The activity of cultural institutions was strongly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving museums with less than half of their 2019 visitor numbers and libraries lending less than half of their usual number of books, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INS).

The closing or narrowing down of the activity of the cultural units, the canceling of events or the bans on organizing them impacted the public’s cultural consumption and the arts & culture community’s activity, INS explained.

A total of 8,829 libraries were open in 2020, 393 less than in 2019. In urban areas, 3,374 libraries were open last year, 80 less than in 2019, with a book collection of 123 million volumes. In rural areas, there were 5,455 libraries, with a book collection of 36 million volumes. There were 2.5 million active library users in 2020, 598,000 less than in 2019.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public made fewer visits to public libraries, an active user lent on average 11.3 volumes last year, compared to a 2019 average of 13.7 volumes. 

The network of public museums and collections had last year 438 units, 23 less than in 2019. The number of visitors to museums and public collections, botanical gardens and zoos, aquariums and nature reserves was 7.9 million in 2020, compared to 18.2 million people in 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the Night of Museums event to October, from its usual May slot, in a program that mixed online and physical attendance. A small number of museums allowed visitor access until 21:00, under the sanitary restrictions, and 10,400 people attended the event.

Last year, the network of performance and concert institutions and companies encompassed 167 units, eight less than in 2019. In 2020, performance and concert institutions and companies delivered 10,000 performances in the country, watched by 1.5 million viewers, less than half of the 26,400 performances delivered in 2019, watched by 8.1 million viewers.

In 2020, 41 local films were produced - 30 features, eight documentaries, and three animation films – 13 less than in 2019. 

At the end of 2020, there were 449 cinema halls in the country offering a total of 78,100 seats, compared to 432 cinema halls with 76,300 seats in 2019. There were 210,500 film screenings held last year, a third of the 2019 number, seen by 3.3 million viewers, compared to 13.1 million viewers in 2019, according to INS data.

(Photo: Constantin Opris/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com