Management of art during the COVID-19 pandemic : musical arts creator perspective

Abstract

PURPOSE: Management in the field of art has three dimensions: self-management, managing the aesthetic situation and managing a cultural institution. This work aims to analyse changes in the artistically creative process understood as the management of the aesthetic situation depending on the form in which participation in art takes place: traditionally, i.e. in-person or virtually using digital methods.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Literature analysis, own empirical qualitative research in the form of interviews with 19 musical arts creators, and autoethnography allowed answer the following research questions: 1) How do forced virtualisation and digitisation affect the quality of the creative process in the aesthetic situation regarding musical arts? 2) Which qualitative parameters of the aesthetic situation are losing and which are gaining quality in connection with the virtualisation of the creative process regarding musical arts?

FINDINGS: Forced virtualisation and digitisation significantly affect the quality of the creative process within the aesthetic situation, depending on the form of participation in art. The creator, managing the creative process within the aesthetic situation, must take into account the new optics concerning the components of the aesthetic situation because otherwise, his work will be incomprehensible or unattainable for the recipients – not due to the low quality of the work, but because the work in new virtualised circumstances may change its properties. The results of research show exact components of the aesthetic situation being subject to modifications by the musical arts creator due to the form of participation in the aesthetic situation.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The study of musical arts creator’s perspective might have practical implications for individuals (musical arts creators and managers or leaders of musical arts groups) and musical arts organisations (business-type and non-profit-type).

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The following groups should be interested in the research results: 1) musical arts creators to develop or structure their perception of the creative process; 2) musical art managers to develop or structure their perception of the complex nature of the creative process of musical art groups they manage; 3) musical art institutions’ managers to develop or structure their perception of the complex nature of the creative process of musical artists involved in the institutions they manage.