Audience Development in Peru’s National Performing Arts Ensembles

Abstract

Peru’s National Cultural Policy to 2030 identifies as a public problem the limited exercise of the population's cultural rights, and as one of its direct causes, the limited cultural participation in artistic and cultural expressions. This reality coexists with a global trend: the rise of digital technologies in cultural consumption and a simultaneous decline in out-of-home cultural engagement. Given that public institutions—particularly those responsible for cultural matters—are tasked with finding solutions to these challenges, the following questions arise: What can we do through cultural policy to broaden and strengthen audience participation? Where do we begin? This paper analyzes the implementation of the “Audience Development Plan 2022–2024” by Peru’s National Performing Ensembles as a shift in the conception of cultural policy. This change is reflected in a management approach focused on expanding participation among new audiences through interinstitutional partnerships, and on diversifying audiences by incorporating new content into programming. This experience offers valuable insights for reflecting on the components of an effective audience development program and outlines preliminary steps to build lasting connections between the National Performing Ensembles and new, diverse audiences.