ARTS & CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND CULTURAL ECONOMICS:
Artistic and cultural production, distribution, consumption, mediation and reception all lie at the core of research in Arts & Cultural Management. Our focus, which is based on a strongly interdisciplinary perspective, ranges from the creation and management of cultural organizations to the conditions and organization of individual artistic careers, artistic collectives and artistic processes. We are especially interested in discussing, researching, conceptualizing and examining different dimensions of cultural and creative industries and our work is rooted in the wider social, political, economic, and legal contexts of contemporary societies, especially from a critical perspective. To this end, we connect micro-, meso- and macro-levels of organizations in the arts and cultural sectors to gain a better understanding of complex problems.
For example, we look at leadership theories, policies and practices, and cultural governance models, such as co-management and co-leadership practices, participative or collective leadership or horizontal governance models. International cultural cooperation, partnerships and networking, as well as artistic co-production practices, are further examples of challenges and opportunities within the sector. Current developments in the macroenvironment of organizations also fuel research on the impact of digitalization in the arts and cultural organizations, production and audiences, contemporary marketing and fundraising models or new business models for the cultural and creative industries.
With regard to the challenges of artistic labor and labor in the cultural field, such as precarious working conditions, we advocate more equitable and fairer models of management, production and participation. We critique social and structural inequalities in the arts and cultural sectors and the social and political engagement of artists and cultural organizations, reflecting on gender and other disparities. In this way, we are particularly interested in the issues of fair pay and institutional conditions that can ensure fair pay for women artists and cultural workers. Furthermore, we focus on addressing frequently observed problems of un(der)pay and non-transparent processes of pay in arts and culture, while also evaluating coping strategies and labor practices adopted by artists such as multi-job holding and migration decisions.
Finally, our research on cultural and creative industries also includes the role of artists in the broader spectra of the economy and society by evaluating the entrepreneurial contributions of artists and artistic production as facilitators of innovation and knowledge. We also study the distribution and reception of artworks and other artistic activities as sources of sustainable development and civil participation.
Involved researchers: