The pandemic changes many aspects of the publicly funded cultural infrastructures of Western countries, that much is certain. However, for the changes to move in a positive direction, cultural professionals and politicians have to confront themselves with uncomfortable questions.

Every arts and cultural manager is influenced by internationalization and globalization, regardless of where they are based, or what their specific jobs look like. This also means that they should pay attention to the circumstances that fundamentally influence international work in the cultural sector. This book is a perfect introduction.

One of the most distinctive outcomes of the crisis for the cultural sector is that it shrunk the global to fit our computer screens and made local events resound globally. The digital or immaterial became tangible, substituting for what we previously enjoyed as physical and proximate.

We are living in the collision of two pandemics. The coronavirus crisis collided with the ancient, global and persistent pandemic of racism. In recent weeks, amid the COVID-19 crisis in several countries, thousands of people have taken the streets to reaffirm that #BlackLivesMatter. Now the demonstrations advance inside arts institutions, which will be forced to reflect on which side they are from when it comes to racial equity (and more).

The concept of cultural participation has seen an increasing boom in recent years. But is this "career" just a fad of cultural policy and cultural management of our time or will it shape the future? A book from Switzerland addresses this question with articles in German, French and Italian.

Re-opening a museum after the lockdown comes with many challenges and difficult decisions. As the weeks of closure have created severe financial pressure, one of these decisions is finding the right pricing tactic for the restart. Next to increased prices to recover losses and lowered prices to drive demand, "Pay As You Stay” could be a novel, attractive option for this troubled time.

What are the convergences between the arts, the creative industries, and entrepreneurial activity? This question is the main focus of "Entrepreneurship in Culture and Creative Industries: Perspectives from Companies and Regions ". It is a timely and informative contribution to the field of arts management and administration from within the sector.

The field of arts and cultural education in the last years has begun to showcase its outcomes with young people as aimed at crafting global and civically engaged youth who employ their creative capabilities to catalyze community and social change. Perhaps, these very young creatives could be the solvers of the latest challenges we are facing brought on by the global pandemic.

Italian actor, artist and cultural entrepreneur Giovanni Morassutti and Bangladeshi curator and researcher Sadya Mizan have been collaborating in 2019 in the International project Uronto - an Artist-Led Open Collective in Bangladesh with a residential exchange program. In the following interview, they share its outcomes for international arts management, curatorship, cooperation, and similarities and differences between art practices in the Western and the non-Western world.

In early April, the English foundation NESTA published a comprehensive analysis of the likely impacts of COVID-19 on the world whose title is short and direct: There will be no 'back to normal'. Not returning to normal does not mean that there will be no future for humanity and within it for the cultural sector. But it means it can be radically different from what we thought. In the first of a series of three articles, I try to explain why the creative sector will be globally (but not equally) affected and what can we expect.

The restitution of African objects in European museums has been widely debated after French President Macron’s important call in November 2017, based on the report on the ‘Restitution of African Cultural Heritage’ by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy. The publication ‘Museum Cooperation between Africa and Europe’ does not provide solutions to the manifold issues raised in this debate but shows a number of useful ways forward for working with contested colonial collections across the two continents.

In times of crisis, the role of art and culture often becomes particularly clear, as they reveal new perspectives and create welcome distraction and positivity. Cultural institutions can now use this to strengthen their position in the long term.

We currently see how fragile artist careers can be when contracts and attention suddenly collapse. Talent therefore seems not to be enough to guarantee a long-term career as an artist entrepreneur. That’s why Marco Thom has developed a matrix of necessary management skills for self-employed artists and cultural entrepreneurs that is already used around the world.

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".

With the increasing enthusiasm for the "smart city", the interest for the paradigm of the creative city has flattened out again. This, however, has not prevented the renowned British publisher Edward Elgar from persuading Charles Landry to write another book on the subject, although it seems that everything, or at least much, has already been said in his previous books.

Floods and storms, pandemics, destruction of environment, terrorism and so on. The number of risks and crises for the arts and cultural heritage is steadily increasing. Emergency management therefore should be a fix part of the process management of every arts institution.

With change as a given, plans ensure preparedness for artist entrepreneurs. This means being proactive rather than reactive. Plans ensure not panicking about what’s taking place around you. No matter the circumstances. Artist entrepreneurs, like many of us, often don't spend time to consider where they are going. If this is the case for you, how will you know how to get there?

The Master Program in Management of Performing Arts and Industries at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), Sofia, Bulgaria has undertaken an initiative to establish a Resource Center in Arts Management at the Library of the Academy. It therefore kindly asks for online or print publications on cultural management and policy.

In "Art and Economics in the City - New Cultural Maps", the authors examine different ways arts and culture have been framed in policies, interventions, discourses and projects in cities around the world. Although urban policies are a very locally rooted subject, the book contributes to creating a body of knowledge necessary for interpreting international practices and gaining a deep understanding of the current challenges and tools available.

Transnational music practices have been paid large attention to by musicians, arts management professionals, social scientists as well as internet-mediated audiences. "Music Practices across Borders” is exactly the book to address the current issues of its practices and how musical genres are interconnected by mass migration and globalisation.