Albania/ 4.2 Recent policy issues and debates  

4.2.7 Employment policies for the cultural sector

There are no specific strategies to stimulate employment in the cultural sector in Albania. In the early 1990s, there were a considerable number of artists who immigrated mainly to the neighbouring countries, which is of great concern for the development of the sector.

Table 1 provides an overview of the current number of local cultural institutions, their geographical distribution throughout the country and the number of employees.

Table 1:     Local cultural institutions: geographic distribution and number of employees, 2005

Districts	Cultural centres	Libraries	Museums	Theatres	Archives	Cinemas	Total employees
Tirana	1	7	2	2	1	2	50
Berati	1	1	1	0	1	0	40
Bulqiza	1	1	0	0	0	0	5
Delvina	1	1	0	0	0	0	5
Devolli	1	0	0	0	0	0	4
Dibra	1	0	0	0	0	1	32
Durresi	1	1	1	1	1	1	45
Elbasani	1	1	1	1	1	1	56
Fieri	1	1	1	1	1	1	44
Gramshi	1	1	0	1	0	0	10
Gjirokastra	1	1	1	1	1	0	45
Hasi	1	1	0	0	0	0	7
Kavaja	1	1	0	0	0	0	9
Kolonja	1	1	0	0	0	0	8
Korça	1	1	2	1	1	0	55
Kruja	1	1	2	1	0	0	9
Kuçova	1	0	0	0	0	1	4
Kukësi	1	1	0	0	0	0	25
Laçi	1	1	0	0	0	0	6
Lezha	1	1	0	0	0	0	16
Librazhdi	1	1	0	0	0	0	12
Lushnja	1	1	0	0	0	0	30
Malësia e Madhe	1	1	0	0	0	0	4
Mallakastra	1	1	0	0	0	0	3
Mati	1	1	0	0	0	0	11
Mirdita	1	1	0	0	0	0	7
Peqini	1	1	0	0	0	0	12
Përmeti	1	1	0	0	0	0	24
Pogradeci	1	1	0	0	0	0	8
Puka	1	1	0	0	0	0	7
Saranda	1	1	0	0	0	0	12
Skrapari	1	1	0	0	0	0	28
Shkodra	1	1	0	0	0	0	9
Tepelena	1	1	0	0	0	0	12
Tropoja	1	1	0	0	0	0	25
Vlora	1	1	0	0	0	0	3
Shijaku	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cërriku	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patosi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rrogozhina	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leskoviku	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fushë Kruja	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Divjaka	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Memaliaj	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source:      INSTAT, 2005.

As can be seen from the above table, employment in the cultural sector is well below the standards of other European countries. Many communities have no access to cultural services. One method of re-establishing the already devastated cultural infrastructure would be to use school environments and their simultaneous change into cultural centres, which might employ other people.

Chapter updated: 09-01-2008