In this book, Wesner draws on longitudinal, qualitative research to explore how the collapse of t... more In this book, Wesner draws on longitudinal, qualitative research to explore how the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the subsequent unification of Germany in 1990 has shaped the identity and work of East German visual artists. Drawing on the knowledge of the book, Wesner also points to preferred cultural policy agendas that accommodate to artist’s needs. Using a grounded theory approach with a phenomenological focus on the narrative constructions of the artists, Wesner conceptualises myth, memory, and identity as important markers of the specificity of artistic professionalism. To understand the specificity of artists’ careers, Wesner extends established theories of myth and identity to memory, aspects which hitherto has not been sufficiently acknowledged by current cultural policy schemes. The failure of understanding the formation of artist’s careers is what prompts the title of the book, stressing the need for ‘deep listening’ to artist’s voices (p. 4). Wesner points to three reasons for the importance of artist’s voices; first, to avoid misunderstandings that lead to the kind of antipathy that explains the surge of protest votes from far-right parties. Secondly, current research interest in labour in the creative industries and its focus on precarity that does not fully capture the life, identity and career of artists in the traditional sense. Thirdly, to redirect focus to works of art and the artist as producer. Wesner’s study is based on a rich body of material comprising interviews with artists in Saxony acquired during two periods, 1996–2001, and 2013–2014. Thus, the analysis represents a double retrospect; not before and after the unification of Germany but after and long after. Ideally, the material would have captured the viewpoints of the respondents before and after the unification but since the study considers the memory-making of the process of unification as a theoretical point of view, the points of collecting data pose no analytical problem. The concept of myth denotes the understandings of self and work the artist needs to persevere in career development, earlier theorised by researchers such as Becker ([1984] 2008), Beech (2015), and Røyseng, Mangset, and Spord Borgen (2007). Before, during, and after the unification of East and West Germany, mythic formations of artists shifted from artistic/ideological to political/ charismatic to artistic/entrepreneurial. The example of the Bilderstreit dispute highlights the issue of conflicting memories and the struggle for GDR artists not to be neglected and misrepresented in art history.
In this chapter, artists’ careers are viewed through the professional lens, directing individual ... more In this chapter, artists’ careers are viewed through the professional lens, directing individual career perspectives toward artists as a professional group. First, the profession of artists as a concept is discussed before moving on to an analysis of artistic practice using Nicolini’s characterisations of practice as the discursive structure. Additionally, the notion of work is contextualised by utilising Luther’s protestant work ethic and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus. The chapter concludes by merging the key concept of myth, memory and identity previously discussed with the cultural policy framework under the concept of the professional class, thus creating a renewed proposition to integrate critical structure in contemporary cultural policy discourse and to apply a revised understanding that could inform measures for policy intervention.
Book synopsis: Taking an explicit international approach to the subject, Events Management combin... more Book synopsis: Taking an explicit international approach to the subject, Events Management combines theory and practice to address the challenges and opportunities of working in a global world to help prepare students for the realities of the events management sector. Written by a high profile international team of editors and contributors, the text features cases spanning Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America, and covers key topics and issues such as fundraising, sponsorship, globalization and sustainability. Furthermore, it aims to bolster student employability through the inclusion of pedagogical features such as practical asides, case studies, and a "Diary of an Events Manager" to give students a window into the real life of a practitioner.
Journal of cultural management and cultural policy, Dec 1, 2022
Arts practitioners, including artists, are decisive participants in cultural policy and managemen... more Arts practitioners, including artists, are decisive participants in cultural policy and management processes. They carry collective and individual agency in shaping policies as they manage their careers and seek to influence their working conditions, their artforms and the cultural sector more widely. Research in this field encompasses distinct theoretical, methodological and topical threads, which are often pursued separately from each other. This conversation with Professor Stephanie Taylor (Open University, UK) and Professor Greig de Peuter (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada) brings together some of these threads, addressing concepts from the big break narrative to mutual aid and reflecting on the role of methodology.
Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy / Zeitschrift für Kulturmanagement und Kulturpolitik
Simone Wesner asks why Howard S. Becker's Arts Worlds continues to be of relevance to contemp... more Simone Wesner asks why Howard S. Becker's Arts Worlds continues to be of relevance to contemporary researchers on the 40th anniversary of this legacy work. She also discusses Alison Gerber's The Work of Art as the contemporary female voice capturing the value of work and what valuation means for artists throughout their careers, with empirical evidence from USA, Canada and Sweden. Jane Woddis reviews Permanent Recession: a Handbook of Art, Labour and Circumstance, edited by Channon Goodwin, which brings together personal stories, historical accounts, ethical reflections and theoretical explorations about artist-run initiatives in the visual arts sector in Australia.
Walter Spies is famed as a multi-talented artist who came to live in Bali and who was exceptional... more Walter Spies is famed as a multi-talented artist who came to live in Bali and who was exceptionally well suited to absorb and embrace the outlook and worldview of the Indo-nesians he lived with. Through synthesising original and secondary sources in Europe and in Indonesia, ...
