Academic stay with Professor Pascale Bédard - Artists in the cultural ecosystem

From 13 to 16 October 2025, in the frame of the ENCATC Working Group Art Markets and Cultural Goods Integrity, our member Université libre de Bruxelles in partnership with ENCATC welcomed Professor Pascale Bédard from Université Laval of Quebec, a renowned specialist in cultural policies and practices.

Across four conferences, lectures, and seminars, Professor Bédard invited us to reflect on the evolving nature of work in the cultural sector, the economic and social realities of artists, and the tensions between artistic creation and managerial logics in cultural organisations. 

These two sessions reflected on the social and economic issues surrounding artistic work within cultural organizations. What kind of measures and approaches can these organizations, and more broadly, public decision-makers, adopt to promote greater recognition of the economic value of artists' work? What positive effects could these measures have on the dynamism and vitality of the sector? Drawing on several research experiences and in-depth knowledge of the topic of artistic work, these sessions aimed to provide keys to understanding and shed light on certain unspoken issues, with a view to equipping future stakeholders in the cultural economy sector, regardless of their chosen specialization. It is not always easy to understand artistic work within the economy of the cultural ecosystem. However, creative work is indeed a form of production, for which the necessary resources are complex to evaluate. Furthermore, prevailing social representations of artists' work make it even more difficult to assess the value of this work. Finally, artistic institutions, particularly distribution intermediaries, are often subject to financial fragility, which has an impact on the entire economy of the sector.