The Globalized and Changing Landscape of the Arts

Abstract

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic shock, the global landscape of cultural and creative production was showing clear signs of a new cycle of globalization, in which the consolidated centrality of US, and more generally Western, cultural and creative production gradually gave way to a more geographically and culturally varied geography, with the emergence of new global players. This chapter considers in particular four main trends: the shifting geography of cultural production; the emergence of participatory, decentralized content creation; the evolution of digital mega-platforms; and the tension between democratic and authoritarian forces at the global scale. The red thread behind this rapidly evolving global scenario is an increasing agency given to, or appropriated from, what was previously the passive public of mass culture, also thanks to the new possibilities opened by digital production of cultural contents that dramatically favors a democratization of content production. These bottom-up forms of production prove to be especially relevant in the post-pandemic scenario, where culture will likely connect to crucial policy topics such as rebuilding social cohesion, addressing post-pandemic mental health issues, and favoring active citizenship and inclusion. This chapter analyzes the global context, presents some emerging practices, and discusses possible future scenarios.