Determining the size of museum subsidies

The justification of a subsidy relies upon the museum's soical value which consists in its use value, its non-use value, and in its externalities. The estimation of these values is based on the consumer sovereignty expressed by the net cash revenues of the museum, the consumer surplus, positive externalities and the willingness to pay taxes. The paper measures these sources of value by the travel cost and contingent valuation methods and by special computations of externalities. The particular museum, used in this paper as a case study, seems to pass the test, i.e, its subsidies do not exceed its social value.     

Between business and morality: cultural politics in independent bookshops in China

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how cultural businesses may facilitate contentious political activity in authoritarian contexts. Existing research in Western liberal democracies has shown the widespread political activism of actors in the cultural and creative industries. Whether such activism exists in authoritarian society, how it may differ in character and form, and what implications this will have for our understanding of relations between business, politics, and culture in authoritarian countries remain to be addressed. Drawing on data collected from 55 ‘independent bookshops’ in China, I illustrate how these organisations perform ‘cultural politics,’ a type of political participation in which actors employ mainly symbolic means to express social and political concerns. The organisations’ economic relations and conditions facilitate their efforts to create spaces in which contentious questions can be raised, sensitive topics explored, and alternative ideas expressed, despite the Chinese state’s political regulation of the cultural sphere. The finding of the economic embeddedness of cultural politics sheds new light on our understanding of the political economy of cultural businesses in contemporary China.     

The Anthropology of Giving: Toward A Cultural Logic of Charity

Modern elite charity is class-centered and exclusionary, employing charitable exchange ritual, like the primitive potlatch, for structured loss and exchange, both affirming and concealing status and power, obfuscating yet illuminating privilege. Traditional models of charitable giving are often Eurocentric and monocultural, employing a market model-based ‘exchange theory’ assuming that giving is a series of dyadic, reciprocated ‘purchases’ by donors seeking maximum utility. Looking at modern charitable giving as a ‘total social fact’ (Mauss) we can detect patterns behind elite charitable giving that make seeming relinquishment of wealth a declaration of power. Nonprofits are embedded in these dynamics as the elite gift economy expresses itself through modern charitable giving.     

Generalised Cost Functions for Producers of Performing Arts – Allocative Inefficiencies and Scale Economies in Theatres

This paper examines the structure of the production of cultural services by using a generalised cost function and a panel data set of theatres. The main points of interest are: first, whether the production of theatrical performances is allocatively efficient, second, whether underlying production technology exhibits homotheticity with respect to output, and third, whether there exist economic gains from large scale production. The results of the analysis suggest that inputs are not combined in optimal proportions in light of prevailing market prices, that relative shares of input utilisation vary when output expands, and that there are scale economies in the production of theatrical performances.     

论新时代北京全国文化中心建设

全国文化中心是北京重要的首都功能.新时代北京全国文化中心建设是中国特色社会主义伟大事业全局和中国特色社会主义进程的关键一环,可以把首都北京建设成为中国特色社会主义先进文化之都、中国特色社会主义创新发展之都、中国特色社会主义对外开放之都、全球文化中心城市.以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导,建设中国特色社会主义先进...     

中国城市文化空间研究的进展、趋势和应用建议

城市文化空间作为承载城市精神和文化传统的重要载体,是异质性最强的空间类型之一,其代表了城市的形象和特质,对于城市文化发展和空间营造都具有重要作用.通过对城市文化空间的内涵演化、动力识别、实用转向、虚拟拓展等的研究,概述近30年来我国城市文化空间研究的历程,总结城市文化空间具有物质、精神和行为的统一性、时空二重性、多级空...     

The Determinants of Artistic Innovation: Bringing in the Role of Organizations

This article deals with the determinants of artistic innovation by arts organizations. First, we define artistic innovation. Second, we review the literature on its determinants, identifying some gaps. In particular, we observe that existing research mostly focuses on macro-environmental factors and tends to ignore the role of the organizations themselves. Thus, drawing from the organizational literature on innovation we formulate testable propositions that relate organizational factors to artistic innovation. We hope that our focus on organizational factors contributes to a more comprehensive framework on the determinants of artistic innovation in particular and programming in general.     

Market innovation as framing,productive friction and bricolage: an exploration of the personal data market

This paper explores the possibilities offered by recent Science and Technology Studies (STS) research on markets for engaging with market innovation. Although there exist few reflections on how innovation happens in markets, market innovation has not been singularly theorized in STS-inspired market studies. In this paper, we explore the potential analytic utility of different sets of ideas in the field of market studies, such as ‘framing’ [Callon, M. (1998) ‘Introduction: the embeddedness of economic markets in economics’, in The Laws of Markets, ed. M. Callon, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 1–57; Callon, M. (2007) ‘An essay on the growing contribution of economic markets to the proliferation of the social’, Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 24, no. 7–8, pp. 136–163], ‘productive friction’ [Stark, D. (2009) The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ] and ‘bricolage’ [MacKenzie, D. & Pardo-Guerra, J. P. (2014) ‘Insurgent capitalism: Island, bricolage and the re-making of finance’, Economy and Society, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 153–182]. Drawing on our research into the online personal data industry and start-ups developing personal data control products, we put together five sensibilities that we think are of use for broader considerations of market innovation.     

