State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Elbasan in reply to Artivista's request for information on culture (2026), the municipality's medium term budget plans (PBA), and INSTAT's 2023 Population and Housing Census. Amounts are in Albanian lek.
At a glance
| Region (qark) | Elbasan |
| Administrative units | 13: Elbasan, Labinot-Fushë, Labinot-Mal, Gjinar, Shushicë, Gjergjan, Funar, Shirgjan, Tregan, Gracen, Bradashesh, Zavalinë, Papër |
| Area | 872.03 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 115,101 (about 132 residents per km²); 18.8% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 19.1% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget | Planned 139,805,886 lek and spent 108,250,657 lek in 2025 |
| Share of the budget spent | From 71.6% to 81.5% a year during the period 2020 - 2025 |
| Institutions | Qendra e Artit, Pallati i Sportit, QKF; from 2024 under the General Directorate of Culture and Sport |
| Culture strategy | None yet; the municipality awaits the national culture strategy |
Summary
Elbasan, the largest municipality by area in this series so far, spends more on culture than most municipalities in Albania. During the period 2020 - 2025 the culture budget of its institutions nearly doubled, from 73.5 million lek planned in 2020 to 145.6 million lek in 2024 and 139.8 million lek in 2025. In every year, however, between 18% and 28% of the planned funds was not spent.
In 2024 the municipality merged its cultural institutions into a General Directorate of Culture and Sport. Staff numbers show how culture is now organised: of the 98 people working in the Directorate in 2025, 9 work on culture. Two heritage restorations in the old Kala quarter, a youth centre and the Aleksandër Xhuvani House-Museum, together cost about 22.6 million lek.
The municipality does not yet have a local strategy for culture. In its reply it explains that it is waiting for the national culture strategy being prepared by the Ministry, on the basis of which it will draft an action plan, and that its main heritage project is the revitalisation of the Castle. Information on activities and public consultations is published on the municipality's website, but it is not summarised in a form that allows comparison over time.
1. Governance and institutions
Until 2023 culture was managed by two institutions with their own budgets, the Cultural Heritage Centre and the Art Centre. In 2024 they were merged into the General Directorate of Culture and Sport, and in 2025 a separate Directorate of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Policies was also in place. In its reply the municipality lists as its cultural institutions the Art Centre, the Sports Palace and the QKF. The municipal theatre “Skampa” appears in the revenue records.
2. Funding
The combined budget of the cultural institutions rose from 73,456,090 lek planned and 55,685,738 lek spent in 2020 to 145,555,099 lek planned and 116,278,470 lek spent in 2024. In 2025 it was 139,805,886 lek planned and 108,250,657 lek spent. The Art Centre receives the larger share, 85 million lek planned in 2025, against 39.8 million lek for the heritage line.
The share of the budget spent ranged between 71.6% in 2023 and 81.5% in 2021, so each year between 14 and 33 million lek planned for culture was not used. The cultural institutions also earn a small income of their own: the heritage and tourism institution 276,000 lek in 2024 and 437,000 lek in 2025, and the Skampa theatre 990,000 lek and 1,425,000 lek. Few municipalities in this series report any income from culture.
3. Cultural programme
The municipality states that the number of its activities and festivals is published on its official website. That information has not been compiled into a yearly count, so this profile cannot show how cultural programming changed over the period. The monthly expenditure records of the Art Centre for the period 2020 - 2024 confirm continuous activity, but do not list individual events.
4. Heritage
Two restorations are under way in the Kala quarter, the historic heart of the city. The interior of the Aleksandër Xhuvani House-Museum, which holds the city's art collection, is being restored at a cost of 13,200,372 lek including VAT, with works carried out in 2026. A two-storey building near the southern gate of the castle is being restored as a youth and career counselling centre at a cost of 9,388,188 lek; when the municipality replied, in July 2026, it had not yet been handed over. The municipality names the revitalisation of the Castle as its main heritage project.
5. Staff
According to the municipality, the structures responsible for culture had 48 staff a year during the period 2020 - 2022. In 2023 there were 41 in the AKT and 34 in the Art Centre, and in 2024, 42 in the AKT, of whom 3 worked on culture, and 35 in the Art Centre. In 2025 the General Directorate of Culture and Sport had 98 staff, of whom 9 worked on culture, and the Directorate of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Policies had 9. Because culture is now combined with sport and tourism, the totals overstate the staff who actually work on culture.
6. Planning and public participation
Elbasan has no local strategy for culture. The municipality states that it is waiting for the national culture strategy being prepared by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and will then draft an action plan for the city. Public consultations are published on the municipality's website; the reply does not say how many concerned culture.
7. Culture across the municipality
The documents reviewed do not break down cultural activity or investment by administrative unit. Both heritage restorations are in the city of Elbasan, in the Kala quarter, and the 12 other administrative units, most of them rural, are not mentioned in the information provided.
Conclusions
- Elbasan's culture budget nearly doubled during the period 2020 - 2025, reaching 145.6 million lek planned in 2024.
- Each year the municipality spent between 71.6% and 81.5% of the planned budget.
- Since 2024 culture is managed within a General Directorate of Culture and Sport, where 9 of 98 staff worked on culture in 2025.
- Two heritage restorations in Kala cost about 22.6 million lek; the youth centre had not been handed over by July 2026.
- There is no local culture strategy, and activities and consultations are not reported in a form that allows comparison.
Recommendations
Prepare a local culture plan without waiting
The municipality plans to draft an action plan once the national strategy is adopted. It could start now with a short plan for 2026 - 2028, built around the revitalisation of the Castle, the Xhuvani House-Museum and the youth centre, and adjust it later to the national strategy.
Spend the budget that is planned
Every year between 18% and 28% of the culture budget is not spent. The Directorate could publish the reasons in its annual report and plan activities and procurement earlier in the year, so that the funds approved by the Council reach residents.
Give culture a clear place in the Directorate
With culture, sport and tourism in one structure, it is hard to see what is spent and who works on culture. The municipality could report the culture budget and the staff working on culture separately each year.
Turn the website information into yearly figures
Activities, festivals and consultations are published online. A short annual summary, with the number of activities by type and by administrative unit and the number of participants, would make it possible to follow cultural life over time.
Open the restored buildings with a programme
The youth centre and the House-Museum will need a programme and staff once the works end. The municipality could complete the handover of the youth centre, publish opening dates and plan the first year of activities with schools and youth organisations.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Budget figures come from the municipality's budget by institution for the period 2020 - 2025; staff, restoration costs and planning information come from its reply of 8 July 2026; revenue figures come from its medium term revenue forecast.
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.
