General tendencies in Italy

By Elena di Stefano, from La Citta' del Teatro

(work in progress)

Today, in the current cultural crisis, all the different experiences mentioned, in spite of their diverse identities, seem to face similar problems of surviving and re-positioning, challenging with the decrease of public funds as with the intermittence of public recognition, with the difficulties of the artistic market as with the demand of social services, with the new practices of creative process as with changing of audience behaviours, with the increase of competition as with the need of skills and re-organization, from the management of the structures to the development of an international dimension. In one world, facing from different positions the general and common question of a sustainable development.

Just to mention some of the current Italian obstacles for a development of creative processes and cultural venues:

• Cultural heritage ‘handicap’: the importance and richness of cultural heritage has always prevail on the contemporary attention and needs. Most of resources and attention are addressed to cultural heritage while a contemporary arts sensibility is still not as developed in the cultural policies and general culture and imaginary. Bureaucracy and old normative: the old fashioned normative and the slowness of bureaucracy, obstacle and don’t recognize the contemporary expressions, experiences, models, forms and needs.
• Political instability (locally and nationally): the several and often unexpected changes of political governance brings a continuous instability and change of measures, obstructing the reflection, production and realization of cultural policies in a medium and long term view and projection.
• Depending from public funding and lack of private funding: both for an historical, cultural and mentality reason, as for a technical and fiscal reason, cultural activities in Italy survive by the basic support of public funds, while private sector is not enough sensible nor facilitated to invest in culture.
• Collapsed market: the Italian market for contemporary arts, as for performing arts, has always been anomalous and not developed: today is almost collapsing, one reason among others for the progressive increase of ‘offering’, compared to the progressive decrease of ‘asking’. Containers / contents: mostly but not only for political and visibility reasons (in a short term vision), the realization of new containers for culture has never stopped and is still under work, in spite of the problems of resources, while the sustainability of such new venues as well as providing contents is not posed enough.

One interesting aspect to point out is the desire and need of comparison emerging from different experiences and sectors, perceived for more as an enriching process and a resource maybe to find out solutions looking into other systems: that’s the reason why they can have more to exchange cases coming from different identities, from a cultural enterprise to a theatre open to independent practices, form a volunteer’s project focusing more on social aspects to a project created and managed by artists.