Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Issue 1 | Page 95

The study of some similar developments and cultural practices incited by
global influences that can be traced in other Southeast European countries
indicates that dissimilarities among Southeast European cultures are growing.
They may appear disguised as “specificities” of national cultural traditions
which strongly support the preservation of national cultural frameworks.
Global influences and their impacts do not therefore provide for a kind of
regional Southeast European or even European cultural identification.
The strongest and most visible global influences are technological and
communicational. As culture is “the source of newness” and thus “drives”
technology (Hartley, Wen, and Siling Li ����:��) the global technological
influences do not only affect cultural creativity, but they are also reflected in
all types of cultural stratification. It is visible in countries such as Romania,
Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, or Bulgaria where cultural stratification is, as well
as in Croatia, influenced by the development of vivacious NGO sectors that
strongly support cultural production, particularly the types “abandoned” by
the state.
The public impact of the emerging civil society on cultural production and
change in Romania has become “more pragmatic and specifically targeted
to the needs of cultural life” as it influenced the provision of “an articulated
framework for grants,” incited local pilot projects of public interest and
raised public awareness and transparency of management of culture (Balsan
����).
New actors such as foundations or private cultural institutions, organized by
NGOs, have emerged on the Bulgarian cultural scene (Andreeva and Tomova
����). Civil society has considerably influenced the formulation of a “new
cultural policy model” that brought decentralization of cultural policy and
included minority cultures participation in the national cultural activities.
Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Croatia have experienced
similar developments. The role of NGOs in cultural activities has been
constantly growing, which strongly influenced and in many cases enabled
cultural creativity and support to individual artists. At the same time, cultural
products have entered the emerging and not well-organized cultural markets.
The establishment and elaboration of public cultural policies in all Southeast
European countries have continuously enjoyed professional and financial
support offered by the Council of Europe through the European Program of
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