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CGS-Global Culture Work: Between Transnational Mobility and Local Commitment

This panel brings together dance and theater artists and arts managers based in Africa, Europe, and the Americas to discuss key conditions of their work in this “global” profession. The moderator invites these cultural actors to reflect on the experiences they have had with mobility and with patronage, over the course of their careers. Transborder work has been a cornerstone to each of their careers, and each brings different perspectives on the challenge of financing artistic practice, particularly for cultural actors based in or with connections to the Global South. Working in very different cultural, social, economic and institutional contexts across the world, these cultural actors have insights to share on the global dimensions of cultural production and the cultural politics of globalization.

A common question in their profession is that of patronage: how to earn a living in a professional context where wage or salaried labor is uncommon. Patronage comes in many forms and varies by national context: sponsorship by private foundations or businesses, grants from the artist’s national state, sponsorship from a foreign state or organization, commissions from cultural institutions, in-kind support from local performance venues, etcetera. How have mobility and patronage been related, in the experience of these cultural actors?

Simultaneously, many of the panelists gathered here lead projects that are committed to a particular “local” context and emphasize the engaged social role of the arts in working toward better futures. What are some of the benefits and challenges of establishing and sustaining locally committed projects, and how does mobility, transborder relations, and the search for patronage impact them?

Mar 5, 2022 01:00 PM in Central Time (US and Canada)