Key terminology
Cultural policy as professions
Institutions and journals
in the field
8.9.2011
Timo Cantell
timo.cantell@hel.fi
Cultural policy?
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What is cultural policy?
Who is a cultural policy expert, professional?
Where does s/he work?
What kind of professional qualities does an
expert in the cultural policy field need?
• What kind of training is required?
What is cultural policy?
Who is a cultural policy expert,
professional in the field?
Where does s/he work?
What kind of professional qualities
does an expert in the cultural policy
field need?
What kind of training is
required in the field?
Key terms
Raymond Williams 1983. Keywords.
“Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the
English language.” (p. 87)
In the 18th and 19th century in German language Kultur was “a synonym
for civilization: first in the abstract sense of a general process of
becoming „civilized‟ or „cultivated‟; second, in the sense … as a
description of the secular process of human development.” (p. 89)
Key terms
Culture in various meanings
“(i) the independent and abstract noun which describes a general
process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development, from
C18 [18th century];
(ii) the independent noun, whether used generally or specifically, which
indicates a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period, a
group, or humanity in general …;
(iii) the independent and abstract noun which describes the works and
practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity. This seems of
the the most widespread use: culture is music, literature, painting
and sculpture, theatre and film.” (p. 90)
Key terms
Art “to refer to any kind of skill” (p. 40)
“In the medieval university curriculum the arts („the seven arts‟ and later
„the liberal arts‟) were grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry,
music and astronomy, and artist, from C16, was first used to
describe any skilled person … or a practitioner of one of the arts in
another grouping, those presided over by the seven muses: history,
poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dancing, astronomy. Then, from
lC17, there was an increasingly common specialized application to a
group of skills not hitherto formally represented: painting, drawing,
engraving and sculpture”.
Key terms
Management
“The word management seems to have come into English directly from
maneggiare, It[alian] – to handle and especially to handle or train
horses.”
“Manage was quickly extended to operations of war, and from eC16 to
a general sense of taking control, taking charge, directing. Its
subsequent history is affected by confusion with ménager, F[rench]
– to use carefully, from ménage – household, which goes back to
mansionaticum, vL and rw mansionem, L – a dwelling (which led
directly to maison, F – house).
Definitions
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The field of arts management is based on the
assumption that artistic activity is a social
process that includes a certain amount of
division of labour. Therefore there is also room
for arts managers.
“All art works, then, except for the totally
individualistic and therefore unintelligible works
of an autistic person, involve some division of
labour among a large number of people.”
(Becker 1982).
Excursion: arts management
• William J. Byrnes (2003): "Over the last 2000
years, the basic functions of the artist-manager
have remained the same. Bringing the art and
the public together is the continuing objective.”
Excursion: arts management
• Pick and Anderton (1996)
• Arts administrator's work involves three essential
and sequential steps:
1. A deep knowledge of, and personal
commitment to, chosen art, and form or art
forms
2. An equally full and imaginative understanding
of the cultural history, awareness and other
social conditions of all segments of the possible
audience which may be reached by the chosen
art(s)
Excursion: arts management
• Pick and Anderton (continued)
3. The ability, using every legitimate social,
political and managerial skill, with the fullest and
most up-to-day political, legal and economic
circumstances in mind, to forge the best
available aesthetic contract, bringing together
the arts and the largest and most appropriate
audience in the best possible circumstances.
Excursion: arts management
• The core of arts management for Pick and
Anderton is "to create an aesthetic contract
between an artistic and an audience in such a
way that the largest possible number of people
receive the maximum pleasure and benefit from
the art."
Excursion: arts management
• Derrick Chong (2002): three commitments of
arts organizations
– A commitment to excellence and artistic
integrity
– A commitment to accessibility and audience
development
– A commitment to accountability and cost
effectiveness
More definitions
• Arts management is “not a single profession, but
a family of occupations, each with its own labour
market” (DiMaggio 1987)
• The field of cultural policy, criticism and
management is not limited by type of institution
or genre but defined by activity and interest.”
City University, London, new e-journal (2008)
Skills required in the field
• Administration/Organisational/Financial skills
• Entrepreneurial/Development/Marketing/Promoti
onal skills
• Creative/Generative/Performing skills
• Teaching/Education/Training skills
• Technical and Support skills
• Mitchell & Fisher 1992, 25
The field of cultural production
• The following slides are based on the following
PhD presented at the University of Jyväskylä in
2011:
Halonen, Katri (2011) Kulttuurituottajat taiteen ja
talouden risteyskohdalla (Cultural Intermediaries
at the Junction between Art and Business).
Jyväskylä studies in Education, Psychology and
Social Research 411/2011. Jyväskylän yliopisto.
Key terms in Halonen‟s study
• Becker: Support personnel
– concentrate in technical activities for which they have
received specialized training
• Bourdieu: Cultural intermediaries
– a group of workers involved in the provision of
symbolic goods and services
– a place in the occupational structure and the role
these intermediaries play between the production and
consumption of cultural artifacts and services
The field of cultural production
according to Katri Halonen
Bourdieu and the field of
cultural production
• Bourdieu (1993/1983) states that the field
of cultural production is constituted by the
relationship between two subfields:
• (1) the sub-field of small-scale (or
restricted) production
• (2) the sub-field of large-scale production
(Grande production).
