Incubate/Propagate: Towards Alternative Models for Artist Development in Theatre and Performance

这个网络试图解决有充分证据的担忧，即文化和创意产业，特别是表演艺术，越来越多地被特权阶层出身的人所主导(O Brien，Culture Trends，25：2,2016，第123页)。具体地说，该网络将解决毕业生社区以外的新兴戏剧艺术家缺乏获得专业发展支持的问题(ACE，2016，第91页)。最重要的研究问题将是：制片人主导的、目前面向毕业生群体的专业艺术家发展平台如何扩展或多样化，以更好地服务于非毕业生新兴艺术家？该网络试图通过促进以下群体之间的创新合作来回答这一问题：独立制作人，他们在挑选、培养和介绍早期戏剧艺术家和资助机构方面发挥关键作用；戏剧和文化产业学科的学者，他们的工作是在社会经济贫困的背景下解决社会排斥、不平等和应用或参与的艺术和戏剧实践。虽然在应用戏剧、社区戏剧和激进主义戏剧的背景下，有大量关于戏剧实践的学术研究，但这些论述往往是对参与戏剧和表演的个人和社区的社会和个人利益的探索，而不是对参与者可能进入专业戏剧制作职业生涯的战略、平台和网络的审查。这个研究网络的目的是让这些领域的专家与那些在培养新兴艺术家方面记录最好的独立制作人对话，以启发人们思考如何从一个背景到另一个背景建立桥梁。该网络将把这两个群体与艺术资助和政策官员一起纳入对话，以发展新的理论见解、实用战略、合作模式和赠款规划。因此，这一网络活动将使学者和戏剧制作人能够分享良好的做法和原则，并就旨在扩大戏剧制作专业的社会经济基础的新的工作发展方案进行合作。每个研讨会都将探讨在艺术家发展结构中增加社会经济多样性的不同途径：第一个研讨会研究如何在资助艺术家发展和超出市场规范的美学的背景下，如何减轻、以不同的方式理解或有效地利用“风险”；第二个研讨会询问在艺术家发展计划的概念化中有效地麻烦专业/新兴/社区/业余之间的区别是否可能鼓励更广泛地获得发展计划；第三个研讨会研究不同的国际新作品生产和艺术家发展模式如何为英国提供新的视角。因此，该网络将为未来在行业和学术背景下的创新研究确定方向，艺术和文化行业的学者、制片人、资助者、艺术家和更广泛的戏剧生态将从中受益。在研讨会活动之外，研究的主要材料传播将是由项目组(PT)编辑、由戏剧和表演研究出版的开放获取、经评审的期刊的特刊。这将包括一篇由PT共同撰写的介绍性文章，并借鉴在研讨会上提交的论文，以及与会者对整个研讨会产生的研究进行反思的其他较短的贡献。PT还将编写一份以行业为重点的报告，就未来艺术理事会的政策和战略优先事项提出建议。

This network seeks to address well-documented concerns that the cultural and creative industries, and the performing arts in particular, are 'increasingly dominated by those from privileged class origins' (O Brien, Cultural Trends, 25:2, 2016, p123). Specifically, the network will address the lack of access to professional development support available to emerging theatre artists from outside of the graduate community (ACE, 2016, p91). The over-riding research question will be: How can the producer-led platforms for professional artist development that are currently targeted at the graduate community be extended or diversified to better serve non-graduate emerging artists? The network seeks to respond to this question by fostering innovative collaboration between constituencies that are rarely brought into conversation: independent producers who are key players in the selection, development and profiling of early career theatre artists to funding bodies, and academics in theatre and cultural industries disciplines whose work addresses social exclusion, inequality and applied or participatory art and theatre practice in the context of socio-economic deprivation. While there are significant bodies of academic research into theatre practice in the contexts of applied, community and activist theatre, these discourses are most often driven by an exploration of the social and individual benefits of participation in theatre and performance for those individuals and communities taking part, rather than an examination of strategies, platforms and networks that participants may access to embark on a professional theatre-making career. This research network aims to bring experts in precisely these fields into conversation with those independent producers who have the strongest track records in developing emerging artists in order to inspire thinking around how to build bridges from one context to the other.The network will bring these two constituencies, together with arts funding and policy officers, into conversation to develop new theoretical insights, practical strategies, partnership models and grant planning. This network activity will thus enable academics and theatre producers to share good practice and principles and collaborate together on new work development programmes that are designed to broaden the socio-economic base of the theatre-making profession. Each workshop will address a different pathway to increasing socio-economic diversity within artist development structures: the first examining how 'risk' might be mitigated, differently understood, or productively exploited, in the context of funding the development of artists and aesthetics that fall outside of the market norm; the second asking if productively troubling the distinctions between professional / emerging / community / amateur in the conceptualisation of artist development programmes might encourage broader access to development schemes; and the third examining how different international models of new work production and artist development might offer fresh perspectives on the UK context. The network will thus set directions for future innovative research in both industry and academic contexts from which arts and cultural industries academics, producers, funders, artists and the theatre ecology more widely will benefit.The primary material dissemination of the research beyond the workshop activity will be a special issue of an open-access, refereed journal edited by the Project Team (PT), and published by Studies in Theatre and Performance. This will include an introductory co-authored article by the PT and draw on papers presented at the workshops, and additional shorter contributions by participants reflecting on the research generated throughout the workshops. An industry-focused report will also be produced by the PT with recommendations for future Arts Council policy and strategic priorities.