Data as Practice: Navigating the Intersection Between Mission and Markets in Arts Management
Keywords:
Digitalisation, data-driven, data as practice, invisible labourAbstract
This article examines how digitalisation is reshaping practices within nonprofit arts organisations (NPAOs), focusing on the often invisible labour required to sustain data-driven work. Drawing on doctoral research conducted in collaboration with sector professionals and technology partners, it introduces data as practice as a framework to explore how digital tools, infrastructures and expectations are negotiated within the everyday life of organisations. The study builds on a series of think tanks, The Arts and Culture Collective, which convened 56 professionals from 33 organisations across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. These workshops created space for peer-led dialogue on sectoral challenges, including the pressures of fragmented platforms, the demands of funders, and the realities of under-resourced teams.
Findings highlight that digital transformation is often embedded in mundane practices and is shaped as much by cultural negotiations as by technical change, reflecting the constant interplay between mission and market imperatives. Participants described the hidden work of coordinating ticketing systems, responding to market signals, and managing compliance requirements, revealing the emotional and strategic dimensions of digital labour. By surfacing these dynamics, the research challenges narratives that frame the sector as slow to change or lacking innovation. Instead, it shows that digitalised practices are already embedded in incremental, negotiated forms of organisational work.
The article argues that recognising data as practice allows for a more nuanced understanding of digitalisation in the arts. Valuing invisible labour and addressing the conditions under which data is produced and sustained are crucial if the sector is to realise the potential of digital tools. These insights carry implications for policy, funding and management, underscoring the need for investment not only in infrastructure but in the people who make digital change possible.
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