationalities related to the problem of legitimation and finding purpose in the new cultural system.

The paper is available at the link.