Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013
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Fulls de Cultura No. 33 | October 2015 http://cultura.gencat.cat/dadesculturals/ Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013 Núria Mutilva and Marta Llatcha. Technical Office In 2008 the Ministry of Culture began studying the cultural third sector in Catalonia with the overall aim of learning about the complex reality of cultural foundations, associations and federations in Catalonia and measuring their activity and social and economic impact. The third sector means all non-profit associations which carry out social activities and are not in the public sector. This report is a continuation of the series of analyses of the various statistical operations about the cultural third sector that are available here. In this year’s statistical operation the universe under study is an estimated 3,500 cultural associations whose primary goal is to conduct a range of activities connected with cultural traditions and expressions with popular roots in Catalonia. Associations which carry out some cultural activities but not as their main purpose were discarded. 1. Main results The Cultural Associations Statistics 2013 draw on information gathered at firsthand through the cooperation of the organisations which have actively taken part by answering a self-administered questionnaire. Table 1 includes some of the main results of the fieldwork. Table 1. Main results. 2013 Cultural associations in Catalonia Number of associations 3,445 Participants in governing bodies 25,290 Members 431,290 Average members / association 125 Staff 51,261 Volunteers 48,995 Paid 2,266 Annual budget (52% of the organisations) under €5,000 DeCultura | No. 33 | October 2015 Analysis of the answers of the stakeholders that make up the cultural third sector draws a varied picture in terms of the spatial distribution of the cultural activities carried out by the organisations. Thus there are festive elements that are present only in some areas because of their distinctly local nature, while other cultural events cover almost the whole of Catalonia. Map 1 shows the distribution of cultural associations and the number of their members in Catalonia with some of the special features that characterise the organisations in each area. Map 1. Number of cultural associations and members in Catalonia by geographical area. 2013 Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013 2 DeCultura | No. 33 | October 2015 It also demonstrates the strength of a complex and diverse associations movement which is both active and also deeply rooted. Detailed analysis of the associations’ answers reveals significant points such as the following: In absolute terms the Barcelona metropolitan area hosts most of the cultural associations (half of the total for Catalonia), but the areas with the highest density of associations per inhabitant are the Comarques Centrals and Terres de l'Ebre with 9 organisations per 10,000 people. Music, dance, cercaviles (street parades) and miscellaneous traditions are the predominant cultural fields in associations around the country which also extend their activities to adjacent Catalan-speaking territories based on geographical proximity. Most organisations were founded in the process of cultural revival following Franco’s dictatorship, although in the 19th century there were cultural institutions in all territorial areas. In the metropolitan area participation in coordination bodies such as federations, associations or coordinating committees is far higher than in other areas inland or far from Barcelona. Although the majority of cultural activities extend across the whole of Catalonia, there is a strong relationship between the number of associations operating in specific cultural contexts and the place of origin of these cultural traditions and practices. The organisations have 430,000 members and are growing as on average 3.3 new members joined per organisation in 2013. The figure for new casteller (human tower) group members is especially good at 15. In general the organisations operate with little infrastructure and few resources: 80% use facilities loaned to them, 95.6% of their employees are unpaid volunteers, and half of the associations have an annual budget coming to less than €5,000. Although 80% of the organisations receive some kind of government grant, financial assistance accounts for only 33% of their annual revenue. Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013 3 DeCultura | No. 33 | October 2015 2. Cultural associations in Catalonia 2.1. Associations are in all areas of the country but at varying rates In 2013 a total of 3,445 cultural associations were considered to be active in Catalonia. In line with the high concentration of population, half of the organisations are in the metropolitan area (50.9%). In second place are the Comarques Centrals with 13.5% of the organisations, even though the area is in fourth place in terms of population, followed by associations in Camp de Tarragona (12%) and Comarques Gironines (10.4%). However, when these figures are compared to the population of each area, the Comarques Centrals and Terres de l'Ebre stand out as having a density of organisations per 10,000 inhabitants that is significantly higher than the other areas in the country. Map 2. Cultural associations per 10,000 inhabitants in Catalonia by geographical area. 2013 Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013 4 DeCultura | No. 33 | October 2015 2.2. Music, dance and traditions are the most widespread activities The organisations carry out two types of cultural activities: ones related to time-honoured Catalan traditions and customs, and ones which are popular manifestations of other cultural and artistic expressions. The most popular activity is music with over half of cultural organisations running musical events. Here Catalonia’s strong choral tradition stands out since almost 40% of organisations carrying out musical activities say they have a choir or choral society. About another third of cultural associations say they work in the field of miscellaneous traditions and also in dance and cercaviles. Slightly behind comes amateur theatre, which includes some traditional performances and is undertaken by a quarter of the organisations as shown in Table 2. Furthermore, fire is a key factor in numerous Catalan traditions and can be found throughout the country, although correfoc (running with fireworks) is the one to have spread most uniformly. The Festa Major (town festival) is the setting par excellence where many popular traditions and customs take place, and this underlines the local nature of cultural events. Many of the activities of the 12.6% of organisations that parade with gegants (giants: hollow figures several feet tall) are held during town festivals. Finally, despite accounting for a smaller proportion of the total number of organisations, the casteller tradition is particularly important in the areas where it first began and is also spreading across the country. In addition to Catalan traditions and customs, third sector organisations also conduct other artistic and cultural expressions that do not come under traditional customs but nonetheless are manifestations of popular culture as they are carried out by associations. This group includes heritage (which covers archives, museums, libraries, historical and archaeological heritage, local studies, ethnography and restoration), communication and audiovisual production activities. However, these cultural areas are less common in associations. Table 2. Cultural association activities in Catalonia (*). 2013 Customs and traditions Total Catalonia Cultural and artistic expression Total Catalonia Music 56.6% Heritage 16.4% Dance and cercaviles 30.4% Communication 15.8% Misc. traditions (1) 33.3% Audiovisual production 12.8% Theatre 24.3% Literature 7.5% Bestiari (real or imaginary animal figures) and foc (fire and/or fire- 17.8% Visual arts 7.1% works) Gegants 12.6% Promoting culture abroad 9.3% Castellers 3.9% Architecture and town planning 0.5% Crafts (2) 7.3% Philosophy and humanities 1.4% Contemporary thought 1.5% (*) Multiple answers (1) This section includes tres tombs (animal parades), romeus (pilgrims) and colles (groups), festivals and other traditions. (2) Lace making and building Nativity scenes. Cultural Associations in Catalonia 2013 5 DeCultura | No. 33 | October 2015 2.3. Associations straddling tradition and modernity Figures for the year when the organisations where founded show that there was a major period of regeneration of cultural associations between 1975 and 2000, which is explained by the resurgence of Catalan culture following Franco’s dictatorship. Across the country there was tremendous growth in the number of organisations and around 50% of the organisations existing today were set up in this period, with the exception of Alt Pirineu i Aran where 50% of its associations have been newly created in the 21st century. However, it is significant that 13.4% of organisations were founded before 1944 and there were cultural associations in all geographical areas of Catalonia in the 19th century. Table 3. Year of foundation of cultural associations in Catalonia. 2013 Before 18th c. 18th c. 19th c. 1900-24 1925-44 1950-75 1975-2000 After 2000 Alt Pirineu i Aran - - 6.3% - - 6.2% 37.5% 50.0% Terres de l’Ebre - - 3.0% 7.5% 4.5% 7.5% 55.1% 22.4% Ponent - - 1.1% 2.2% 6.5% 10.8% 40.8% 38.6% Comarques Gi- - - 4.8% 2.7% 4.1% 10.9% 53.0% 24.5% ronines Camp de Tarragona 0.7% 0.7% 1.3% 0.7% 3.3% 11.2% 53.2% 28.9% Comarques Centrals - - 4.2% 4.7% 2.6% 15.8% 51.1% 21.6% Metropolitan area - 0.2% 5.9% 5.9% 6.1% 9.3% 46.6% 26.0% Catalonia 0.1% 0.2% 4.2% 4.2% 4.7% 10.9% 49.0% 26.7% 2.4. Registering with coordination bodies is a metropolitan trait Cultural organisations can register with other bodies covering a larger geographical area which usually bring together several organisations as a coordinating committee, federation or association. Where the organisation is has a significant influence on the relationship between it and these unifying bodies.