The Belarusian Council for Culture works across the cultural sector, from humanitarian assistance to international-level diplomacy. At a certain point, however, we realized we needed a clearly formulated definition of the key actor in this field: a “cultural actor”. The definition had to meet practical needs rather than remain overly abstract.
This need likely arises from the multidimensional nature of the very concept of culture, its frequent overlap and mutual influence with other spheres, and the fact that we often rely on intuitive understandings. Still, we must articulate a clear definition in order to describe the scope and substance of our work more precisely, to design new sector-development programmes, and to systematise the formats and principles of cooperation with other organisations and initiatives.
In defining the concept of a “cultural actor,” we build on the understanding of culture set out in our Strategy, which is currently the Belarusian Council for Culture’s main programme document. In this understanding, culture is a form of social action through which a nation defines itself, preserves its agency, shapes its identity and values, and presents itself to the world. In the Belarusian context, culture is seen as a dynamic system that shapes national and civic consciousness, preserves language, memory, and values, supports the spread of democratic values, and helps consolidate the community and adapt it to contemporary challenges.
Within this framework, a society’s cultural field is a space of social actions and interactions where cultural meanings, practices, and forms of self-expression are created, preserved, communicated, and protected. It is within this cultural field that people who create, support, study, and thereby develop culture, shape its meanings, and ensure its functioning are understood as cultural actors.
Thus,
cultural actors are people whose actions contribute to shaping, sustaining, developing, and protecting the Belarusian cultural field by filling it with meanings, practices, knowledge, symbols, and forms of social interaction.
Cultural actors include both those who directly create cultural products and practices (in the arts, humanities, criticism, translation, research, archiving, and cultural memory) and those who provide the conditions for culture to exist and develop by organising, curating, managing, supporting, funding, disseminating, and safeguarding cultural activity.
The status of a cultural actor is not limited to professional employment, public visibility, or official recognition. A cultural actor may be a professional or an amateur: someone for whom culture is a primary field of work, or someone who contributes periodically through community-based, grassroots, or volunteer practices.
In today’s circumstances, Belarusian cultural actors are among the key agents in preserving and developing national and civic identity. They consciously take on the role of carriers and transmitters of meaning, historical memory, and values, and they are part of a cultural resistance against assimilation, propaganda, and the erosion of shared public meaning.
Who we consider cultural actors
(by type of activity, as understood by the Belarusian Council for Culture)
1. Creators of cultural forms
People who directly create cultural products and practices, including:
- artists, designers, illustrators, restorers/conservators;
- writers (prose writers and poets), playwrights, screenwriters, translators;
- singers, conductors, composers, and performing musicians;
- theatre makers, film professionals, and performance artists/practitioners;
- dancers, choreographers, ballet masters;
- photographers, video artists, and media artists;
- architects and urbanists/urban planners.
2. Cultural meaning-makers
People who interpret culture and influence it through ideas, analysis, and language, including:
- philosophers, cultural studies scholars, and humanities researchers;
- critics and reviewers;
- essayists, columnists/commentators, and authors writing on cultural topics;
- editors.
3. Stewards of cultural memory and continuity
People who work with memory, heritage, and the transmission of knowledge, including:
- archivists and archival researchers;
- museum professionals and collection curators;
- librarians;
- collectors and custodians of tangible and intangible cultural heritage;
- initiators and participants in projects documenting culture, history, and testimonies.
4. Curators, organisers, and cultural managers
People who enable cultural processes to exist and develop, including:
- arts managers, promoters, and administrators;
- curators of exhibitions, programmes, and festivals;
- producers (across different cultural fields);
- organisers of cultural events and platforms;
- festival programme directors.
5. Cultural mediators and disseminators
People who make culture visible and accessible, including:
- publishers (books and periodicals);
- journalists, commentators, and authors who cover culture;
- media managers and editors of cultural platforms;
- bloggers and independent creators, when their work relates to culture;
- communications professionals in cultural projects (press officers and cultural attachés, including those working with public and non-governmental institutions and with embassies);
- tour guides and cultural guides;
- sound engineers/sound producers, scenographers, and visual effects (VFX) specialists.
6. People who sustain the sector’s infrastructure
They create the material and organisational conditions that allow culture to function. This includes:
- patrons, investors, and creditors who support the cultural sector;
- fundraisers and grant managers working in culture;
- initiators, founders, and leaders of cultural institutions;
- providers of ongoing expert or infrastructural support to cultural initiatives.
7. Cultural activists and community organisers
People who engage in culture as a form of civic participation, including:
- cultural activists and grassroots organisers/initiators;
- community coordinators, including within the diaspora;
- initiators of educational and outreach projects;
- participants in cultural resistance and in efforts to protect the Belarusian language, memory, and symbols.
8. Educators and researchers
People who pass on cultural knowledge and practices. This includes:
- researchers;
- teachers/lecturers and academics whose work engages with culture;
- mentors, coaches, and facilitators working in the cultural field;
- authors/designers of educational programmes in culture.
Important notes
The Belarusian Council for Culture proceeds from the following assumptions:
- The term “cultural actor” is broad and inclusive. A cultural actor is defined by participation in the cultural field, not by a formal job title, occasional visibility in the sector, or a formal degree related to culture.
- One person may belong to several activity types at the same time.
- This list of activity types is open and may expand as culture develops and new forms emerge.
- Within its work, the Belarusian Council for Culture may set operational priorities for support without narrowing this broader understanding of culture.
We should note that our definition of a “cultural actor” is conventional and may be refined through dialogue with other cultural and professional communities, including in an international context.
If you have thoughts on this or suggestions on how to improve or expand the document, please write to us at info@byculture.org.
This explanatory note was prepared by the Analytical Group in cooperation with the Belarusian Council for Culture’s Assistance Programme.
