ABSTRACT

The contemporary arts can be a contentious topic in the popular press, often starting from the well-worn statement that ‘my five year old could have done that’. To begin our exploration of audiences for the contemporary arts, we consider the controversy of the Turner prize and the equivalent cultural tropes around experimental theatre and interpretive dance that crop up in TV shows and films. The chapter then briefly summarises existing research on contemporary arts audiences, introduces the Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts project and gives an overview of the rest of the book.