Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Issue 1 | Page 104

culture as “a way of life.” The understanding of culture as an all-encompassing
holistic area of life and creativity has supported a structural diversification
of the cultural field, which is reflected in the growth of independent
culture and the establishment of specialized cultural organizations, such
as POGON—Zagreb center for independent culture and youth; Kulturpunkt
(NGO Kurziv—The platform for issues of culture, media and society), cultural
and dance centers and others. In ���� the Kultura Nova Foundation dedicated
to the development and co-financing of independent cultural scene was
established (Zaklada Kultura nova ���. Ninety-three cultural NGOs active
in different cultural fields are now registered in Croatia (Barada, Primorac,
and Buršić ����). As a result of systemic transition and diversified cultural
consumption, a specialized cultural market has emerged and became clearly
visible.
Cultural communication and the media. Global cultural influences have
been largely transferred through printed and digitalized media. Easily
accessible contents have met local interests in all cultural activities and
expressions. As the media have generated processes of mediation and
mediatization of culture (Hepp ����) they have also included local networks
in the distribution of cultural products.
All three identified types of the Croatian national culture have been submitted
to strong interactive relations with different media. The contextualization of
the media and the issuing processes of mediatization indicate that the role
of different media in cultural mediatization is different, and that the results
of media involvement in the cultural production and consumption are
different. The varieties of such influences and impacts depend on the type
of the media and on the cultural type and they produce a number of new
cultural specializations embracing life styles, cooking, fashion, and interest
in “traditional” cultural productions such as classical music, painting, and
other.
Institutional culture is mediated and mediatized through the creation of
information on the cultural production, organization, and functioning
of cultural institutions. It often represents artists and their works and
achievements, cultural activists and professionals, workers and managers
who are in the most cases fully employed by cultural organizations and
institutions (e.g., museums, orchestras, theatres, etc.). The information on
cultural activities is produced by professionals employed either in the
Ministry of Culture or by media organizations. Mediation mostly refers to
the established print and electronic media organized under the principles
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