Emerging from the Covid-19 Crisis into the New Real: Scenarios and challenge themes for the festivals sector (Project Report, 2022)

Drew Hemment, Matjaz Vidmar, Caroline Sinders, Keili Koppel, Holly Warner, David Sarmiento Pérez

ABSTRACT

In this interim report we present near future scenarios, challenges and opportunities for the arts and festivals sector as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, with a specific focus on how lessons from the Covid-19 period and from 'digital native' practitioners can inform and support recovery and transition. The report describes the digital pivot in the cultural sector after the pandemic and presents findings from the first stage of our co-creation research with international festivals and creative practitioners in artificial intelligence and the arts. In our design research, we combined a futures design process with a multi-level perspective to understand how strategies from digital artists and platforms can be situated in the wider cultural sector to create positive change, with a focus on artists working with machine learning. Here we present the results of the 'scope' and 'connect' stages of our Open Prototyping methodology, and the findings that were collaboratively developed through a co-creation process with project stakeholders. We report on gaps faced by practitioners and organisations, especially festivals, and discuss four near future scenarios for the sector as it emerges from Covid-19. Based on these, we present promising directions for further research and development in the festivals and creative sector, and also propose challenge themes on Arts and AI.

Cite as:

Hemment, D., Vidmar, M., Sinders, C., Koppel, K., Warner, H., Sarmiento Pérez, D. (2022). Emerging from the Covid-19 Crisis into the New Real: Scenarios and challenge themes for the festivals sector [Project Report]. The New Real. https://newreal.cc/publications/emerging-into-the-new-real