A Barrier to Innovation: An Axiological Gap in the Perception of Contemporary Urban Art (A View from Young Artists)

Abstract

This article, based on a series of interviews with young artists living or working in Moscow, attempts to determine how creative professionals view the barriers and prospects for artistic development, as well as what, in their opinion, impedes the development of the cultural environment in Russia. The authors assume that it is necessary to first study the main fields in which the interviewed artists work, understand the existing taboos within their community, and analyze their experiences working with large businesses, foundations, and government officials. The study emphasizes the "political" and how the artists themselves evaluate their creative expressions. It turns out that contemporary artists identify the problem of public misperception of their work as a key issue. The artists believe that the reasons for this misunderstanding are a generational gap, a lack of education, or the inaccessibility of art for certain audiences. To further develop the research topic, they plan to conduct interviews and focus groups with viewers (consumers) of contemporary art to ascertain the opinions of informants on the other side of the axiological divide and uncover their reasons for misunderstanding contemporary art.