Portal of culture of Istria Novomedijska i izvaninstitucionalna kultura|Noninstitutional culture and of the new media|Cultura non istituzionale e dei nuovi media Archives - Kulturistra - portal za kulturu Istarske županije|Portal of culture of Istria|Portale della cultura dell 'Istria

Field of activities: Noninstitutional culture and of the new media

The term “new media culture” includes cultural practices that are represented by the following guidelines: they reflect the influence of the new technologies on the artistic creation, there is an interaction of the social and cultural fields of activities in the contemporary cultural context (examples are the subcultures and the counter-cultures), including the activities of the cultural non profit organization, interdisciplinary manifestations, and new forms of organized cultural activities such as platforms and networks, etc.

The term “new media cultures” defines fields of cultural activities in management as well as in the sector itself. It may not be the best term, but renaming it would only create more confusion.
Part of what used to be called alternative culture in now called new media culture. Alternative culture is not necessarily new media culture, as it is a broader term. Alternative culture is usually developed by young people who are ready to explore the margins of standard cultural practices, merge them into meaningful units, and create new forms.

The new media culture programs are very often open to international cooperation, interdisciplinary fields, and are, many times, performed in public areas.
The cultural activities of the new century are predominantly festivals and cultural manifestations, which offer much content and attract the attention of the public, media, sponsors, and so on. The same tendency can be seen in the new media culture where festivals are abundant. However, in the latter case there is a more accentuated problem of the extremely unstable functioning of the organizations and related clubs that are the core of this culture, due to various problems (finance, facilities, organization).

The most important festivals of the new media culture are: “Light Festival Porec” organized by the Bravaria Art Remont association, Fopa Festival – festival of performing arts organized by the Kulturban association, Transart Festival by Labin Art Express XXI, Kulturama Festival by the Pučko Otvoreno Učilište Buje, Sedam Dana Stvaranja 2009 (Seven Days of Creation 2009) by the Mali Veliki Covjek (Big Little Man) association, “Istrakon 2009” by Albus association, Media Mediterranea by Metamedij association, and Monteparadiso Festival by Monteparadiso association from Pula. Some of the non-profit clubs that should be mentioned are Monte Paradiso and Metamedia from Pula, BUM from Buzet, and Lamparna from Labin.

Many youth clubs were opened between 2000 and 2005, but now they are slowly being closed for many reasons. On one hand the laws that regulate cultural and hospitality activities are not well defined, while on the other hand hospitality activity is always present at places where young people usually gather. Moreover, only individual projects are being financed while there is no developed financing plan for annual programs. The facilities in which the programs are being held do not comply with the minimum technical requirements and the equipment also tends to be inadequate. Among all these the problems the key one is the lack of qualified personal to permanently work with the new media culture. Working in this field is not motivating at all considering this activity is not looked well upon by society and it has huge financial problems.

A good example of the new allocation of an old facility which has been recognized internationally is the transformation of the former military barracks “Karlo Rojc” in Pula into a cultural centre. To improve the situation in the new media culture in Istria the Council for new media cultures was created in 2005 as part of the Administrative Department for Education, Sport, and Technical Culture.