Institutions, civil society actors

It is through public cultural institutions that state strategy unfolds in Algeria in culture. They therefore dominate the cultural landscape both in the theater (8 public theaters), museums (16 public museums) or artistic training (12 training centers). Placed under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Culture and equipped with one or the other of the statutes or EPIC[1] EPA[2], these cultural institutions have a mission of general interest. Their directors are appointed by the Minister of Culture.

Despite substantial financial resources, the majority of public cultural institutions suffer from poor management. This affects the quality of their operations and their programming and their attendance by the public (see Section 3.7), as the seven regional theater managed by Decree No. 07-18 which, however, states that "regional theater[3] organizes and produces cultural and artistic performances and events for a wide audience and work to the attention of national and universal cultural heritage by the citizen."[4]

Public cultural institutions in Algeria develop and implement their programs without consultation with the few actors of civil society active in the field. This is due to the wrong state's relationships with civil society. Thus, the constraints faced by the holders of independent cultural initiatives are many and greatly limit the development of the independent cultural sector in Algeria.

The first major constraint is related to bureaucratic obstacles at the time of creation of cultural and artistic associations. And once created, these associations are faced with the problem of lack of funding: while Law No. 12-06 of 12 January 2012 on associations to restricted drastically the right of access to foreign funding, the Ministry of Culture spends only 0.2% of its budget to cultural and artistic associations,

According to the latest official figures (see Table 01 below), the number of cultural and artistic associations in Algeria amounted to 6074 between 2006 and 2009, including 171 "literary" associations, associations 1168 "artistic", 1299 associations interested in "history and heritage" and other so-called 3436 "multidisciplinary", as ranked by the Ministry of Culture. Many of these associations have no real activities in the field, especially because of the lack of funding and lack of training in project management.

6074 cultural and artistic associations correspond to the very low rate of one cultural association for about 6,250 Algerians. This rate further weakening in Algiers. With its 3 million inhabitants, the capital account cultural associations only 309, or about 1 cultural association for almost 10,000 inhabitants.

Translation of graph coordinates only:

Wilaya, Literature, art, heritage history, multidisciplinary

Infrastructures

Independent from France in 1962, Algeria inherited a number of cultural facilities like the Algerian National Theatre (formerly Opera of Algiers), the Bardo Museum, or some 458 theaters. Many of these facilities have deteriorated (especially the cinema). Furthermore, very few cultural entities were built after independence. The country remains, overall, well endowed in terms of artistic and cultural infrastructure compared to other countries in the region, however, the problem of maintenance and management frequently arises.

In 2014, we identified 500 functional[6] cultural bodies across the country:

- 16 museums;
- 9 theaters;
- 12 high schools of fine arts, art and music;
- About 400 public libraries;
- 4 heritage institution centers;
- 47 cinemas;
- 3 Culture Palaces
- 35 Culture Centres.

The majority of these facilities are concentrated in the capital, Algiers, and are directly financed from the budget of the Ministry of Culture.

To return to the cinema, of the 458 rooms in existence after independence, the fact remains today that 318, including 91 in operating condition. But in reality, we only counted 47 functional cinemas[7]. The Ministry of Culture manages the largest number of operational theaters. Local authorities that manage only rarely theaters, entrust them to private that divert in most cases their artistic vocation for activities that have no connection with film.

In 2007, the government established the National Management Agency of major cultural projects direction (ARPC). Its mission is to manage the implementation of cultural infrastructure in accordance with the technical dossier prepared by the Ministry of Culture and to develop specifications and launch tenders. Since its creation in 2007, ARPC manages nine major projects:

       1. The Opera of Algiers
       2. The Arabian Southamericana Library
       3. The Grand Africa Museum
       4. The Grand Theatre of Ouled Fayet
       5. The Arab Center of Archaeology
       6. The Museum of Modern Art Oran
       7. Cultural projects in the city of Sidi Abdallah (VNSA)
       8. The Higher Institute of Craft Arts, Entertainment, and audio-visual (ISMAS)
       9. The Regional Institute for Music Education (IRFM)
 
To date[9], none of the 9 projects have been delivered[10]. The construction of these infrastructures is ambitious, but it remains that once these structures are built, the problem of management will arise seriously. While the existing cultural structures face major difficulties in management, structures the size of the Opera of Algiers are likely to suffer the same fate if nothing is planned by then, running the risk of becoming empty shells.

• [1] Etablissement Public à caractère Industriel et Commercial.
• [2] Etablissement Public à caractère Administratif.
• [3] Kessab, A., 2006, « Gestion des institutions culturelles publiques : le cas des structures théâtrales en Algérie ». Mémoire de Master 2 Recherche, Université Paris III Sorbonne nouvelle.
• [4] Décret exécutif n° 07-18 du 16 janvier 2007 portant statut des Théâtres régionaux. Journal officiel de la république algérienne.
• [5] Annuaire Statistique 2001-2010 - Ministère de la Culture.
• [6] Ce chiffre n’est pas exhaustif, il ne prend par exemple pas en compte le nombre d’écoles d’art et de musique gérés par les collectivités locales.
• [7] Ali-Yahia M., 2013, Euro Med, Texte d’intervention. http://euromedaudiovisuel.net/Files/2013/06/27/1372318200305.pdf
• [8] Euromed Audivisiel, 2014, Projet de collecte de données statistiques sur les marchés cinématographiques et audiovisuels dans 9 pays méditerranéens monographies nationales : 6. Algérie. http://euromedaudiovisuel.net/Files/2014/05/27/1401210761199.pdf
• [9] September, 2014
• [10] Site Internet de l’ARPC : http://www.arpc.dz/