is Assistant Professor and Director of the Business Departement at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is founder of Inversión Cultural, a non-profit organization that promotes cultural and creative businesses in Puerto Rico. He holds a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurial Development and Management and an MBA in International Business.

There are still almost no open conversations about how to decolonize the discipline of arts management. In this context, the book is a valuable contribution to the discipline that complements the existing literature by combining a valuable educational tool for the classroom with a rigorous research that, beyond its conclusions, proposes a new research agenda for the sector.

 

It is interesting to note the diversity of contents that the book address. It includes a definition of the relevant concepts, presents findings from an empirical research on the impact of globalization, digitalization, and (im)migration on the work of arts managers and arts management researchers, case studies by experts from the field and a reference list with additional resources and institutions that can provide complementary information on this new sub-field. This structure also confirms the author’s claim of a complex topic that cannot be address with on simple approach. Also, the book not only speaks from the voice of the author, but presents the voices of arts managers from different countries through quotes and case studies.

 

The publication brings to the discussion an important topic: context. Most books on arts management - probably because of their interest in reaching a broader segment of the audience - pose general scenarios without considering that the economic, political, social and cultural realities of the different countries determine the way in which culture is managed. Therefore, someone had to raise the issue of diversity as a determining factor. In addition to this, we have a new reality today: We still cannot speak of a post-colonial period when poverty and marginalization scenarios continue to be accentuated in the Global South, something that has increased migratory flows, mostly to the United States and Europe. Therefore, cultural organizations need to understand this new panorama by attracting audiences and beneficiaries with an increasingly diverse profile.

 

It is very interesting to see how the book deals with key issues in arts management such as the ability to work with diverse teams, mobility, language, proximity and geographical scope of their activity: These activities definitely expand the research agenda and the self-assessment of cultural managers. It is striking that, as Henze states correctly, despite the international reach of many cultural managers and organizations, they do not necessarily have the competences to handle these scenarios. In fact, the confusion between concepts such as diversity and integration are a huge concern, considering that especially the second concept could contribute to perpetuating the Eurocentrism in the international arts sector that requires so much transformation. Cultural policies need a new emphasis on cultural democracy beyond a passive participation in the cultural offerings of organizations. The complexity of concepts and practices such as migration, integration, participatory roles and cultural diplomacy, among others, presented in the book suggest the importance of capacity building with a strong diversity component, a new role and responsibility for academic institutions.

 

In conclusion, the book makes contact to many key cultural entities, and thus represents a very practical element for a next step of collaboration towards a more diverse arts management practice. It is true that it can always be argued that this decolonization of arts management cannot come from the Global North alone. However, Raphaela Henze manages to write from a fairly neutral position. All that remains is a response, a research agenda and an action plan from the Global South, in countries from Latin America, Africa and Asia. The provocation is on the table.