Expansion: Quality in new quantities
We need to expand the idea of professionalism and quality in the arts to recognise and understand the increasingly diverse roles and values of art and artists in society.
Quality is a concept that is continually present: both as an ideal in the arts education programmes, as an assessment criterion for funding, and as an important policy goal. Nonetheless, the definition of the word is often either too narrow or too vague in an increasingly diverse art world.
There is much to indicate that quality and professionalism in the arts is increasingly open and unpredictable, often involving collaboration across disciplines. This contrasts sharply with the curricula of the educational institutions, as well as with funding applications and policy objectives, which continue to place artists within narrow, discipline-based categories.
Quality is not a static concept
Research in the field points to the importance of rejecting the idea of quality as a static concept and instead validating a project, work or artistic practice in terms of its relevance to the shifts we are seeing in culture and society. Challenging the quality concept in arts education, organisations and cultural policy assessments is essential in order to facilitate new artistic identities and ensure the relevance of art in future contexts that relate to human rights, social sustainability, gender equality and wellbeing.
