How can cultural and creative organizations communicate more effectively? What tools can help with visibility, audience building, and international collaboration? And how can they maintain a presence across various online platforms while ensuring their communication remains authentic, consistent, and human?
These were the topics of the communication webinar organized by the Visegrad Art Market – happy to share project, led by Klaudia Mazur from the Polish organization Estrada Rzeszowska. The discussion explored the communication opportunities, challenges, and best practices in the cultural and creative industries, with a particular focus on institutions, creators, and smaller creative organizations in the Visegrad region.
Why Is Communication Essential in the Cultural and Creative Sector?
In the cultural and creative industries, communication is not a supplementary task but one of the foundations of operation. It is through communication that an event, a creator, an institution, or even an entire urban cultural ecosystem becomes visible.
Communication helps:
- demonstrate the value of works and projects,
- build connections with the audience,
- engage partners, supporters, and the media,
- strengthen institutional credibility,
- and establish long-term professional relationships.
A well-structured communication process breathes life into a project: it not only informs but also engages, interprets, creates connections, and builds community.
Authentic Storytelling And Culturally Sensitive Communication
One of the central messages of the webinar was that authenticity is the foundation of effective communication. The audience is not merely seeking information; it connects with stories, people, and experiences.
In cultural communication, it is therefore particularly important to:
- to present the stories behind creators,
- to showcase behind-the-scenes processes,
- to create opportunities for emotional connection,
- to understand the needs of different audience groups,
- and to maintain transparent, open communication.
In international cultural projects, cultural sensitivity is also essential. The style, rhythm, formality, and visual language of communication can vary across different countries, cities, and communities. For successful collaboration, it is not enough to simply translate these differences—they must also be understood and adapted.
Social Media in the Creative Sector: A Tool or a Stage?
The webinar focused particularly on the role of social media. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn are not merely communication channels, but platforms where creative projects can build their own narrative, visual world, and community.
Social media is particularly well-suited for:
- sharing short videos and Reels content,
- showcasing behind-the-scenes processes,
- giving a voice to artists and creators,
- conveying the atmosphere of events,
- strengthening audience relationships,
- and sharing quick, up-to-date information.
It was mentioned several times during the discussion: it’s not worth always waiting for “perfect” content. Communication is a daily or regular task in which experience, feedback, and experimentation are at least as important as a pre-written strategy.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn: Which Platform Works?
One of the practical questions from participants was which social media platform is most useful for creative businesses and cultural organizations. The answer, of course, depends on the target audience, but several key considerations emerged during the webinar.
As a highly visual platform, Instagram can be particularly effective for creators, artisanal brands, design projects, and creative events. Facebook remains important for event communication, reaching local communities, and engaging specific age groups. TikTok can be the platform for short, dynamic, and more personal content, while LinkedIn is better suited for professional networking, project presentations, and building institutional credibility.
It was also mentioned during the discussion that the website is still not an outdated tool. A dedicated website serves as an organization’s or creator’s “digital business card”: a stable platform where all essential information can be found, independent of algorithms and changes in social media.
Visual Communication: A Good Image Can Say More Than A Long Text
In the cultural and creative sector, visual communication is particularly significant. A powerful photo, a well-edited video, or a consistent visual identity often conveys the atmosphere of an event more quickly and accurately than a long description.
The webinar discussed how collaboration with photographers, graphic designers, and filmmakers is not merely a technical matter. They help ensure that the project’s story is visually recognizable, relatable, and shareable. At the same time, it is important to always tailor visual materials to the target audience. Different types of videos serve different purposes: some are effective for attracting next year’s audience, others for engaging professional partners or documenting project outcomes.
Aftermovie or Short Reels? The Target Audience Decides
One of the most practical parts of the discussion was the analysis of event videos. Estrada Rzeszowska presented several examples of its own work: longer aftermovies, as well as shorter Reels videos intended for Instagram.
The lesson was clear: after an event, we often want to show everything because, as organizers, we’re attached to the project, we see the work that went into it, and we’re proud of the result. From a communication standpoint, however, it’s worth thinking more strategically.
Before creating any video, you should ask yourself:
- Who is this content for?
- What is its purpose?
- Which channel will it be published on?
- How much time will the viewer spend on it?
- What feeling or action do we want to evoke?
A longer aftermovie can work well as documentation or a partner report, while on social media, short, focused videos built around mood-setting elements are often more effective.
International Communication in the V4 Creative Sector
One of the key goals of the Visegrad Art Market project is international knowledge sharing and networking. The webinar therefore also addressed how to communicate effectively in international collaborations.
Successful international communication requires:
- shared goals,
- a coordinated narrative,
- clear roles,
- regular communication with partners,
- transparent workflows,
- and at least bilingual communication.
The use of English is not only practical but also increases professional accessibility. At the same time, maintaining the local language is also important, as community embeddedness, the local audience, and the cultural context of the given city cannot be ignored.
Digital Tools and International Project Management
In international cultural projects, communication is a key issue not only externally but also among partners. The webinar highlighted tools such as Slack, Trello, and Notion, which can facilitate joint planning, task tracking, and transparent collaboration.
At the same time, online tools do not completely replace in-person meetings. In-person presence continues to play an important role in building trust, exchanging ideas informally, and establishing long-term partnerships. The experiences of the Visegrad Art Market project also show that successful international collaboration often stems from a previous in-person meeting, shared interests, or a relationship built on trust.
Cooperation among communication professionals at the city level
One of the interesting questions raised during the webinar was the extent to which communication professionals at urban cultural institutions collaborate with one another. Based on the example of Estrada Rzeszowska, joint city-wide communication requires both coordination and institutional autonomy.
Different cultural actors have different target audiences, styles, and programs, so it is not necessarily advisable to standardize all communication. At the same time, shared calendars, meetings at the beginning and end of the year, joint events, and regular communication can help make the city’s cultural offerings more transparent, coordinated, and cohesive.
Creative Collaboration: Respect, Trust, and Shared Goals
A distinctive feature of cultural communication is the need to work simultaneously with creators, artists, curators, organizers, technical staff, partners, and the public. This involves a wide variety of work styles, expectations, and sensitivities.
The role of respect came up repeatedly during the webinar. Communication professionals must understand that they are not merely “selling” an event but communicating and representing a creative process. This requires attention, dialogue, and collaboration. A good communication process creates a safe space where creators feel that their work is understood, respected, and represented appropriately.
Crisis Communication and Flexibility in Cultural Events
The pandemic has shown that cultural organizations must be able to respond quickly and clearly to unexpected situations. When programs change, events are canceled, or physical events shift to a digital format, the role of communication becomes particularly crucial.
In such situations, the most important factors are:
- prompt information,
- an honest tone,
- clear messages,
- building trust,
- and accepting that we don’t always have all the answers right away.
The participants emphasized: people remember how an organization communicates in a difficult situation. Crisis communication is therefore not just a technical task, but also a matter of trust.
“It’s better to be open than perfect.”
The closing remarks of the webinar aptly summed up the overall tone of the discussion: in cultural communication, it is not perfection that matters most, but openness, learning, and connection. The motto of the Visegrad Art Market – happy to share project reinforces this: sharing knowledge, experiences, and best practices truly works when participants are ready to listen to one another, ask questions, provide feedback, and grow together. Communication in the cultural and creative sector does more than just create visibility. It builds community, launches partnerships, helps people better understand one another and provides an opportunity for local initiatives to connect on an international level.
