Effects of Covid-19 on Cultural Practices in Serbia

Results of Exploratory Study in Serbia – Part 1

The exploratory study was carried out in June and July 2020, with citizens invited to participate via Facebook accounts. The final sample included 215 respondents. The question All over Europe people are currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you describe how this pandemic has affected cultural practices in your everyday life? in Serbia generated three groups of answers: reporting the negative or positive influence of pandemic on cultural practices, and neutral responses – either not noticing any significant effect or describing the situation without positive or negative evaluations.

Initial analysis, as was to be expected, showed that perceptions of the negative influence of COVID-19 on cultural practices prevail – this was the case with almost half of the research participants. However, it was a bit of a surprise that almost one-third of the respondents saw some positive impact of the pandemic on their cultural practices. The rest of the participants (almost as quarter of the sample) reported no (significant) influence.

In the analysis we identified 29 different categories of answers, but the five most common ones included:

1. reporting a generally negative influence of COVID-19 on culture and cultural practices.

2. reporting being negatively affected by the decrease of social interaction – people feeling deprived of outdoor cultural events and feeling missing out on cultural experiences because of the lockdown.

3. positively viewing the transfer of culture to the internet and enjoying online content

4. pointing to the development of a culture of responsible behaviour – respecting the distance, wearing masks, etc.

5. reporting no (significant) influence of the pandemic on cultural practices