Presentation of the project’s findings at the Day Conference “Work and Insurance in Culture: Reforms and Challenges” of the Ministry of Culture on 19 June 2025

• Presentation by Christina Karakioulafi entitled: “Artistic work in the light of precarity: Sociological dimensions, empirical approaches and the footprint of the pandemic”

The aim of the presentation was to highlight the methodological challenges and limitations that arose during the study of artistic work. These issues emerged during the qualitative research and can be categorised as follows: a) The difficulty of mapping workers/ professionals due to a significant degree of multiple employment and undeclared work, as well as the frequent discrepancies between the officially declared and the actual professional activity. b) The permeability of boundaries between different art forms. c) Multiple job holding and multitasking. d) The controversial role of earnings as a criterion of professionalism. e) The significant number of self-employed people (without employees), as well as the development of small-scale artistic entrepreneurship, which creates ‘grey labour zones.’ The presentation also identified the most common labour problems experienced by artists: inadequate social security protection, precarious working conditions, lack of professional definition/recognition, high taxation, absence of collective labour agreements, inadequate protection of intellectual and related rights, inadequate support policies for the cultural and creative sectors and education and training issues

• Presentation by Alexandros Baltzis and Achilleas Piliousis entitled: “Artistic work and conditions of precarity: theoretical and empirical approach”

The presentation delineates the framework for the research project on precarious work and social cohesion in the performing arts. It elucidates the project’s significance from both an academic perspective and in terms of its policy relevance. The theoretical underpinnings and characteristics of the measurement instruments, the sample population studied, and some preliminary findings are presented herein. These include mean values of the various dimensions of precarious work and social cohesion, as well as the latent profiles of precarious performing arts workers by professional category.

• Presentation by Yannis Tsioulakis entitled: “Artistic work in times of crisis: Anthropological approaches in the Greek reality”

In this presentation, I begin by highlighting some methodological implications of researching ‘the crisis’ through ethnographic means. I outline the role of first-hand experience, obtained by participant observation of musical practice placed alongside in-depth interviews and life narratives. The presentation moves to examine theoretical approaches to ‘crisis’ from anthropology and political science, connected to the concepts of precarity and governmental precarization. I conclude the presentation by offering brief case-studies from my 15-year-long ethnographic experience with working musicians in Athens, as well as key findings from my collaboration with Dr Sissie Theodosiou on music labour within the LaPreSC project.

• Presentation by Antigoni Papageorgiou entitled: “The Gendered Dimensions of Work in the Cultural and Creative Sector”

The presentation examines the gender dynamics of labour in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), focusing on how working conditions, networks, and dominant notions of “meritocracy” reproduce gendered structural inequalities. The case study focuses on the field of dance, one of the performing arts sectors explored within the Lapresc research project. Entry and career progression in the dance field are shaped by class privilege, the informality of professional life, and the “star system,” where artistic leadership remains predominantly male, while women are often steered toward roles deemed “compatible” with their gender (teaching, children’s theatre). Care responsibilities frequently clash with exhausting schedules and precarious employment, while the body—as a “tool of work”—is associated with physical exhaustion, discipline, and, at times, incidents of verbal or psychological abuse. Although the CCI are often portrayed as the “ideal” workplace, behind the narrative of meritocracy and enjoyment lie persistent structural gender inequalities, reinforced by informal networks, unstable forms of labour organization, and male-dominated hierarchies—all of which are particularly evident in the field of dance.

Find the programme here