Barcelona Cultura

Art Factories: a qualitative assessment


The Observatori de Dades Culturals de Barcelona (Barcelona Cultural Data Observatory) presents a report outlining the basis for a proposed qualitative assessment of the Art Factories network.

Our focus, until now, has been on quantitative indicators, although we’ve always been fully aware that quantitative information is inadequate to explain what an art factory is in all its complexity. The qualitative assessment will allow us to provide a better picture of the role these facilities play in the sphere of creation.

In order to design a procedure capable of qualitatively assessing, in a sufficiently competent manner, the work of the factories, a preliminary definition task was carried out to gather the experiences of each of the factories, based on interviews of the managers in charge.

The main goals of the interviews were to:

  • Detect the core values that can serve to qualitatively assess the facilities.
  • Design a plan that pinpoints which practices can guarantee these values.
  • Suggest the lowest common denominator that explains what art factories are and what they do.

The report that ensued from this process (only available in Catalan) is the first step towards a qualitative assessment of the Art Factories network.