In the past two decades, the art market has seen significant growth, with scholars and academics across the globe showing newfound interest in its potential as an interdisciplinary field. This has led to a prolific number of publications, particularly through the lens of globalization. However, a dearth of studies from regions outside the main axes remains, despite the potential for such studies to challenge globalization. This article investigates the primary art market of Portugal, located in southwestern Europe, which borrows ideas from the Global South due to similarities with regions from outside Europe and North America. We apply this concept to the features from a country, namely Portugal that is considered semi-peripheral and marginalized within dominant narratives. We emphasize the permanent tension between the local actuation and the global aspirations of the players in this market. Using literature published on the subject, reports, and interviews, we systematize the mechanisms of activation of the primary market; the launch of art fairs; the emergence of contemporary art galleries, museums, and collectors; and the discourse surrounding the recognition of the global art scene. Despite being a small-scale, semi-peripheral market, a willingness exists to internationalize. Furthermore, in addition to its rich cultural history and substantial investments, mainly from the private sector, the market has attracted international audiences from the artistic milieu and thereby contributed to the heterogeneity observed in the Global South.

Rapid changes in the business models (BMs) of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) have occurred recently, owing largely to the dynamics accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and technological evolution, which have resulted in a strong interconnection between social, cultural, and digital challenges. The present review highlights the main changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the BM of 12 Italian performing arts organizations using a mixed research methodology (qualitative and quantitative) carried out through semi-structured interviews, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis, and an analysis of the economic-financial data of the organizations involved. The paper presents the study’s main findings and contrasts them with some recent scientific research on BM, allowing for comparison and debate on significant issues developed (new technologies and social and environmental impact). The uniqueness of the approach employed in this review lies in recognizing these characteristics, particularly the challenges of sustainability, as critical in producing value for CCI.

The process of converting a private collection into a public museum is often presented as a means of ensuring a collection’s future by transforming it into an enduring asset for future generations. This case study assesses contemporary collection models as well as entrepreneurial investor-collectors and their respective museum-building strategies by addressing two fundamental questions: (1) What is the role of the contemporary art collector and private museum and (2) How do their interactions with art markets challenge the established protocols and hierarchies of the global art network? It shall be argued that private collection museums often have a limited lifespan. Furthermore, the future of private collections and museums is often determined within the lifetimes of their creators. This can play out in one of four ways: first, collectors may offer artworks at high-profile auction houses; second, they may sell the art collection and close the museum or collector’s exhibition space; third, they may sell the museum or exhibition space. Alternatively, private collectors, along with their museums and art collections, can play an important role on the global stage. However, more rigorous planning is necessary for these collectors to distinguish themselves, expand the cultural landscape, and ensure their collections endure within or beyond their creators’ lifetime.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a significant influence in the art world, prompting reflection and introspection. This phenomenon raises the question: how could this have happened? This article explores the interrelation between AI-generated art and the concept of artwork’s aura, particularly in how art profoundly engages with otherness. The inquiry into whether AI relates to otherness is central to this discussion. The research methodology employed in this study combines scholarly research and literature review with the author’s personal experiences in painting, artistic observation, and experimentation with various art techniques. The methods used include descriptive analysis, classification, observation, and interpretive analysis of examples of AI-generated images. The conclusion drawn from this investigation is that AI-assisted works cannot be considered art as long as AI simulates the language of other artistic media.

Digital technology is revolutionizing human relationships and lifestyles. Short video platforms are becoming essential channels for the dissemination of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Traditional handicrafts represent a crucial element of ICH and are extremely culturally significant. However, short video contents generally focus on superficial production processes and neglects deeper cultural contexts. The cognitive schema theory can be leveraged to enhance the creation of short videos about traditional handicrafts and improve their practical value by aiming to intensify user understanding. The study methodology entailed a literature review, comparative analysis, participatory observation, and case analysis. A cognitive schema-based model was developed for video creation and validated through a case study on Guangcai porcelain. This model effectively organizes traditional handicraft knowledge and enhances cultural cognition through narrative and sensory design. The study findings deliver new theoretical and practical insights for the creation of short videos on traditional handicrafts and offer a reference for other cultural dissemination methods. Future research should explore the application of the cognitive schema theory across discrete cultural media channels to encourage innovation and expand the transmission of cultural heritage.

