The Shifting Landscape of Cultural Leadership: Navigating Complexity and Social Change

There is a long-standing and intricate relationship between leadership paradigms and cultural institutions. Despite its frequent use in the arts and cultural sector, the meaning of the term ‘cultural leadership’ remains subjective and often ambiguous, with Nisbett and Walmsley (2016) noting that ‘general opinion around the world is that cultural leadership defies definition’. Concurrently, cultural organisations are increasingly expected to articulate positions and opinions on matters of public interest (Knight, 2015), which is becoming increasingly challenging in the current geopolitical climate. 

Recent examples in the Australian context, from institutions such as the Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Writers Festival, and Sydney Festival navigating controversy and stakeholder divisions, illustrate the complexity of negotiating a public position amidst contentious issues in the current climate. The war in the Middle East and the expression of outrage, sadness, and solidarity by respective supporters of Israel and Palestine are surfacing irreconcilable divisions among stakeholders.

This inflection point in the discourse on cultural organisations' intersection with matters of social change presents a unique opportunity to contribute to the evolving concept of cultural leadership. Academic research in the disciplines of arts and cultural management and creative industries has explored the notion of leadership in cultural contexts at length (Caust, 2018; Byrnes, 2022); most previous research views leadership from an individual perspective, discussing leadership qualities and ‘types’ (Cray, Inglis and Freeman, 2007).  However, the current discourse indicates a new conceptualisation of cultural leadership is needed.

This Research Topic invites contributions that explore the shifting definition of leadership in cultural organisations and interrogate the meaning, expectations, purpose, and role of cultural leadership. 

The following questions will be explored: 

• What does contemporary cultural leadership mean?
• What kinds of social and public leadership are expected of cultural organisations by their stakeholders?
• What pressures impact cultural organisations to engage with social issues and from where do these pressures originate?
• To what extent is cultural policy shaping and influencing cultural organisations’ social role? 
• How do cultural organisations navigate complex and divisive issues, particularly in the context of precarious resourcing and tenuous and volatile stakeholder relationships?
• How has the relationship between cultural organisations and other social institutions, such as the media and government, shifted, and how does this affect expectations of cultural leadership?

This Research Topic invites contributions that investigate the complex intersection of culture and society, which may focus on:

• Cultural ecosystems
• Cultural policy 
• Strategic communications
• Management and leadership

We invite contributions with domestic or global foci. Contributions reflecting diverse cultural, policy and social contexts are particularly welcomed.