STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

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Street Artists in Europe
In France street arts grew up in the artistic and political protest movement between 1960 and
1980. In other European countries, the circumstances were different: for instance, the restoration
of democracy in Spain, the development of artistic creation and practice on the margins of the
official Communist system in Poland, reaction to the commercialisation of the arts in the United
Kingdom. More generally, there was a sharp rise in the number of companies, shows and
festivals in the 1990s, and performances attracted larger audiences of all kinds 114 . However, the
exponential growth in the number of such events and their audiences was not matched by
growing official recognition.
2. Framework
2.1. Working conditions for artists
The information in the following chapter is taken from the study commissioned by the European
Parliament on the status of artists in Europe.
The work of artists accounts for a considerable proportion of the labour force in Europe. It is
situated at the heart of the creative sector, serving both public arts organisations and private
media and cultural industries. Whether they are authors or performers, professional artists will
usually generate intellectual property rights, the income from which is insufficient to sustain
them in their creative work, except in a minority of cases. Despite the flourishing
culture/creative industry markets, creative artists work in much more precarious circumstances
than those in other professions.
‘Atypical (project-based) and casual employment, irregular and unpredictable income,
unremunerated research and development phases, accelerated physical wear and tear … high
levels of mobility’ and the existence of small businesses trying to develop prototype products
‘are among the key features not taken account of in the existing legal, social security and tax
structures’ 115 . A detailed look into the status of artists in the EU Member States would reveal
that, even in countries that have long been considered welfare states, that precarious position is
common to all artistic work at present.
2.2. Roles of the State and the market economy
‘In recent years the employment status of many groups, including professional artists, has been
influenced by a diminishing role of the State and by a globalisation of market economies.
For example, the economy of culture in countries of western Europe has been, over the past 20
years, marked by the privatisation of the audiovisual sector, the reduction of national cultural
budgets, the opening up and extension of the European public space and the preponderance of
imported products transmitted via radio, TV, cable, etc. This has profoundly altered the
conditions for creation and production.
Artistic creation finds itself settled into an economy of projects which are more often than not
managed by small and medium-sized enterprises whilst, in the distribution sector, large-scale
national and international groups dominate the market. Whilst some groups, e.g. literary authors,
may be less affected by such changes, others, such as performing artists, see them as serious
114
Y. Floch (coord.), Enquête préliminaire sur politiques culturelles en faveur des arts de la rue et des arts de la
piste en Europe, op. cit.
115
European Parliament study, The Status of Artists in Europe, November 2006.
PE 375.307