Download Creative industries

Cultural Workers and Creative
Industries Development in
Southeastern Europe
Jaka Primorac
Institute for International Relations (IMO)
Zagreb, Croatia
ASO Methodology Workshop
University of Zadar
9-12 November 2006
Background of Research
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Project: ‘The Position of Cultural Workers in
Creative Industries: The Southeastern European
Perspective’
Cultural Policy Research Award 2005, by European
Cultural Foundation and the Bank of Sweden
Tercentenary Foundation
Semi-structured in-depth interviews in four
countries: Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia
Context of Research
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Creative industries as the incentive for
city development – from DCMS definition
in 1997, towards regeneration of cities
and regions
SEE region as the area of turbulent
events; several levels of change have to
be taken into account: democratization,
globalization, the war and its
consequences in some of the countries of
the region, and the impact of EU
integration
Definitions
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Creative industries encompass several
fields of production of symbolic goods:
book industry, film industry, multimedia
and electronic publishing, design and
advertising, architecture, visual arts,
photography and music industry
Cultural workers as agents involved in the
field of creative industries on levels of
production, distribution, interpretation
and management
Understanding creative industries
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Cultural workers usually have never heard
of the concept of creative industries
If they were acquainted with it, it is
because they work in the audio-visual
industry, or were acquainted with the
work of British Council UKSEE Forum
creative industries strand
They are more inclined to think about the
changes in the field in the sector-specific
policies
General attitudes towards creative
industries development in SEE
Three basic orientations:
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‘Invisible hand of the market’
approach
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‘Third way’ approach
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Globalist approach
‘Invisible hand of the market’ approach
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Advocating radical change of the system
that has characteristics of state-centered
system – it does not correspond to
current situation
‘One could say that it is a system that came
to the end of its’ volume, It ends now,
when it is just before its’ termination – I
think that this would be the most clever
thing to do – to come to the end of this
system’ (Film producer, Zagreb, Croatia).
‘Third way’ approach
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Changes should be made but that some
good features of the system should stay
That is a very big amount of money (or
maybe I'm wrong) that is given to cultural
products in Croatia, but very little is given
in return. So, for example, model of
credits to SMEs in culture is not necessary
when for example this money is already
being given. (Director of multimedia
publishing company, Zagreb, Croatia).
‘Globalist’ approach
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Orientation towards a global market - companies
which are oriented towards the usage and
development of the new technologies, and whose
products have a wider market reach (that do not
depend on the translation, and similar issues)
'We became recognized by a marketing campaign
for Google, for example, or advertising: we
worked with TV, radio, flyer, freight companies.
Our name is out there. But our projects are not
based only to Romania, we also work in
Switzerland, in Japan, Algeria, Belgium, United
States.’ (General Manager of a media agency,
Bucharest, Romania)
City and CI development
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City as the focal point of the CI
development
Depending of the type of work cultural
workers decide on the urban surroundings
Only capital cities have the adequate
infrastructure for the CI development
Public policies should be amended in
other cities so as to include instruments
for the CI development on the functioning
of the legal system, and the development
of business infrastructure
CIs field - the need for the overall strategy for the
development of the cultural field:
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Changes of the existing structures and institutions,
inclusion of strict criteria - transparent evaluation and
funding
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Regulation of the legislature, especially regarding the IPR
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Balance between the state help and the market; arms
length bodies should be established; decentralization;
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Better communication (establishment) of professional
associations
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Education of cultural managers and cultural producers;
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Improvement of professional education
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Education on new technologies and public policies for their
broader usage
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