Pandemic and Cultural Industries in a Regional Context

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly shaken the cultural industries. Researchers report significant financial and job losses worldwide for these industries. Much of the research on the pandemic and the cultural industries has focused on large cities. The objective of this research is to understand the impact of the pandemic on regional cultural industries. We studied the Outaouais region in Canada by conducting focus groups and semi-structured interviews with artists and cultural workers. Our results report on the problems caused by the pandemic, the spin-offs it has generated, the initiatives that have emerged and the role of cultural organizations during the pandemic. This research  contributes to the advancement of knowledge by describing the situation of cultural industries in a regional context during the pandemic. The results of this research encourage the maintenance of certain activities in virtual or hybrid mode, the development of grant programs to  attract artists to the region, and the development of events or platforms to promote networking between artists andcultural organizations.