EVENTI: un’indagine sulla resilienza delle istituzioni musicali della Svizzera italiana in tempi di pandemia

Abstract

Within a broader reflection on the reasons for the persistent segmentation of the audience of cultural events, this contribution stems from a strategic research project supported by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). The project investigates how cultural and artistic institutions active in Italian-speaking Switzerland have been coping with the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A multidisciplinary team, in collaboration with the main cultural stakeholder in the region, intends to identify the factors, variables and solutions imposed by the new situation, and provide the various actors with up-to-date knowledge and working tools. Representatives of five organisations active in the production of classical and jazz music events were interviewed in order to collect information on how the period between spring 2020 and spring 2021 was experienced and managed. First results indicate a paradoxical increase in organisational work and administrative burdens caused by the procedures for applying for compensatory funds and the need to constantly update the offer. At the same time, there is a strong acceleration in the use of digital technologies and social networks. However, the hybridisation of performance models related to this acceleration seems to respond to a palliative function, rather than to the felt need to redefine traditional patterns of music consumption.