Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine artists’ experiences of involuntary career transitions and its impact on their work-related identities. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews with 40 artists in the Netherlands were conducted. Self-narratives were used to analyze t...

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Main Authors: Hennekam, S., Bennett, Dawn
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40518
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author Hennekam, S.
Bennett, Dawn
author_facet Hennekam, S.
Bennett, Dawn
author_sort Hennekam, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine artists’ experiences of involuntary career transitions and its impact on their work-related identities. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews with 40 artists in the Netherlands were conducted. Self-narratives were used to analyze the findings. Findings – Artists who can no longer make a living out of their artistic activities are forced to start working outside the creative realm and are gradually pushed away from the creative industries. This loss of their creative identity leads to psychological stress and grief, making the professional transition problematic. Moreover, the artistic community often condemns an artist’s transition to other activities, making the transition psychologically even more straining. Originality/value – This study provides in-depth insights into how artists deal with changes in their work-related identities in the light of involuntary career transitions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-405182017-09-13T14:08:48Z Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population Hennekam, S. Bennett, Dawn Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine artists’ experiences of involuntary career transitions and its impact on their work-related identities. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews with 40 artists in the Netherlands were conducted. Self-narratives were used to analyze the findings. Findings – Artists who can no longer make a living out of their artistic activities are forced to start working outside the creative realm and are gradually pushed away from the creative industries. This loss of their creative identity leads to psychological stress and grief, making the professional transition problematic. Moreover, the artistic community often condemns an artist’s transition to other activities, making the transition psychologically even more straining. Originality/value – This study provides in-depth insights into how artists deal with changes in their work-related identities in the light of involuntary career transitions. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40518 10.1108/PR-01-2015-0020 Emerald restricted
spellingShingle Hennekam, S.
Bennett, Dawn
Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title_full Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title_fullStr Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title_full_unstemmed Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title_short Involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
title_sort involuntary career transition and identity within the artist population
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/40518