Enough with the “love of art”! An overview of the employment situation for artists in Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

The present article delivers an exploratory overview of the working situation of artists in Mexico, specifically in Jalisco, with the intention of identifying and revealing, through tha analysis of documented data and statistics provided by diverse sources such as the “Cuenta Satélite de la Cultura de México 2021”, the main issues related to their craft; determine the scope of the impact left by the COVID-19 pandemy in regards to the cultural sector, and the strategies used by creators to confront this health crisis. Conclusions from the analysis hilight the fact that artistic labor has been frowned upon for years. In spite of the fact that culture represents an important revenue source to the nation, a great amount of its artists, and of the whole cultural sector itself, survive under the motto “por amor al arte” (for the love of art) and, because of this love of art and a love of culture, they cling to their work -because they work- under regularly unstable and precarious conditions since their labor lacks dignification. The artist is seen as an amateur instead of a worker.