The collection of articles “Functions of the Arts in Cultural and Social Processes” published

Navickaitė-Martinelli, Lina (ed.). Functions of the Arts in Cultural and Social Processes. Vilnius: Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, 2014.

This collection features peer-reviewed scientific and artistic research articles written by researchers from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and other Lithuanian institutions which analyze topical issues from the fields of artistic research and performance studies. Among these, the following questions are tackled: a performer’s polyfunctionality in musical, cultural and social processes; changes of the concept of performance in the today’s arts; performativity in music and in theatre; interrelationships between creation, performance and reception; the functions of art and an artist in society. This collection of articles is part of the cultural development project “A Performer’s Polyfunctionality in Musical, Cultural and Social Processes”, funded by a grant from the Research Council of Lithuania. The Contents and Foreword of the present book can be found at the HARPS Publications page.

The articles for the present publication were prepared for the 1st Symposium of Artistic Research and Performance Studies Functions of the Arts in Cultural and Social Processes organized by the LMTA Headquarters for Artistic Research and Performance Studies (HARPS), which took place on September 25, 2014 at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. The symposium was held with the aim of investigating the roles ascribed to a performer of music, theatre or dance in various sociocultural contexts, to ground the importance of multifunctionality in the activities of a contemporary performer, and, with the innovative ideas of scientific and artistic research, to support the development of performance art in Lithuania. Eighteen artists-researchers, artistic doctorate students and scholars from the LMTA and other institutions within the fields of music, dance and theatre delivered papers on topical issues of the changes in the concept of performance in contemporary arts, performativity in music and theatre, and interrelationships of creation, performance and reception.