Pure vs. commercial arts
• The “pure arts” are indifferent to market
requirements; creative achievement,
artistic satisfaction and symbolic gains are
generally presumed to be more important
sources of motivation than financial
success
• Large-scale productions: typically
orientated towards commercial and
financial profits
Five categories of cultural
intermediaries by Halonen
• artists‟ assistants
– serving artists for art‟s sake
• production assistants
– serving clients for profit-oriented aims
• mediators
– using art as a tool to promote wealth
• independent producers
– balancing between the artist and the client with
their aims
• double agents
– serving clients for profit-oriented aims
Artists‟ assistant
• Alliance between the producer and the artist
• The alliance is based on loyalty and shared belief
in the value of the creative work of the artist
• A genuine appreciation of arts is considered
crucial and is in stark contrast to the requirements
of a role informed by commercial imperatives
• The artists‟ assistant‟s work is a low-wage
occupation with an emphasis on flexible working
practices
• Acceptance that for the artists‟ assistant, financial
reward is less important than the symbolic profits
on offer
Mediators
• Mediators are most often found in the public and
the third sector
• They specialize in the processes of creating
meaning around things
• The justification for the work is often linked to
serving either the community or the members
and requirements of an association
Mediators
• Mediators hold gate-keeper positions because of
their authority to make decisions about wellequipped and maintained infrastructure and
spaces for live performances and exhibitions
• The core of their work is to buy programmes for
cultural houses
The independent producers
• The independent producers work mainly in the
music industry or as self-employed freelance
workers
• Freelancers often adopt flexible packages of
work arrangements in order to contract their
skills in a variety of contexts
• Aim to have autonomy from market economy
• Emphasize their skills in borrowing for the
alternative culture the cost-effective marketing
techniques of mass culture
The independent producers
• For the independent producers, the culturallyembedded and self-consciously non-economic
commitment to the membership of the artistic
community is more important than economic
entrepreneurialism
• Though they work in an entrepreneurial style,
their motivations are not based on a commercial,
market-oriented agenda
Production assistants
• Production assistants work for commercial
companies in secretarial positions
• Their work is often managed by a cultural
production manager and discussions with artists
take place between the manager and artist
• In production discussions, the production
assistant is often kept in the background
Production assistants
• There are often productions that the production
assistants feel are worthless in artistic terms,
however, they are certainly not worth losing
one‟s job over
• The justification of the professional cultural
production manager is based on volunteer work
that is selected on the basis of the artists‟
position in the field of restricted production
Double agents
• Double agents are often working in business-tobusiness based event marketing, PR and
advertisement agencies
• Their work focuses either on event marketing for
the masses, in order to promote clients products,
or on company events aimed at their staff and/or
clients
• Double agents highlight their role through the
powerful position in selecting the artists to
execute a producer‟s composition
Double agents
• At the same time, the business orientation
creates conflicts when they also want to be
recognized as actors belonging to cultural
occupations
• Double agents often name volunteer-based
productions in their work history to prove they
also have other – purely art based – aspirations
other than simply making money
(end of Halonen‟s quotations)
Cultural policy expertise
as a profession
• “Professions are described as occupations with some
or all of the following characteristics:
• a monopoly of at least somewhat esoteric knowledge;
• a body of professional ethics or standards;
• professional associations that enforce these
standards, accredit training institutions, and license
practitioners;
• extensive collegial interaction among practitioners
employed in different organizations;
• a commitment to professional standards even when
they conflict with organizational goals;
• and a claim to altruism and disinterestedness in
professional practice.” (DiMaggio 1987, 7).
Cultural policy
as a profession
• Recent trends in the education and in the
employment opportunities in the cultural
policy field suggest that there is a clear
tendency to aim at semi-professional or even
full-professional status.
• While this status might never be achieved,
parts of the sector organises itself in such a
way that this aim is relevant in the discussion.
• Quest to become a full profession is at least
an implicit argument in justifying why higher
education sector is involved in the
development of the field.
International organisations
• The International Association of Arts and Cultural
Management, AIMAC
– AIMAC publishes International Journal of Arts Management
– Organises bi-annual conferences
– Emphasis on academic research
• European Network of Cultural Administration Training
Centres, ENCACT
– 133 members, mostly universities throughout Europe
– Organises plenty of activities and projects, annual conferences
– Emphasis on co-operation within the education field, also cultural
policy issues, less academic in profile
Examples of journals in the field
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International Journal of Cultural Policy
Journal of Cultural Economics
Cultural Studies
European Journal of Cultural Studies
Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society
International Journal of Arts Management
International Arts Manager
And many others related
References
• Becker, Howard S. 1982. Art worlds. Berkeley: University of
California Press,
• Byrnes, William J. 2003. Management and the Arts. Third edition.
Boston: Focal Press.
• Chong, Derrick 2002. Arts Management. London: Routledge.
• DiMaggio, Paul 1987. Managers of the Arts : Careers and Opinions
of Senior Administrators of U.S. Art Museums, Symphony
Orchestras, Resident Theatres, and Local Arts Agencies.
Washington, D.C: Seven Locks Press.
• Halonen, Katri 2011. Kulttuurituottajat taiteen ja talouden
risteyskohdalla (Cultural Intermediaries at the Junction between Art
and Business). Jyväskylä studies in Education, Psychology and
Social Research 411/2011. Jyväskylän yliopisto.
• Mitchell, Ritva & Fisher, Rod (ed.) 1992. Professional Managers for
the Arts and Culture? The training of cultural administrators and arts
managers in Europe - trends and perspectives. CIRCLE-publication
no 4. University Press.
• Pick, John & Anderton, Malcolm 1996. Arts Administration. 2nd ed.
London: E & FN Spon.