TY - JOUR
T1 - The invisible architecture of creative and cultural work
T2 - the relationship between miscategorisation and sector wellbeing during COVID-19
AU - Williams, Kathleen
AU - Lester, Libby
AU - Seivwright, Ami
N1 - Funding Information:
Thank you to Professor Justin O’Connor and Professor Susan Luckman at the University of South Australia for their insights during the design of this project. This study was funded in part by Department of State Growth (Tasmania). The research was undertaken with approval of the Tasmanian Human Research Ethics Committee.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Tasmania, Australia’s southern island state, is known nationally and increasingly internationally for its arts and cultural sector. As is common elsewhere, the extent and nature of the sector has been poorly measured and documented, with its value remaining relatively opaque within a policy making framework. With the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, serious consequences of this poor categorisation and articulation of the sector’s value emerged, with many creative and cultural workers missing out on crucial financial and other support. This article presents the findings of a study of the impacts of COVID-19 on Tasmania’s cultural and creative sector, including on financial sustainability, health and wellbeing, and future work. Using a combination of survey data and interviews, we problematise the reliance on industry and occupation categories when describing the economic understanding and measurement of the sector, and instead provide an analysis of the sector through an approach based on self-describing work, work identities and perceived contributions. We find that those who were financially supported during the pandemic were able to shift or adapt their creative practice and had a higher sense of health and wellbeing, whereas those who did not receive government or philanthropic funding experienced significant negative impacts on their health and creative practice. These findings reinforce the urgency of embedding new methods for describing and valuing the sector for policy makers, and in turn, the sector’s participants.
AB - Tasmania, Australia’s southern island state, is known nationally and increasingly internationally for its arts and cultural sector. As is common elsewhere, the extent and nature of the sector has been poorly measured and documented, with its value remaining relatively opaque within a policy making framework. With the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, serious consequences of this poor categorisation and articulation of the sector’s value emerged, with many creative and cultural workers missing out on crucial financial and other support. This article presents the findings of a study of the impacts of COVID-19 on Tasmania’s cultural and creative sector, including on financial sustainability, health and wellbeing, and future work. Using a combination of survey data and interviews, we problematise the reliance on industry and occupation categories when describing the economic understanding and measurement of the sector, and instead provide an analysis of the sector through an approach based on self-describing work, work identities and perceived contributions. We find that those who were financially supported during the pandemic were able to shift or adapt their creative practice and had a higher sense of health and wellbeing, whereas those who did not receive government or philanthropic funding experienced significant negative impacts on their health and creative practice. These findings reinforce the urgency of embedding new methods for describing and valuing the sector for policy makers, and in turn, the sector’s participants.
KW - COVID-19
KW - data
KW - government funding
KW - pandemic
KW - sector recovery
KW - Tasmania
KW - workforce
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136809010&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17510694.2022.2106091
DO - 10.1080/17510694.2022.2106091
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136809010
SN - 1751-0694
JO - Creative Industries Journal
JF - Creative Industries Journal
ER -