Impact of COVID‐19 on the Cultural and Creative Sectors in the EU's

CULTURAL RELATIONS PLATFORM EUROPAID/140334/DH/SER/MULTI The Assessment of the Impact of COVID‐19 on the Cultural and Creative Sectors in the EU’s Partner Countries, Policy Responses and their Implications for International Cultural Relations Pierangelo Isernia and Alessandro Giovanni Lamonica (DISPOC, University of Siena) February 2021 This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Cultural Relations Platform1 and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. 1 This impact assessment and the mapping and analysis of policy responses have been conducted in the framework and on the request of the Cultural Relations Platform. We thank Sana Ouchtati and Jermina Stanojev, the consortium partners (Goethe‐Institut, IETM ‐ International network for contemporary performing arts, and ECF – the European Cultural Foundation), and Prof. Richard Higgott for their input during the different stages of preparation of this report. We also thank the team of regional experts who assisted us with the data collection and who offered their precious feedback regarding our analysis: Tetiana Biletska, Fatin Farhat, Pedro Affonso Ivo Franco, Moukhtar Kokache, Mourad Sakli, Milena Dragićević Šešić, Anupama Sekhar. Finally, we thank Federica Falchetti, Bomei Chen, Zeina Nasser and Alessandra Praticò of the University of Siena for their research assistance in the data collection process. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary .................................................................................................................................. 3 Rationale for the study, background and objectives ............................................................................... 6 Methodological notes .............................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction: The complex nature of the cultural sector ........................................................................ 9 IMPACT ..................................................................................................................................................12 COVID-19 global impact on the cultural and creative sectors ..........................................................12 Impact by cultural sub-sector: regional insights ...............................................................................14 Tourism .........................................................................................................................................16 Performing arts .............................................................................................................................16 Museums .......................................................................................................................................16 Books .............................................................................................................................................18 Music .............................................................................................................................................18 Arts ................................................................................................................................................19 Film industry..................................................................................................................................19 The GCLP Alumni survey ................................................................................................................20 POLICY RESPONSE ..................................................................................................................................22 Mapping policy responses by governments and public bodies in the EU and in partner countries 22 An overview of global challenges to culture and responses in partner countries............................25 CASE STUDIES .........................................................................................................................................34 Ukraine ..............................................................................................................................................34 Republic of Serbia ..............................................................................................................................35 Morocco ............................................................................................................................................36 Tunisia................................................................................................................................................38 The United States ..............................................................................................................................39 China ..................................................................................................................................................42 Brazil ..................................................................................................................................................45 India ...................................................................................................................................................47 THE DIGITALIZATION PROCESS ..............................................................................................................50 INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS ................................................................................................53 Response and resilience: Support to ICR during the COVID-19 pandemics......................................53 References .............................................................................................................................................56 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted economies, societies and political systems worldwide. Culture as a sector and as a practice in international relations has not been exempted either. Indeed, the social, political and economic characteristics of the pandemic have had deep implications for culture and its role in international relations. Preliminary evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) in partner countries – the Neighbourhoods, the Western Balkans, and the Strategic partners – and on their capacity and willingness to conduct international relations (IR), together with an overall analysis of the policy responses put in place by state and non-state actors to limit such an impact, are provided in this report. Impact Given the nature of the CCS and the cultural “ecosystem” in which cultural practices and policies are embedded, a comprehensive assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the CCS is difficult both methodologically and theoretically. However, some insights were drawn based on the initial data gathered from the EU partner countries: The initial survey data confirms that in several partner countries (e.g. India, Brazil, Tunisia, and Kosovo,2 just to mention a few cultural actors are among the most vulnerable groups in the economy, and that the CCS is extremely sensitive to the vagaries of the market and to the socio- political situation since it lacks robust counter-cyclical tools (OECD, 2020). Among the characteristics that make this sector particularly weak are: o The unstandardized form of many jobs in this area and the parcellated nature of its economic structure. Many cultural workers are self-employed or are part of a small enterprise, and frequently have a precarious or non-standard form of work (i.e. the informal economy), meaning the vast majority are subject to precarious forms of employment. This means that they often have limited access to traditional funding sources and that they presumably do not meet the eligibility criteria for main relief and recovery measures. o Not only is the job market extremely exposed to any form of social uncertainty or economic shock, but it is also highly difficult for such a job market to cope with these shocks and turbulences and to find the appropriate form of public and private support when this is the most needed. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was severe and affected all partner countries. For the countries whose survey data is available (e.g. the United States, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, India, China, Georgia, and Ukraine), it is possible to state that the nature and “relative magnitude” of the impacts have been similar: o The COVID-19 crisis affected the core activities of many cultural organizations, with a widespread cancellation of scheduled events. o Organizational implications included the temporary or permanent closure of activities, temporary or permanent staff reductions, and the cancellation of local and international trips. 2 This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244(1999) and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. 3 o Organizations have also been financially impacted, with a dramatic reduction of income, reduced access to financing, and a diminishing of co-financed project opportunities. It is almost impossible to predict when and how a recovery of the CCS in partner countries will take place. It is also hard to estimate both the role and contribution of the cultural sector to national economies and to the world economy, and the amount of personnel employed in the sector. Furthermore, there is wide variety of situations

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