https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4974-7546
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ABSTRACT
The ability of independent art spaces to create new practices in the arts is recognised, alongside with their influence on the socio-economic development of places in which they appear. Yet, art spaces remain poorly understood, as present studies look only at individual examples of these places. In this paper, using text mining methods, 1537 descriptions of independent art spaces, located worldwide, are investigated to provide insights into what is an independent art space, by defining its common features. The study finds that independent art spaces are described as non-profit, artist-run places, striving to bring together local and international cultures and engage artists in cooperation. Besides, independent art spaces offer both public platforms and workplaces for artists, promoting creativity and experimental art. The identified features can contribute to the debate over the connection between art spaces and socio-economic development.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions, which contribute to a significant improvement of the paper. I also would like to thank the staff of Jeffrey’s cafe at HSE University at Pokrovka for their friendly service and hospitality I encountered during frequent visits while working on this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The threshold of six words was chosen to establish the optimal number of connections between words.
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Notes on contributors
Maria Vorobeva
Maria Vorobeva is a Research Assistant at the Faculty of Social Science and International Laboratory for Applied Network Research at HSE University, Moscow, Russia.