Croatia

Last update: December, 2020

According to data gathered from the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia (2020), the aggregated indicators for culture in 2019 were the following:

Indicator 1: Public culture expenditure at all levels of government was 3 185 816 433 HRK (424 775 524 EUR), which amounts to 742.51 HRK (99.00 EUR) per capita.

Indicator 2: This corresponds to 0.79% of GDP per capita.

Indicator 3: The share of cultural expenditure of the total public expenditure in 2019 was 1.82%.

Taking into account the data provided by the Ministry of Culture in 2014, this shows an increase in all the measured indicators in this period (2014-2019). For example, the indicator of public cultural expenditure, at all levels of government, per capita in 2014 was 518.29 HRK (67.66 EUR) in comparison to 742.51 HRK (99.00 EUR) per capita in 2019, which corresponded to 0.68% of GDP per capita in 2014, while in 2019 this corresponded to 0.79% of GDP per capita as noted above. The third indicator on the share of cultural expenditure of the total public expenditure shows an increase from 1.31% in 2014 to 1.82% in 2019. Source: Ministry of Culture and Media, Strategic Planning and Analytics Sector, Directorate for Cultural and Artistic Development.

Last update: December, 2020

Indicators presented in the previous chapter corroborate previously presented data available in the Compendium 2016 report (Primorac and Obuljen Koržinek 2017) that showed how data on the share of public cultural expenditure by level of government had not changed significantly since 2000. From 1999-2010, the share of expenditure of the Ministry of Culture increased (from 38% to 43%), but since 2011, it showed a fall in the percentage of funding (41% in 2011 to 35% in 2014). Looking at the data for 2019, the share of the state level funding increased again to 42% from 35% in 2014, as presented in Table 6, although one has to take into account that since 2018 cultural expenditure at the state level is reduced by the amount that the City of Zagreb is financing the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb. In addition, the Compendium 2016 report (Primorac and Obuljen Koržinek 2017) shows that the funding by municipalities and towns showed an increase in the period 2011-2014, while the allocation of the City of Zagreb stagnated in 2013 and 2014. It can be highlighted that the data shows that the local level funding is important for the cultural sector in Croatia, where the City of Zagreb plays an important role.

Table 6: Public cultural expenditure by level of government, 2019.

Source: Ministry of Culture and Media, Strategic Planning and Analytics Sector, Directorate for Cultural and Artistic Development.

Notes: ¹Cultural expenditure at the state level refers to the budget of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

² Cultural expenditure at the state level is reduced by the amount that the City of Zagreb is financing the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb (since 2018).

Last update: December, 2020

Table 7: Direct state cultural expenditure and transfers (central level): by sector, 2019, in 1 000 of HRK

Source: Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Strategic Planning and Analytics Sector, Directorate for Cultural and Artistic Development.

Last update: December, 2020

On the state level, cultural creativity is supported - both directly and indirectly:

• support from the budget through annual public calls in all fields of culture (theatre, film, publishing, music etc.) that encompass all the basic cultural activities (creativity, reproduction, transmission etc.) as well as supplementary cultural activities (support for cultural management education, information technology support etc.);
• direct support for cultural institutions;
• grants that directly support artistic creativity (e.g. writing, visual arts);
• payment of retirement and health contributions for independent artists; and
• ad hoc support from the Ministry's reserve of budgetary funds for projects that have already ensured some of the above-mentioned types of support, or have appeared as new projects outside the competition procedure.

A similar type of support is provided on the local level: that is, through yearly public calls for public needs in culture of different towns and counties, which are also oriented to support all the types of cultural activities in all fields of culture, as well as through direct support for cultural institutions that are in the remit of the local administrations. The level of support varies substantially from city to city.

Support for audio-visual activities is provided through yearly public calls published by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) dedicated to supporting film production, co-production activities, and complimentary activities (festivals, publications and other cinema-related activities), including support for film artists/workers.

In 2020 special measures were created to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural sector. They included measures from those related to the postponement of contracted programmes of public needs in culture and the conditions of payment for approved programmes in special circumstances; suspension of plans to revise freelance artists’ payment of contributions for pension and health insurance from the state budget for a period of six months, to the creation of a special fund for independent professionals who do not have a regulated status, are not in the register of taxpayers, that do not pay contributions or have not acquired the right to pay contributions from the state budget. The latter measure was created in order to complement the measure for job preservation implemented by the Croatian Employment Bureau that did not include these professions. The second package of measures included also the co-financing of films, a loan guarantee programme for entrepreneurs (SMEs) active in the field of culture and creative industries, and adjustments to the regular Call for submitting programmes of public needs in culture to meet the current needs of the sector. The third package of measures by the government included the public call for partial compensation of performance costs in theatre, dance and music (classical and jazz music); the public call for digital adjustment programmes and the creation of new cultural and educational content to admit applicants across all cultural disciplines (audiovisual production, performing arts, literature and translation, visual arts); while the Croatian Musicians Union has published a Call for proposals for concert programmes under the Agreement with the Ministry. The total list with a description of the measures in English is available at the website of the Ministry.

