National Conference of Cultural Managers – 7th Edition

The National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (INCFC) broadcast on Thursday, December 3, 2020, the National Conference of Cultural Managers (CNMC) on the website www.culturadata.ro and on the official Facebook page.

CNMC is the most important national conference held by INCFC, organized annually since 2014 as a platform for consultation and dialogue, which has become an opportunity to meet and exchange best practices for managers of public cultural institutions, cultural management specialists and representatives of the authorities.

The theme of CNMC 2020 brought into discussion Managerial practices during the pandemic and the future of cultural consumption, a topic that concerns the entire professional community, not only in Romania. The latest studies on cultural consumption reported in 2019 and the partial results of consumption trends in 2020 were also launched. This year’s conference proposed, on the one hand, a dialogue between the directors of several institutions representing shows, museums, libraries and cultural centres to discuss alternative measures and activities during the pandemic, and, on the other hand, a debate on the characteristics and evolution of cultural consumption, the market of events and festivals.

The CNMC 2020 program included two online events:

11:00 – SESSION Managerial practices in the field of pandemic culture

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, being among the areas most severely affected by the restrictions imposed at national and international level to protect the health of citizens, public cultural institutions faced an unprecedented situation in which they could not carry out the activity. Cultural managers have been forced to cancel most scheduled public activities and redefine their functioning, while the public has experienced new means of cultural consumption, mainly online. The indefinite time horizon of the pandemic has generated the most diverse reactions: from lack of action, waiting to return to normal, to the creation of unique cultural experiences, by capitalizing on the most innovative digital tools.

19:00 – DEBATE The future of cultural consumption

The dynamics of the relationship between creators, producers and the public has changed fundamentally, and a new reality of cultural consumption is beginning to take shape. On a personal and professional level, whether we are creators, managers, specialists in the cultural or public field interested in artistic manifestations, the health crisis has cancelled our plans and imposed a new way of existing in society. The process of adaptation still depends on each of us, but culture will certainly remain an essential pillar in the construction and reconstruction of societies.

The debate The future of cultural consumption was the occasion to launch two studies conducted by INCFC in radically different social contexts: the Cultural Consumption Barometer 2019 and Trends of cultural consumption during the pandemic.

The guests were challenged to an open dialogue about the perspectives and directions of cultural management, through the prism of their own experiences.