The results of the research "Italian cultural consumption in the time of Covid-19: old and new habits" and "Effettofestival 2020: cultural in-depth festivals in the time of Covid-19" were presented as part of Bookcity. commissioned by Intesa Sanpaolo, which with its museums and support activities for cultural projects and institutions is one of the first operators in the country to investigate the impact of the lockdown on Italian culture. The research has been made public as a tool to help cultural organizations involved in planning the restart.
The research "The cultural consumption of Italians in the time of Covid-19: old and new habits", conducted by Ipsos, was carried out from 6 to 21 October 2020 on a sample of 1000 people nationwide and 200 regular users of culture. The survey highlighted the importance of digital in the fruition of culture during the confinement period, both for 'neophytes', i.e. those "who have approached the world of culture since the lockdown", and for regular users ( "at least 4 cultural activities per month").
Culture understood in a broad sense is an important aspect in people's lives, because it fulfills various needs: personal growth, reflections on current issues, sharing, entertainment and curiosity. Undoubtedly, live viewing is the best way to enhance a cultural event, be it an exhibition, a theater show or a book presentation, because it offers an immersive, complete and enhancing experience.
The lockdown initially disoriented, especially the regular users. Live enjoyment of cultural events/activities was greatly missed by 86% of the sample and 94% of regular users.
But the contingent situation then stimulated and imposed choices, strategies to make up for the lack of live enjoyment, which turned out to be satisfactory on the whole. Although 24% answered 'I didn't do anything' to the question "How did you make up for the impossibility of enjoying your favorite cultural events/activities live?", 53% sought new ways of remote cultural enjoyment.
Digital has therefore played a key role in cultural fruition during the confinement: it has added new methods by filling a void and expanding the audience to new users, less experienced, but who show the enthusiasm of "newbies".
For the "newbies", the lockdown was a moment of experimentation and discovery, an opportunity that simplified and made the use of culture more accessible at any time (68%) and in any place (53%), as well as a family sharing, capable of bringing children closer to culture for 30%. In addition, of course, to the economic advantage recognized by 50% of those questioned.
When the health emergency ends, you will want to go back to live use: the most assiduous and passionate public has no doubts about this. However, a rethinking will be necessary in the organization of cultural events: live and remote use will have to integrate more and more, expanding and further enhancing the contents and methods of cultural offer.
Digital can become an element of integration of fruition in presence, enhanced before, during and after the live event, completing and enriching it with extra, digital content.
The second research commissioned by Intesa Sanpaolo, "Effettofestival 2020: cultural in-depth festivals in the time of Covid-19”, created by Giulia Cogoli and Guido Guerzoni, was conducted on a sample of 87 national festivals to investigate how cultural reviews reacted to the health emergency, which denied aggregation and physical presence, two of the main elements . The research showed that 17% of the reviews canceled the 2020 edition, 7% proposed a double edition, online and in attendance (after the lockdown was over), 17% opted for a completely online formula. Only 35% managed to create an edition in presence, thanks to the dates not impacted by the lockdown.
Digital will also be an indispensable element for the future for cultural events: 46% of cultural events will offer the hybrid formula between online and live in 2021, with new formats and contents that will integrate the live experience.
