Artists attending arts festivals

Festivals are an emerging form of knowledge creation, especially in the current knowledge-based economy (Bathelt, Malmberg, & Maskell, 2004; Grabher, 2004). The impact of festivals has been regarded from various perspectives, yet evaluation on participating stakeholders is still a neglected topic, particularly in connection with the temporality of agglomerated learning spaces, called temporary clusters. This thesis links artist practice to the temporary nature of a festival to analyze to which extent festivals benefit the participating artists. The main research question to which extent do artists benefit from participating in festivals is answered in two ways. The role of festivals in a temporary context is highlighted in the first sub-question how does a festival function as a temporary cluster? Findings confirm that festivals are not only temporary clusters but of cyclical nature. The second part focuses on to which extent does a festival shape artists’ practice? Theory focusses on communities of practice using an adapted form of Grabher’s (2004) network theory. In which of the network spheres of communality, sociality and connectivity does interaction amongst artists and between other stakeholders occur? Qualitative interviews with involved artists and producers of a case study festival provide insight into the working practice and to which extent festivals shape it. Findings show that producers and local artists are based in communality, while sociality is the most likely network for newly participating artists. Since artists describe their work as being ‘in development’, a festival is likely to represent a deadline or an opportunity of shaping their work into a presentable format rather than as career-oriented drivers in terms of reaching an audience, or as a tool for promoting for potential funding options.