Last update: December, 2020

The Ministry of Culture and Media publishes yearly calls for the direct support for literary creativity in the form of stipends and it provides funding for grants as financial stimulation for lauded works of literature. It also secures funding so that the public lending rights for authors (writers, illustrators and translators) can be met on a yearly basis. In 2018 the new pilot project for supporting visual arts creativity was established to provide grants for visual artists, and after initial success it continued in the following years. In the field of music, guest recitals held in smaller communities are additionally financed - the resources are allocated to musicians through a general annual competition. About 260 recitals are financed in this way every year, and each guest recital must include at least one work by a living Croatian composer.

HDS-ZAMP (Croatian Composers' Society, Collecting Society) provides support through the Fund for Independent Music Projects that aims to enable a richer offer of cultural (primarily musical) content for Croatian citizens; and to provide additional funding for Croatian composers and other music professionals to get backing for their artistic projects. The measure is developed through five different contests: BTL Contest - Support for projects of popular music funded through a blank tape levy fund; ‘Tradicional’ Contest - support for traditional music events and music creation through funds from the fees collected for traditional music; International Contest - Supporting activities of Croatian composers and music publishers, members of HDS, on the international music scene or in the market; "Rudolf and Margita Matz" Fund - stimulation of the creation of young composers from the funds of Rudolf and Margita Matz; and the ElectroCro Contest - Support of music events, projects and music creation in the area of electronic club music. Around 100 projects are funded yearly in different music areas, from electro to traditional music genres.

Last update: December, 2020

Every year the Ministry of Culture and Media organises special competitions to support artistic creativity. A special prize (Marin Držić Prize) to stimulate contemporary playwriting is awarded through a public competition. In addition to a monetary prize, the Croatian national theatre stages the premiere of the prize-winning play. There is also a national prize to support modern Croatian composers to write music, but in this case the prize-winning works are not given their first public performance.

The "Vladimir Nazor" Prize, the most important national award established in 1991, is a monetary grant given every year for achievements of special value in all fields of culture as well as to artists for their life's work. Although it is a state prize given by the Ministry of Culture and Media, the decisions about the winners are taken by independently chosen experts and renowned artists from the different fields represented. The Ministry of Culture and Media also gives awards for the protection of heritage, "Vicko Andrić", and the protection of nature, "Ivo Horvat", and the award "Ico Velikanović" for literary translations.

The central professional art and culture associations (in the field of literature, theatre, film etc.) also give a number of awards. These awards evaluate artistic achievements, and can be given in recognition of the work of an individual, group or institution.

Special institutions or cultural events and festivals give prizes. There are numerous examples such as the "Orlando" Award for the best performance at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the "Golden Arena" Award at the Pula Film Festival and many others.

The President of the Republic of Croatia awards the Medal of the Republic of Croatia for special achievements in the cultural field - "Red Danice hrvatske - Marko Marulić".

The total number of awards and prizes in the cultural sector is large. For example, 31 major awards are granted in the field of professional music. Nevertheless, only some of them are monetary. Some of these are public awards while some are granted by professional associations. Finally, companies such as publishing houses also give prizes in the form of financial support, usually in literature (i.e. VBZ award, T-portal award, and similar).

The Ministry of Culture and Media does not grant educational scholarships. The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports is responsible for granting scholarships.

In some areas, e.g. cultural management, there is no adequate university-level education in Croatia – the private business school "Baltazar Krčelić", Zaprešić, and Business School Zagreb (VPŠZ) offer a graduate course with a specialisation in cultural management. Students try to acquire their training abroad; however, resources for this training are limited. To rectify the situation, the Ministry of Culture and Media grants funds for short-term professional training in Croatia and abroad from the funds set aside for international cultural co-operation and other programmes.

The website on Croatian culture Culturenet.hr provides updated information on current major cultural awards and bursaries, and offers a database on past events and other relevant information.

Last update: December, 2020

The Ministry of Culture and Media provides support for the activities of artists’ associations or unions in the form of grants and subsidies for their regular activities. The Ministry also approves grants for individual members of these associations or unions to spend time at special artists’ centres and various other forms of cooperation (within Croatia and internationally).

The support for professional associations in the audio-visual field is provided through the yearly calls for complimentary activities published by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.

There have not been significant changes in recent years.