Managing artistic interventions in organisations: a comparative study of programmes in Europe

Abstract

This report documents how organizations and artists are learning to learn together in new ways. It draws on experiences in France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Traditionally interactions between the world of the arts and other worlds, especially business, have been arm's length relationships, taking the form of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. Over the past few decades more instrumental relationships have emerged in the form of sponsoring and corporate identity activities. In addition, there has recently been a growth of short-term artistic interventions embedded in corporate training or organisational change programmes, often organised by consultants. Only recently has a qualitatively new possibility been conceived: medium-term projects lasting several months, in which people from the world of the arts and the world of organisations seek to learn from each other and create new knowledge together. This report describes and compares six such artistic intervention programmes in five European countries. On the basis of interviews with the multiple stakeholders involved as well as site visits, the report shows that bridging between the two worlds requires numerous functions and processes that are often complex and time-consuming. They require persistence, flexibility and vision in order to create new kinds of "values-added" in organisations and for the arts. The need for bridge-building has engendered the emergence of intermediary organisations. The review documents that these new actors come in various organisational forms, and they have each developed their own approaches to initiating and enabling potential learning relationships between artists and organisations in other spheres. This comparative study therefore offers diverse models that can instruct and inspire other actors seeking to engage in artistic interventions.