The Devaluation of the artist
-
Ali Fitzgibbon
Abstract
Much has been written about artists’ precarity and dependency on institutions. Precarity is a de-economisation of freelance artists and ‘asymmetry’ on which cultural economy and arts policy relies. Speculation early in 2020 was that Covid-19 drew attention to the unethicality of these relationships but what has changed? Here, pre-pandemic and rapid response research on UK freelance theatre artists are brought together to suggest that the #CultureReset has been little more than a resetting of the stage with all props and players returning to previous positions. Pre-pandemic, the separation of artists from the language, policymaking, business and decision-making of professional subsidised theatre represented an unethical rationality. Covid-19 interrupted and transformed all cultural activity with a disproportionate impact on freelance artists, particularly in performing arts. Yet during 2020 and 2021, previous value systems (the rationality of the field) were maintained. Early hopes for improved conditions diminish as institutions and governments restore previous behaviours, counter to the ‘new normal’ advocated. A global crisis could not change the ‘value problem’ of artists in the arts. Moreover, pity procured for artists during the pandemic has further infantilised and devalued them. These findings call for greater scrutiny of the ethics of arts management and policy and new more collaborative approaches to solving the value problem.
© 2022 by transcript Verlag
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents / Inhalt 2022/2
- EDITORIAL CONVERSATION
- Artists and cultural workers in cultural policy and creative practice: From the big break narrative to mutual aid and collective care. Simone Wesner and Jane Woddis in conversation with Stephanie Taylor and Greig de Peuter
- RESEARCH ARTICLES
- The Agonistic Politics of Invitation: Narrating Moments of Cultural Policy Interventions in Berlin, New York and Vancouver
- The Devaluation of the artist
- From a few resounding voices to a multitude of whimpers. The role of writers towards modern cultural policy in Mexico
- Artists’ Mobility Across Borders: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Dance on the Island of Ireland
- ESSAYS
- Von der Institutionskritik zur Moral Economy. Hans Haacke, Dana Schutz und eine queer-feministische Buchhandlung
- Lessons in Survival: The De-funding of Restless Dance Theatre
- Artists Shaping Policies Through Higher Art Education. How Visual Artists Develop Policies that Affect their Lives, Practices, and Careers
- CASE STUDIES
- Activism and bottom-up narratives of change in Greek cultural policy: the case of #SupportArtWorkers
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Editors Picks: Simone Wesner, Jane Woddis
- Helena Reckitt and Dorothee Richter (Eds.): Instituting Feminism. On Curating Journal Issue, 52, November 2021
- Saehrendt, Christian: Kunst im Kreuzfeuer. documenta, Weimarer Republik, Pariser Salons: Moderne Kunst im Visier von Extremisten und Populisten. Stuttgart (Franz Steiner) 2020
- Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy
- Aims and Scopes
- Peer Review Process
- Call for Papers
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents / Inhalt 2022/2
- EDITORIAL CONVERSATION
- Artists and cultural workers in cultural policy and creative practice: From the big break narrative to mutual aid and collective care. Simone Wesner and Jane Woddis in conversation with Stephanie Taylor and Greig de Peuter
- RESEARCH ARTICLES
- The Agonistic Politics of Invitation: Narrating Moments of Cultural Policy Interventions in Berlin, New York and Vancouver
- The Devaluation of the artist
- From a few resounding voices to a multitude of whimpers. The role of writers towards modern cultural policy in Mexico
- Artists’ Mobility Across Borders: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Dance on the Island of Ireland
- ESSAYS
- Von der Institutionskritik zur Moral Economy. Hans Haacke, Dana Schutz und eine queer-feministische Buchhandlung
- Lessons in Survival: The De-funding of Restless Dance Theatre
- Artists Shaping Policies Through Higher Art Education. How Visual Artists Develop Policies that Affect their Lives, Practices, and Careers
- CASE STUDIES
- Activism and bottom-up narratives of change in Greek cultural policy: the case of #SupportArtWorkers
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Editors Picks: Simone Wesner, Jane Woddis
- Helena Reckitt and Dorothee Richter (Eds.): Instituting Feminism. On Curating Journal Issue, 52, November 2021
- Saehrendt, Christian: Kunst im Kreuzfeuer. documenta, Weimarer Republik, Pariser Salons: Moderne Kunst im Visier von Extremisten und Populisten. Stuttgart (Franz Steiner) 2020
- Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy
- Aims and Scopes
- Peer Review Process
- Call for Papers
