The entrepreneurial spirit of artists in the digital age

Faced with the upheavals brought about by digital technologies in the arts and culture, this book reports on the self-production practices and collaborative dynamics that are taking shape in the music, visual and media arts and performing arts sectors in Quebec. Through the study of nine case studies of artistic initiatives, it reveals an entrepreneurial spirit that differs from the traditional definition of economic entrepreneurship. This spirit manifests itself in the ways in which artistic work is organized and creation is brought to life in the digital context. It reveals the emergence of players at the crossroads of conventional roles in cultural sectors and encounters between disciplines and artistic objects. The book invites us to embrace the diversity of the dynamics of openness and resistance to the entrepreneurial spirit and possibilities offered by digital technologies in these sectors. In so doing, it takes a critical look at the prevailing injunction to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Written by an interdisciplinary team of researchers in management, entrepreneurship, visual and media arts, art history, musicology, education, communication and political science, this book is aimed at anyone wishing to better understand the reconfigurations of the cultural ecosystem in the digital age.

The book is coordinated by Thierry Beaupré-Gateau and Joëlle Bissonnette, professors in the Department of Management at UQAM's École des sciences de la gestion, and Laurent Simon, professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at HEC Montréal. In addition to their contributions, it includes those of Julie Bérubé, Jean-Robert Bisaillon, Laurie Cotton Pigeon, Martin Desjardins, Nikolas Duval Gagnon, Joanne Lalonde, Jézabelle Toulouse Davidson, Lazéni Traoré and Maryse Tremblay.

Image: Isabelle Gagné and Jean Dubois