Promotion of Art Literacy of Residents of Rural Areas As a Condition for the Diversity of Cultural Services

The focus of the research is the cultural policy initiative of the "cultural services basket" in rural areas and the barriers that hinder the diversity and availability of cultural offerings. One of the barriers is the art literacy of the residents of rural areas, which is more based in folk art experience and community knowledge (H. Becker), less so in the experience of formal art and culture education.

The theoretical understanding of art literacy of rural residents is based on the assumption of art literacy as a part of cultural and social capital (P. Bourdieu), as well as on studies exploring the formation of art literacy of rural residents and the associated risks of stratification.

The data reveal statistically significant differences in cultural consumption and participation in the population of different territories, with relatively low activity in professional and institutional art offer. Thus we look for solutions for more active consumption by residents of rural areas, to ensure the diversity of the cultural offer and to promote the access of rural residents to professional art.

We put forward two research questions: 1) What features of art literacy characterize residents of rural areas and how to develop these? 2) How to adapt the offer of professional and institutional art for residents of rural areas, according to the specific knowledge of their art literacy?

A set of indicators of art literacy of residents of rural areas was developed and a national scale measurement of art literacy was carried out using a representative quantitative survey of Latvian residents (15-74). Qualitative scenario modeling was used, identifying the main conditions for developing the need for professional art. Three scenarios of art literacy development were tested in five case-study areas, to foster a balance between the demand for folk art and professional art in cultural consumption.