Chapter in a book “Creative Workers in Permanent Crisis: Labor in the Croatia’s Contemporary Arts and Culture”

Work in Croatia’s independent cultural sector demands a specific type of individual. A typical worker is female, lives and works in the capital, Zagreb, and is mostly paid by honoraria. She is well educated and has well-educated parents that provide her with the safety net. She is burned out, but overall, she is satisfied with her position and life. She is also middle aged, single, and in most cases childless with only a few younger collaborators who are working with her. As an independent cultural worker, she is in a state of permanent crisis created by broader structural socioeconomic conditions in Croatia. These conditions do not encourage viable and sustainable cultural production, especially independent cultural production and especially in communities outside the capital. In order to work in such an unstable environment, independent cultural workers must be persistent, resourceful, multitalented, loyal to their profession, well embedded in the community, and privileged with a family that can function as a safety net. In short, to work precariously in this sector, one must belong to the elite, as only the elite can afford to work precariously.