Hybridizing arts with efficiency in an Italian government agency

Abstract

This paper explores how arts and arts-based initiatives (ABIs) are embedded in a non-arts organization with a pronounced imprint on efficiency.

When two unconnected and distant fields of activity coexist and collaborate, this is known in academia as hybridity. Scholars in hybridity are interested in studying the tension that emerges from the blending of otherwise distant fields and the coping actions that give stability over time. Conversely, studies on ABIs have mostly overlooked the tension arising from the coupling of arts practices and efficiency practices viewed in a long-term perspective.

To address this issue, we conducted a process research study on a government agency with a strong efficiency mindset and a focus on standardized procedures which had decided to promote its arts collection. The analysis was based on semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and archive data and focused on the tension and actions taken by the unit running the arts collection and the rest of the government agency. Our findings identified two types of actions, instant and enduring actions, which can be deployed with diverse temporality and by people with different hierarchical positions to navigate the tensions arising from art being incorporated within a non-arts organization over time.