State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Gramsh in reply to Artivista's request for information on culture (2026) and INSTAT's 2023 Population and Housing Census. Amounts are in Albanian lek.
At a glance
| Region (qark) | Elbasan |
| Administrative units | 10: Gramsh, Kodovjat, Kukur, Kushovë, Lenie, Pishaj, Poroçan, Skënderbegas, Sult, Tunjë |
| Area | 739.75 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 16,533 (about 22 residents per km²) |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 19.1% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget | Planned 9,546,000 lek and spent 8,982,003 lek in 2025 |
| Cultural institutions | Children's Cultural Centre “Adem Hoxha” and Cultural Centre “Vëllezërit Çetiri”, 10 staff each |
| Public consultations | 14 a year, as part of the annual budget process |
Summary
Gramsh, a mountain municipality in Elbasan region with ten administrative units, runs culture through two cultural centres with 10 staff each: a children's centre that offers free courses to children aged 6 to 16, and a cultural centre that organises activities and looks after local heritage, from manuscripts to photographs and film.
The culture budget changed sharply during the period 2020 - 2025. After 860,000 lek planned in 2020, it rose to 23.8 million lek in 2021 and 21.5 million lek in 2022, then settled at 9.3 to 10 million lek a year. The reply does not explain the rise, and in 2022 only 54.2% of the planned budget was spent. In the other years the municipality spent between 85.9% and 94.1% of the plan.
The programme is small but growing, with between 2 and 6 named events a year, from the Youth Marathon and the children's voices festival to “Endrra mbi Livando” and the opening of the tourist season. The municipality holds 14 consultations a year as part of its budget process and has approved an events calendar for 2026 and a new ensemble at the Palace of Culture, but has no culture strategy.
1. Governance and institutions
The Children's Cultural Centre “Adem Hoxha”, in the Xhile Liçi neighbourhood, works with children aged 6 to 16, helping them develop their talents and giving them free access to courses and materials. The Cultural Centre “Vëllezërit Çetiri”, in the Holta neighbourhood, organises cultural activities, promotes local identity and preserves manuscripts, maps, music scores, photographs and audiovisual materials. Each centre had 10 staff in every year of the period 2020 - 2025.
2. Funding
The planned culture budget was 860,000 lek in 2020, 23,791,000 lek in 2021, 21,478,000 lek in 2022, and between 9,322,000 and 9,962,000 lek a year in 2023 - 2025. Actual spending followed the same pattern, from 758,333 lek in 2020 to 20,440,000 lek in 2021 and 8,982,003 lek in 2025. The reply gives a second, much smaller series described as the value of cultural activities, from 800,000 lek in 2021 to 3,000,000 lek in 2025, which most likely covers events only, without staff and running costs. The cultural centres earn no income of their own.
3. Cultural programme
The reply names 4 events in 2020, 2 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 3 in 2023 and 6 in both 2024 and 2025. Recurring events are the Youth Marathon, the children's voices festival and the city festivities of 18 August; newer ones include Natyra Fest “Eja në Gramsh”, “Endrra mbi Livando”, “Gramshi në Fest” for the opening of the tourist season and, in 2025, the town's 65th anniversary. The municipality reports between 8,500 beneficiaries in 2020 and 18,000 in 2025, including residents and visitors, and also takes part in events organised by the Ministry of Culture and the National Centre of Traditional Activities.
4. Heritage
The only investment reported is the reconstruction of the Children's Cultural Centre “Adem Hoxha” in 2025, at 8,125,000 lek.
5. Planning and public participation
Gramsh has no culture strategy. It reports two recent decisions: the approval of an events calendar for 2026, now being implemented, and the creation of an ensemble at the Palace of Culture. The municipality holds 14 consultations a year, in the town and in each administrative unit, as part of the annual budget process; they also cover culture, but are not specific to it.
6. Culture across the municipality
Events use the halls of the Palace of Culture and the Children's Cultural Centre, Kamber Dermyshi Square, the pedestrian area, the Sports Palace, the stadium and natural sites such as the Banja and Dushk lakes. The reply does not show activities in the nine administrative units outside the town.
Conclusions
- Gramsh has two cultural centres with a stable staff of 20 during the period 2020 - 2025.
- The culture budget rose from 0.9 million lek in 2020 to 23.8 million lek in 2021, then settled at about 9.5 million lek a year.
- Only 54.2% of the budget was spent in 2022; in the other years spending was 85.9% to 94.1% of the plan.
- The municipality names 2 to 6 events a year and reports a growing number of beneficiaries.
- There is no culture strategy, and activities in the nine rural units are not documented.
Recommendations
Explain the budget of 2021 - 2022
The culture budget was more than twice as high in 2021 and 2022 as in later years. A short note on what it covered, and why in 2022 almost half was not spent, would make the figures easier to understand.
Report one culture budget
The reply gives two very different series for the same years. The municipality could report each year the full culture budget and, within it, the amount for activities, staff and running costs.
Take activities to the villages
Gramsh has ten administrative units, but activities are concentrated in the town. The two centres could plan a small programme in the villages each year and report participants by unit.
Turn the 2026 calendar into a strategy
The events calendar and the new ensemble are a good start. A culture plan for three years, discussed in the annual consultations, could add targets for the two centres, heritage and the lakes as cultural venues.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Budget, activities, staff, consultations and investment are as reported by the municipality, in a scanned and a spreadsheet copy of its reply that match each other.
Every effort has been made to base this analysis on the data provided by the municipality, complemented with data from its Medium Term Budget Programmes (PBA) published online. For comments or questions, please contact artivista@arti-vista.org.
This article was prepared within the CulturAL project, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the National Centre for Community Services and Artivista Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