The authenticity of the museum experience in the digital age: the case of the Louvre

The technological shift of museums is extensively documented, even if research on the impact of technologies on cultural practices and social patterns at large is still lacking. As part of a research programme conducted by the Louvre and HEC Paris, the article proposes a conceptual analysis of ‘real’ (visiting the museum) and ‘virtual’ (visiting its website) experiences of museums. It contributes to the understanding of whether the two experiences are substitutes or complements using a newly created measurement scale. In addition, the article also aims at enriching the contemporary discussion on the artworks’ aura and the authenticity of the cultural experience in the digital age.     

城市废墟遗产的价值与保护研究

城市废墟既是城市过往发出的遥远呼唤,承载民族伤痛、灿烂文明的文化象征,也是面向现实和未来,散发独特美学意义、怀旧情绪的公共空间.而现实情况中,历史废墟陷入了情感脱离、价值输出有限的困境,现代废墟遗址、空间仍在拆与建中徘徊.废墟需要现代科技、当代媒介、政策规划、多元化功能利用等保护手段的综合作用,才有机会呈现其文化、美学...     

城市中央文化区集聚度研究--以江苏省13市公共文化空间为例

"中央文化区"作为城市的大型公共文化设施的集聚中心,对于城市文化活力的增强,城市人文品质的提升有着重要意义。通过对江苏省13个地市城市公共文化空间集聚度的空间分布调查,认为,城市公共文化设施空间的集聚度和集聚数量,与城市能级正相关;城市公共文化空间的集聚性与城市文化能级正相关;城市公共文化设施的集聚性也与城市规划的理念有着直接关联。     

To preserve or enhance precious memories: a segmented market analysis of the history museum in Singapore

This study examines the value placed on museums by patrons and non-patrons and investigates the factors that affect this valuation with a view to boost visitorship. The total economic value of Singapore’s History Museum is at least US$57 million, and this is high relative to other countries, a fact which can be used to justify increased government funding towards museums as cultural capital. Females and high income people are the target groups for increased visitation, while among the non-patrons, the ethnic majority is another potential clientele. Somewhat surprising is the finding that neither patrons nor non-patrons see the museum as having significant tourist value, and contrary to prospect theory, there is a preference for enhancing the museum’s services over keeping the museum. These findings provide some direction for the management of the museum to improve its visitor appeal.     

Efficiency of neutron tomography in visualizing the internal structure of metal artefacts from Mapungubwe museum collection with the aim of conservation

AimEstimating physical stability as well as revealing signs of fabrication in metal artefacts via two complementary nondestructive methods, neutron- and X-ray tomography were the main goals of this study.AbstractTo aid conservation management of metal artefacts improved knowledge of the internal structure and degree of corrosion therein is highly desired. In this study, neutron- and X-ray tomography were chosen as two complementary noninvasive visualization techniques to study internal structure and corrosion of five representative examples of archaeological metal artefacts from the Mapungubwe museum collection. Tomography was performed at the Neutron Radiography (SANRAD) facility of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation where thermal neutrons as well as complementary X-rays are conveniently available under one roof. Comparative studies revealed neutron tomography to be generally superior to X-ray tomography due to the enhanced penetration properties of neutrons through the metal objects. In this paper the rich capability of neutron tomography as a nondestructive visualization aid for scientific conservation purposes is introduced and supported by results achieved for the five selected real artefacts.     

On the construction of property rights in aesthetic ideas

The paper attempts to formulate concrete proposals for a change in laws of intellectual property, based on a communication-oriented theoretical analysis of the issue. The particular role of collection societies is investigated. The proposals arrived at suggest a strengthening of non-negotiable, non-hereditary authors' rights, and a refinancing fee collected for copies of works of art with classical status and distributed to members of currently active art circles.     

Credibility and Economic Value in the Visual Arts

The paper states that the quality of visual arts cannot be measured objectively. An artist must be credible to the public in order to generate economic value. How is credibility and thus economic value generated on the market? To judge the quality of arts, it takes experts. They form a worldwide network relationship and apply cultural knowledge, a highly specific type of knowledge which requires lifelong learning. Cultural knowledge is only in part of a factual nature and includes subjective elements. Since the public cannot in general ascertain the quality of an artist's oeuvre directly, experts must themselves be credible to the public in order to lend credibility to a given oeuvre. It is shown that the process by which experts generate public credibility for a given oeuvre is path dependent, i.e., may by chance end up at inferior solutions.     

名城名校的文化教育社区综合体实践研究--以清华大学“苏世民学者项目(书院)”为例

在信息技术和现代社交网络转型的社会背景下,具有悠久历史文脉的著名大学已成为所在名城的文化遗产和景观资源。新时代的教育模式正转型为文化教育社区。提炼了国内外高等教育新的理论实践,以清华大学"苏世民书院"为研究对象,探讨文化教育综合体设计实践思路,即新型社交生态系统的文教社区模式。