Networking in-between : an analysis of ‘the Helsinki Model’ of artists at risk

Abstract

The study is an analysis of ‘the Helsinki Model’, which is a local organizational model of Artists at Risk. Artists at Risk is dedicated to supporting professional artists experiencing threat offering them relocation in artist-in-residences. In addition to the residency, ‘the Helsinki Model’ consists of versatile forms of support, possibilities for networking and career opportunities. The model is formed around each hosted artist individually. The network of AR-Residencies is growing globally, and the study wishes to contribute to the implementation of good practices found in ‘the Helsinki Model’ in the future.

‘The Helsinki Model’ is analysed with two research questions: 1) What is ‘the Helsinki Model’? 2) How does it function? The first research question aims to map the dimensions of the model, and the latter aims to understand the way it functions.

The study is a qualitative case study. The primary data is four semi-structured interviews with artists that have been hosted in AR-Safe Haven Helsinki, where ‘the Helsinki Model’ has been pioneered in. The theory framework is in organizational studies and strategic management. Organizational studies offer understanding of organizational models and tools for their analysis, and strategic management connects organizational models in arts management.

In the study, ‘the Helsinki Model’ is discovered as an organic networking structure, that is characterized by simultaneous locality and globality, in addition to temporarility and flatness with some aspects of hierarchy. The strategy of Artists at Risk has a considerable role in the model’s dimensions and function.