SHIP stands for ‘systemic’, ‘holistic’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘participatory’. The SHIP approac... more SHIP stands for ‘systemic’, ‘holistic’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘participatory’. The SHIP approach is a community-based applied and solution oriented workshop fostering democratic participation and ownership. Like the Zukunftswerkstätten or futures workshop it aims to generate creative energy, to enrich democracy and prioritise the interests of the community. SHIP is imbedded in the Balinese cultural and political context and had been adapted
In this book, Wesner draws on longitudinal, qualitative research to explore how the collapse of t... more In this book, Wesner draws on longitudinal, qualitative research to explore how the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the subsequent unification of Germany in 1990 has shaped the identity and work of East German visual artists. Drawing on the knowledge of the book, Wesner also points to preferred cultural policy agendas that accommodate to artist’s needs. Using a grounded theory approach with a phenomenological focus on the narrative constructions of the artists, Wesner conceptualises myth, memory, and identity as important markers of the specificity of artistic professionalism. To understand the specificity of artists’ careers, Wesner extends established theories of myth and identity to memory, aspects which hitherto has not been sufficiently acknowledged by current cultural policy schemes. The failure of understanding the formation of artist’s careers is what prompts the title of the book, stressing the need for ‘deep listening’ to artist’s voices (p. 4). Wesner points to three reasons for the importance of artist’s voices; first, to avoid misunderstandings that lead to the kind of antipathy that explains the surge of protest votes from far-right parties. Secondly, current research interest in labour in the creative industries and its focus on precarity that does not fully capture the life, identity and career of artists in the traditional sense. Thirdly, to redirect focus to works of art and the artist as producer. Wesner’s study is based on a rich body of material comprising interviews with artists in Saxony acquired during two periods, 1996–2001, and 2013–2014. Thus, the analysis represents a double retrospect; not before and after the unification of Germany but after and long after. Ideally, the material would have captured the viewpoints of the respondents before and after the unification but since the study considers the memory-making of the process of unification as a theoretical point of view, the points of collecting data pose no analytical problem. The concept of myth denotes the understandings of self and work the artist needs to persevere in career development, earlier theorised by researchers such as Becker ([1984] 2008), Beech (2015), and Røyseng, Mangset, and Spord Borgen (2007). Before, during, and after the unification of East and West Germany, mythic formations of artists shifted from artistic/ideological to political/ charismatic to artistic/entrepreneurial. The example of the Bilderstreit dispute highlights the issue of conflicting memories and the struggle for GDR artists not to be neglected and misrepresented in art history.
In this chapter, artists’ careers are viewed through the professional lens, directing individual ... more In this chapter, artists’ careers are viewed through the professional lens, directing individual career perspectives toward artists as a professional group. First, the profession of artists as a concept is discussed before moving on to an analysis of artistic practice using Nicolini’s characterisations of practice as the discursive structure. Additionally, the notion of work is contextualised by utilising Luther’s protestant work ethic and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus. The chapter concludes by merging the key concept of myth, memory and identity previously discussed with the cultural policy framework under the concept of the professional class, thus creating a renewed proposition to integrate critical structure in contemporary cultural policy discourse and to apply a revised understanding that could inform measures for policy intervention.
Book synopsis: Taking an explicit international approach to the subject, Events Management combin... more Book synopsis: Taking an explicit international approach to the subject, Events Management combines theory and practice to address the challenges and opportunities of working in a global world to help prepare students for the realities of the events management sector. Written by a high profile international team of editors and contributors, the text features cases spanning Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America, and covers key topics and issues such as fundraising, sponsorship, globalization and sustainability. Furthermore, it aims to bolster student employability through the inclusion of pedagogical features such as practical asides, case studies, and a "Diary of an Events Manager" to give students a window into the real life of a practitioner.
Journal of cultural management and cultural policy, Dec 1, 2022
Arts practitioners, including artists, are decisive participants in cultural policy and managemen... more Arts practitioners, including artists, are decisive participants in cultural policy and management processes. They carry collective and individual agency in shaping policies as they manage their careers and seek to influence their working conditions, their artforms and the cultural sector more widely. Research in this field encompasses distinct theoretical, methodological and topical threads, which are often pursued separately from each other. This conversation with Professor Stephanie Taylor (Open University, UK) and Professor Greig de Peuter (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada) brings together some of these threads, addressing concepts from the big break narrative to mutual aid and reflecting on the role of methodology.
Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy / Zeitschrift für Kulturmanagement und Kulturpolitik
Simone Wesner asks why Howard S. Becker's Arts Worlds continues to be of relevance to contemp... more Simone Wesner asks why Howard S. Becker's Arts Worlds continues to be of relevance to contemporary researchers on the 40th anniversary of this legacy work. She also discusses Alison Gerber's The Work of Art as the contemporary female voice capturing the value of work and what valuation means for artists throughout their careers, with empirical evidence from USA, Canada and Sweden. Jane Woddis reviews Permanent Recession: a Handbook of Art, Labour and Circumstance, edited by Channon Goodwin, which brings together personal stories, historical accounts, ethical reflections and theoretical explorations about artist-run initiatives in the visual arts sector in Australia.
Walter Spies is famed as a multi-talented artist who came to live in Bali and who was exceptional... more Walter Spies is famed as a multi-talented artist who came to live in Bali and who was exceptionally well suited to absorb and embrace the outlook and worldview of the Indo-nesians he lived with. Through synthesising original and secondary sources in Europe and in Indonesia, ...
SHIP stands for ‘systemic’, ‘holistic’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘participatory’. The SHIP approac... more SHIP stands for ‘systemic’, ‘holistic’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘participatory’. The SHIP approach is a community-based applied and solution oriented workshop fostering democratic participation and ownership. Like the Zukunftswerkstätten or futures workshop it aims to generate creative energy, to enrich democracy and prioritise the interests of the community. SHIP is imbedded in the Balinese cultural and political context and had been adapted
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