Urban art festivals are of great importance to strengthen the social and cultural life of communities, as they provide people with the opportunity to meet and enjoy various forms of creative expression, such as art, music, and dance, and also stimulate citizen participation. Evaluating the cultural and social impact generated by these festivals is essential to understanding their process and development, seeking future improvements, and ensuring their sustainability over time. For this reason, we have focused on the evaluation of the Callegenera Urban Expressions Festival, which has been held uninterruptedly in Monterrey, Mexico, from 2011 to 2022. Through qualitative research with in-depth interviews and life stories, the festival was explored as a space of introspection where boundaries are blurred to make room for art. We examined the emotional state of urban artists and graffiti writers, as well as the creative process through the intervention of space and economic aspects. In this way, we sought to understand the impact that this festival can have on the growth of the metropolitan area and its surroundings.

The 2023 International Symposium on Global Art Market Research aimed to spark a renewed conversation about global art market research in the post-pandemic era. The event featured both cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of international art markets, focusing on the theme of “re-globalization.” Scholars from around the world presented analyses of regional dynamics from a global perspective, highlighting the connections and divisions within the global art market, and exploring the construction and mobility of art market centers and non-centers. In the context of globalization and plurality, the research presented by several scholars reflects a concern for the identity of the participants in the market, demonstrating both cooperation and confrontation in the process of art market globalization. The symposium also advocated for the application of emerging tools and interdisciplinary research methods within the art market research paradigm. The topics covered during the event reflect the comprehensive nature of art market research, offering valuable insights and methodologies for advancing the field.

This study examines the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation in the contemporary art industry in China. This industry in China is undergoing a distinct digital transition and is “ahead” of other countries, having fully integrated digital technologies and AI (digiAI) into policies, regulations, organizations, and professional practices. A systematic, large-scale national integration of digiAI has led to its widespread adoption by artists and arts professionals. However, little is known about how or when this rapid and extensive integration and subsequent adoption occurred or about its impacts on professional practices. This study draws on research conducted between 2023 and 2024, including 30 interviews with contemporary Chinese visual artists, 23 interviews with arts professionals, a survey of 110 professional contemporary visual artists, and a systematic review of government policy. Findings indicate that the government began integrating digital technology into the contemporary art industry in 2016, further promoted digital technology integration in 2021, and introduced regulations to support AI usage in 2023. The data reveal a significant spike in the adoption of digital technologies by professionals between 2019 and 2020, followed by a rise in AI adoption in 2023. DigiAI has been accepted and now used across different kinds of arts professions, various types of visual artists, and several age groups. Digital and AI tools are now being applied in both creative and non-creative aspects of arts practices.

The image of the city is an important notion in urban studies that has been discussed by different scholars and from different tangible and intangible perspectives. In the case of ancient cities that come to us in ruined and fragmented conditions, the image of the city can be a useful vehicle for understanding these sites and their values. Understanding and reconstructing the image of ancient cities helps in illustrating the past civilizations’ art of crafting their urban agglomerations and how their social and cultural values inform this art practice. Therefore, this article develops theoretical discussion around the image of ancient cities, through which valuable architectural, urban, social, and cultural dimensions are extrapolated and consequently, the socio-urban structure and image of these cities can be interpreted and articulated. Taking the city of Ugarit, an archeological site of a Bronze Age capital city in Syria, as a case study, the article employs an in-depth exploration of archeological reports and discovered text, alongside onsite architectural and urban analysis and observations, to construct the unique urban and architectural image of the city and the underpinning political, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions that shaped it over time. The work contributes to unveiling the Ugaritic people’s art and architecture practices that informed their final place-making and the image of their city. The article concludes with the construction of the overall internal and external images of the city of Ugarit and consequently informs the future urban conservation and tourism strategies of the whole site, and accordingly individual areas and structures.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly driving significant advancements in technology and business, impacting a wide range of industries and nearly every aspect of creativity. The growth of AI is fueled by the availability of vast amounts of training data and advancements in affordable, high-performance computing. Since its inception, AI and its outstanding development have produced countless works across various genres and fields, achieving remarkable feats and unlocking vast potential for further exploitation. This phenomenon raises the question of authorship and whether protection mechanisms should be established for AI-generated works. Granting copyright protection to AI-generated works would challenge long-established notions of copyright, which have traditionally been reserved for human creations. This paper reviews the legal approaches and perspectives of leading AI-driven countries, offering an overview of the challenges associated with granting protection for AI-generated works. Moreover, the paper examines Vietnam’s international commitments and analyzes the potential for supporting AI-generated works within its legal framework. Based on this analysis, the paper proposes potential solutions to improve legal rules for copyright protection of AI-generated creations.

