The Institution of the Cultural Centre – an Overview [2005]

The Centre for Studies and Research in the Field of Culture carried out a study for the evaluation of the situation of the cultural centres in Romania.

The research was made in parallel with the study on the cultural tourism and it took into account 121 cultural centres from 40 counties of Romania. Depending on the infrastructure, institutional aspects, compliance with the legislation in the field and the nature of the activities developed, four types of cultural centres were identified: invisible, common, emblematic and extraordinary.

In most of the counties there is no record of the cultural centres, and this situation is tolerated by the local authorities. At local and county level the study revealed a lack of coherent cultural policies. Moreover, the public investments in training human resources professionals are very small and there is no formal management-structure. The infrastructure of the cultural centres is, in most cases, precarious, and the precincts are used for discos and periodically rented for local ceremonies (weddings, memorial dinners, baptising-related ceremonies). In terms of budget, the study showed that the local allocations for cultural centres are null.