ABSTRACT

The Czech arts and cultural sector (ACS) has been traditionally and strongly connected and subsidized by the state. For this reason, the impact of the pandemic on this sector may not be as severe as in other countries wherein an extent of privatization exists. This chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Czech ACS. A sample of 317 organizations in the field of professional art such as theatre and dance, music, and fine art and 860 cultural workers were surveyed to investigate the economic impact during the first wave of the pandemic from March to June 2020 inclusively. The research reveals that the most sector impacted is music, with 46% loss of regular income in the first two months of the pandemic, followed by theatres by 24% and the lowest loss reported in fine arts with 17%. The pandemic and the research disclosed structural errors in the form of the lack of data relative to this sector.