The sonic dimensions of modern media—including speech, sound effects, and music—play a significant role in communicating signs, meanings, and messages through multimodal channels of audiovisual connotations. Each feature can be regarded as a discrete unit; however, the overall framework is established through an orchestrated “interaction” of these components. Receiving information through televised advertisements is a cognitive process that requires critical analysis. This study examines the functions of music and sound in television advertising, emphasizing the collaboration between visual and audio material. Our objective is to equally investigate optical and musical conventions in selected TV commercials. We will also analyze how meaning emerges through visuals, sounds, and music in correlation to the product, branding, and the purpose of advertisements as short, concise audiovisual narratives. The data for this study were collected from a series of food and drink ads shown on Greek television between 2015 and 2020. The research draws upon contemporary culturally informed, musicological, semiotic, and interpretive methodologies, applying both textual and contextual analyses to examine how these techniques captivate audiences and effectively communicate messages. Understanding music’s psychological and pragmatic effects in advertising is crucial for recognizing its role as a powerful tool that influences consumer behavior and perception.

Augmented reality (AR) is acknowledged as a promising educational tool fostering the manipulation, visualization, and contextualization of abstract concepts to enhance student motivation and comprehension. However, the lack of educator training in AR implementation underscores the necessity for further research and support for effective integration into teaching practices. To this end, this article conducts a systematic review based on the PRISMA guidelines to analyze 20 English-language journal articles from the SCOPUS database, wherein geometry emerges as the most extensively studied topic with AR potential. This paper provides insights into the successful integration and impact of AR in mathematics education along with an exploration of incorporating art elements in aiding students’ understanding of mathematical concepts and their social-emotional and cognitive development. Furthermore, this study examines challenges in using AR technology in mathematics education, such as teacher training and technical implementation. The findings of this study are expected to provide a clearer understanding of the potential role of AR in mathematics education.

This article examines Gillian Wearing’s Family Album photographic series (2003 - 2006), relating her self-portraits to the postmodern identity theories of Fredric Jameson (1984) and Kenneth Gergen (1991) for the 1st time, as well as linking them to Hans Belting’s interpretation of the symbolism of the mask (2013). In the photographs, Wearing assumes the features of her family members through hyper-realistic masks and wigs, recreating and “wearing” the faces from the family albums. Through this process, the artist temporarily assumes the identity of another person while creating a new subject that combines and adds further characteristics to the personalities from which it is composed. The photographs from the series are compared with other works by the artist, particularly her self-portraits painted during the 2020 lockdown and those created in 2023, in which she portrays herself without a mask, marking a significant shift in her artistic practice.

This article traces connections between reviews of Spanish art in Britain between the 18th and the 21st centuries and the public pre-judices that seem to have remained constant. Beginning with the famous London exhibition of 2009, The Sacred Made Real, the article addresses the origins of the language of reviewers, from the late 17th century to the Age of Enlightenment; to 19th-century debates about Catholic art, and the dislike of waxworks, effigies, and polychrome sculpture. Reviews and critical writings about Spain and its art are often linked by the same exaggerated rhetorical hyperbole with regard to the raw realism of some Roman Catholic imagery from the 16th century onward. Attempts to promote the art in Britain have met with unexpected results. The growing popularity of Spanish artists such as Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, and Salvador Dali exercised a long artistic influence in the 20th century. This article suggests that the “enemies” of Spanish art did as much to promote the artistic value of Spain as did its admirers. Reactions and criticisms to Spanish art from the British, which spawned hostility or indifference among Protestant writers, from John Ruskin to Philip Hamerton, were also to create a whole new creative endeavor at the end of the 20th century. Anger, anxiety, and transgression became new artistic promptings and it is here that links to British Surrealism appear. The figure of an artist from the past as a purveyor of horror, whose work summoned up associations with death, deformity, and violence, came to characterize the art shown at the 2009 exhibition in 21st-century London. Works of such importance and influence were also to become unclassifiable but were also broached as a source of new artistic inspiration.

This ethnographic study investigates creative dynamics in a musical creation laboratory at the University of Rio Grande, Brazil. Data collection was obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted after the accomplishment of free improvisation activities. The research focused on the testimonies of 10 volunteer musicians, emphasizing the expectations, transformations, and reflections present in their narratives. The findings highlight how emotional experiences shape musical expression, revealing the transformative role of creativity in both individual and collective artistic practices. The study revealed that the process of creative freedom was deeply influenced by the participants’ emotions. These emotions, when experienced and expressed, reflected meanings and reinterpretations in how they perceived and positioned themselves both artistically and socially.