Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the context within which this edited collection has been compiled. It is impossible to present these chapters without acknowledging the turmoil that we and the arts sector have experienced over the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the arts, both in terms of the nature of employment, the importance of “live” consumption, and the potential that new technologies offer for connecting artists to audiences. This chapter briefly engages with these issues before providing a summary of the seventeen chapters in this volume. These chapters provide insight into the mechanisms of marketing of artforms such as film, music, dance, visual art and theatre. Additionally, they demonstrate the utility of arts-based methods (such as poetic and participatory art-based methods) in undertaking research, particularly in areas of emotional complexity and sensitivity. Finally, our contributors bring us to various corners of the world from Africa to Latin American, Asia, Australia, and Europe.