A growing awareness of the cultural effects of imperialism, and its political dimension, prompts a revision of the approach to cultural management from a decolonial perspective. The need to recover perspectives from the global South is evident in the debate on how to enable the transformations that this approach calls for. This book presents the state of the art of South American cultural management by practitioners and researchers whose work is generally limited to the Spanish-speaking world.

During the corona virus pandemic, the structures of the cultural sector we used to believe in seem to have fallen apart. So maybe it is time to take a deeper look at the more adaptable and flexible cultural management concepts from the Global South where institutions are more permeable to how they can serve their audiences, be flexible in terms of structures and accept that what really matters is always on the go.

The creation of a cultural space proposed and collectively managed by children, youth and adults is not an easy task, neither in well-equipped Western countries, nor in Brazil with its long tradition of approaching cultural management as community management. Bruno Vilela, educator, curator and founder of the Área Criativa project in an indigene community of former enslaved people, talks about the work and methodology that raised a local "Open Roof Space".

In a lot of countries, arts organizations seem to be publicly funded for their mere existence without being audited continuously for their efficiency or social impact. At the same time, civil society plays an active role in the shaping of cultural policy. How could we combine both demands? The learnings of the new public management models implemented by several states in Brazil for their cultural institutions can shed light on the role of government and civil society in the cultural landscape and on the possibilities of true and effective partnerships among them.

For this interview, our correspondent Lisa Harborth talked to Alejandra Solórzano, a cultural producer who is working for the Ministry of Culture and Youth in Costa Rica. They spoke about the local arts sector, the unique position of concert bands in this small country and their link to the non-existing army.

We talked to Emilio Piñango about cultural policies and audience development for the performing arts. He shared with us his experiences on the differences of studying arts management in Venezuela and Europe, and how the respective knowledge can be transferred to another region of the world.

Lisa Harborth and Alexis Rojas talk about the arts sector in Guatemala and its mutual relationship with politics and society, the influence of the international art market on local artists and the personal purposes of his art.

Mexico Citys program Small Cultural Enterprises was started ten years ago to support local artists in building up their own enterprises. The program teaches general knowledge in arts management and supports artists in building up their own enterprises. Small Cultural Enterprises thereby compensates the lack of management education during artistic studies in university.

Aaron Hernandez Farfan, a Mexican actor and cultural manager, together with his company Agua Quemada Creatividad visualizes problems affecting the Mexican society, such as violence and injustice. With Lisa Harborth, he talks about the cultural system in Mexico, how politics influence it and which challenges affect the work as an artist in Mexico.

The Institute for Cultural Concepts Hamburg talked with Christina Gleich about the status of cultural politics and management in Ecuador.