Making Art Possible: The Invisible Figure of Arts Managers

Arts in India thrive not only through the vision of artists but through the often-unseen labour of arts managers, those who plan, translate, negotiate, care, and hold complex ecosystems together. But who is an arts manager, and what do they actually do? This talk aims to unpack these deceptively simple questions within the under-resourced and structurally fragile landscape of the Indian arts, marked by inconsistent funding, limited training pathways, and the absence of long-term cultural policy.

In a moment when cultural production is rapidly expanding, the emerging professional identity of the arts manager demands greater recognition. Drawing on lived experience across theatre, film, museums, festivals, and grassroots initiatives, the talk outlines the diverse forms this labour takes: managing collectives, navigating public and private funding, shaping audience strategies, running multi-arts festivals, and sustaining community-led projects. It examines how these roles evolve in response to financial, logistical, and institutional constraints, and highlights the skills and philosophies that define good practice today.

Through examples from major biennales to intimate theatre projects, the talk illustrates the everyday ingenuity required to make cultural work possible. It reframes arts managers as generative cultural workers whose invisible labour sustains India’s creative ecosystem.