New ‘atlas’ sheds light on Jordanian cultural scene, audiences

AMMAN — With the aim of encouraging more artistic and cultural events in the Kingdom and to reach out to all types of audiences, the “Audience Atlas” report was launched on Thursday, as an “information tool for organisers of events in the sector”.

The atlas, which was launched at the Zain Innovation Campus, is a cooperation project between the British Council, Morris Hargreaves McIntyre Consultancy, the EU, and the European Union National Institute of Culture (EUNIC). 

Jo Taylor, senior consultant at Morris Hargreaves McIntyre Consultancy, said the company is specialised in researching the arts and culture sector, in order to have deeper impacts on the audiences and to understand their varied needs.

The Audience Atlas report is divided into three sections: the Jordanian culture market, 14 specific art forms and a section on audience segments.

Although Jordan has a very young market, not everyone has the same interests, Taylor said, adding that classifying people in groups and segments is a practical way to focus on specific audiences. 

The research has identified eight segments in the market: essence, expression, affirmation, enrichment, stimulation, release, perspective and entertainment. 

A country-wide online survey of around 1,750 people from Jordanian cultural audiences inquired about engagement with the 14 art forms, interests, attitudes towards culture and how they want to engage with the sector. 

Out of the 6.6 million Jordanian citizens, around 34 per cent of them are involved in the cultural market in Jordan, Taylor said, citing the study, with 47 per cent of the market based in Amman and 37 per cent of the market aged between 18 and 24 years old.

Film is the most popular cultural activity for respondents, with around 61 per cent interested people in the market, followed by literature, with a 57 per cent rate of engagement, and visual arts with 52 per cent. 

Museums are attended by around 51 per cent of respondents, theatres and plays by 46 per cent, dance by 42 per cent, comedy and traditional music by 32 per cent each, followed by street performance by 31 per cent, classical music by 24 per cent, popular music by 22 per cent and contemporary dance by 21 per cent of respondents. 

Opera witnessed the second lowest turnout among the cultural events studied, with only 12 per cent of the interested attending, while ballet came last with only 10 per cent of respondents interested in the art form according to the study.

“Every single art form, even the most popular, has a huge opportunity for growth… for opera and classical music, way more people would like to go than those currently attending,” Taylor added.

British Council director Steve McNulty said the study provides options for growth and can be used as a tool to attract people who would like to attend events, but have not yet done so.

“Back in 2013, the British Council launched a series of capacity-building workshops which were aimed at building audiences for the arts and cultural sector here in Jordan,” McNulty said.

The Jordanian audience in the cultural arena, he said, is highly diverse, which can be a challenge sometimes, as they have different tastes and demands.

EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana said the study emphasises diversity and cultural dialogue in the Jordanian art scene.

He said organisers of such events can use analysis and data in order to make the cultural scene more active, dynamic and economically profitable, to also ensure economic growth.