Almost as soon as 'the arts' are mentioned these days, some remark about a crisis of funding is soon to follow. Despite healthy attendance at museums and performances, most of the financial figures posted in the past two years by arts organizations of all sizes worldwide show the economic basis of the arts in a dramatic downward spiral. Based on a path-breaking session of the Salzburg Seminar held in December 1993, which brought together representatives of the cultural community from thirty-three nations around the world, this is the first book to address the economics of the arts since global recession hit and so the first to take into account its effects on the value of art as well as its funding. Even as the recession shows signs of abating, it is clear that its effects on the arts is longer lasting.

Moreover, the revitalization of the economic foundation for the arts does not depend on unemployment, inflation, or growth rate of particular regions. The funding problem is a permanent one. In these essays a distinguished group of economists, artists, museum and theatre directors, and other experts examines the current economic needs of the arts as well as the issues - political, ethical and aesthetic - that are invoked in conjunction with the question of money. They raise a wealth of new ideas in their attempt to address the three main challenges facing the world arts community today: funding, planning and peacemaking. (p. Xiii-XXii)

Almost as soon as 'the arts' are mentioned these days, some remark about a crisis of funding is soon to follow. Despite healthy attendance at museums and performances, most of the financial figures posted in the past two years by arts organizations of all sizes worldwide show the economic basis of the arts in a dramatic downward spiral.