Increased research activity in the field of creative disciplines

On January 7, the board of the Research Center awarded creative arts grants from the center's master's student fund. The grants are intended for master's students who are working on a final project about the business life of culture and creative industries and the multifaceted and diverse social and economic effects that this activity results in.

This is the second time the fund has been awarded, but this time the beneficiaries were Björg Steinunn Gunnarsdóttir, a student in theater and performance studies at the University of Copenhagen, for the project "The unbearable lightness of the theatre: The rise of folk theater in Iceland" and Helga Guðrún Jónasdóttir, a student in cultural management at the University of Bifröst, for the project "Is culture power?" Analysis of local government policy in culture and creative industries".

Research projects in the fields of performing arts and cultural statistics

In the master's project The Unbearable Lightness of the Theater: The Rise of Folk Theater in Iceland, Björg investigates how a particular play, The Unbearable Lightness of Soccer, managed to attract a new audience to Icelandic theater and what lessons can be learned from it for future theaters. The goal of the project is to analyze the success factors of the exhibition and examine if and how this success can be repeated with other exhibitions based on the form of folk art, with an emphasis on cultural diversity and democracy. Along with adding to the field of knowledge of Icelandic theater studies, the project opens up possibilities for further interdisciplinary research, but many things could be transferred to other fields of culture and creative disciplines.

In the project Is culture power? Analyzing the policy of municipalities in culture and creative industries, Helga Guðrún investigates whether local authorities have set a policy in the field of culture and whether it is possible to read from that policy the position of the relevant local government towards culture and creative industries as a value-creating field within the municipality. At the same time, she examines whether local government policies can be seen in their spending on culture. The research questions of the project look at cultural policy as an explanatory variable (predictive value) for the attitude of local governments towards culture and creative industries as a means of promoting economic growth. By analyzing the cultural policy of municipalities, an overview of this issue at the local government level is created, which has not been obtained before, together with knowledge that can be used by economic operators such as local authorities, regional organizations and the state to better support debate and strategic decisions in this area than before.

About the Masters student fund

The fund is set up to promote research activity in the field of culture and creative disciplines at master's level. Scholarships from the fund are intended for master's students who work on a final thesis on the business life of culture and creative industries and the multi-faceted and diverse social and economic effects that this activity results in. Applicants must be pursuing a master's degree at a recognized university, whether in Iceland or abroad, and the project must deal with or have a clear connection to Icelandic society.

The first distribution of the fund was in April 2024. They were Lilja Björk Haraldsdóttir, a master's student in cultural management at the University of Bifröst, who studied audience development in theater, and Júlíus Jóhannesson, a master's student in media and communication studies at the University of Iceland, who looked at the opportunities offered to Icelandic film producers for the distribution of their films. in foreign markets.

The next application deadline is May 15, 2025. Two million will be allocated, which is estimated to support 3-4 master's projects. It is assumed that for a 60 ECTS credit project the grant amount is 800 thousand ISK and 400 thousand ISK for a 30 ECTS credit project.

About the Research Center for Creative Articles

The main goal of the Research Center for Creative Arts is to promote research on the business life of culture and the creative arts, taking into account the multifaceted effects of artistic creation and cultural production on society. RSG is an independent research body and emphasizes academic independence in all activities. The center holds regular seminars on research in the field of creative arts and promotes conversation about creative arts in a broad context. RSG is owned by the University of Bifröst, the University of Iceland, the University of Akureyri, the University of Hólum and the Iceland Academy of the Arts. The association of creative industries is also a member of the center.

Caption: From left: Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, expert at RSG, Björg Steinunn Gunnarsdóttir, grantee, Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdóttir, head of creative studies at the University of Bifröst and chairman of the RSG board, Helga Guðrún Jónasdóttir, grantee, Ólína Kjerúlf Þorvarðardóttir, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Bifröst and board member of RSG, Margret Sigrun Sigurdardottir, associate professor at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Iceland and board member of RSG.