| Abstract [eng] |
Artistic autonomy is one of the key elements of cultural policy in democratic states, encompassing both creators’ freedom and arts institutions’ ability to independently shape the directions of their activities. State-funded (national and state) theatres are part of Lithuania’s cultural system, and their operations depend directly on public funding, therefore raising question of to what extent these institutions can maintain creative and management autonomy. As the topic has been insufficiently researched and is relevant to the broader field of autonomy-based organizations, this study focuses on the factors shaping management autonomy in state-funded theatres. The aim of the study is to develop an empirically grounded model of the factors of management autonomy in state-funded theatres, enabling targeted interventions to strengthen it to be recommended. The objectives are: (1) to define the concept of theatre autonomy; (2) to systematize the external and internal factors of management autonomy in state-funded theatres; (3) to develop a theoretical management model for state-funded theatres integrating external and internal autonomy factors; (4) to empirically test the model’s suitability for Lithuania’s state-funded theatres. The study employs analysis of academic literature, strategic documents, legal acts, institutional reports, qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews with directors, artistic directors and stage directors of national and state theatres. Theatre autonomy is defined as a theatre’s ability to independently make creative, artistic, and organizational decisions, regardless of political, legal, financial, or administrative influence, ensuring artistic freedom and the independence of creation at both the organizational and individual creator levels. The management autonomy factors of state-funded theatres were systematized into external (governance, funding, audience) and internal (internal management, organizational culture, leadership), distinguishing factors that enhance or reduce autonomy. After empirically testing the model’s suitability for Lithuania’s state-funded theatres, it was found that: (1) the legal framework of the Republic of Lithuania and related documents tend to restrict management autonomy more than they systematically promote it, although autonomy-enhancing elements are also present; (2) informants’ perspectives reveal high autonomy at the artistic level but conditional autonomy at the management level; (3) the developed theoretical model largely correctly identifies the main categories of external and internal factors that determine theatres’ management autonomy. |
