Cultural innovation in transition: a value-based approach: The case of Bulgarian visual arts

Creativity and innovation are driving the creative economy. People, companies and cities, they all can be creative and by being so contribute to a flourishing economy and society. The consensus among policymakers, scholars, economic, social and cultural actors is that creativity not only produces desirable experiences and qualities, but also brings about the changes that lead to innovative practices. Consequently, a host of policy-makers have promoted instruments that are geared towards fostering the development of the cultural and creative sectors in order to bring about innovation. The presumption is that creative actions underly and precede innovation.

This thesis is problematizing such causality and argues that it cannot be taken for granted. It raises the question of what constitutes the type of change that promotes radical innovation or even a paradigm shift in a knowledge domain and beyond, and investigates how (creative) individuals, communities, or even an entire society deal with these changes.