Global Perspectives on Children in Professional Artistic Productions

deadline for submissions: 
December 11, 2024
full name / name of organization: 
Floribert Patrick C. Endong (Editor). University of Dschang, Cameroon

Introduction

Many commentators define the term “professional artist” in a way as to subtly exclude or overlook kid artists’ agency. Such commentators tend to present professionalization in the arts or in the creative industry as being a mainly – if not exclusively – adult affair (Lina & Lindeman 2014; Vesta 1982). They do this by associating the concept (professionalization) either with activities that can only be carried out by adult artists or values that relate to people of the working age. For instance, the Art Council (2016) construes a professional artist as a person “who is actively pursuing a career as an artist in any art form, and who considers their artistic work as their main profession or career. This applies even if their work in the arts is not their main source of income or they have another employment”. Among other things, the definition mentioned above emphasizes two key dimensions of professionalization in the domain of art: the career development and income generation dimensions. These two dimensions suggest that only people of the working age (adults) can be professional artists. The definition will logically be viewed as pertinent, if one considers the principle stipulating that child labour is a vice in most (civilised) societies. Going by such a principle, one will understand commentators who overlook kid artists in their definition or conception of professional artists.

However, the concept of professional artist remains hard to define in a universally accepted way. In tandem with this, the term “professional (kid) artist” may be slippery or subject to debate. In spite of this situation, one thing remains indisputable: infantile/juvenile talents have over the years been observed in professional artistic productions in countries across the globe. Be it in the fields of music, cinema, painting and photography or in design and dance, kid artists have, participated in professional artistic projects and contributed in no small measure to global cultural production. Many world cinema or musical productions, for instance, involve juvenile talents or actors. Through their stellar performances in films or music shows, these kid actors and musicians easily rise to stardom. In line with this, the Academy (in the US’ Hollywood) has over the years recognised the performance of cinema child stars. Such recognition has been expressed through Oscar nominations and Awards given to performers under the age of 18. With a similar objective to support child stars’ contribution in the music industry, global television/artistic programs such as “The Voice (kid)” on Television France 1, GoT Talent (in the USA) and Season of Talang (in Sweden) among others, serve as platforms for the hunting, the professional training and the celebration of juvenile talents.   

In addition to the examples mentioned above, one may say that the creative works of such global child stars as Grace Wander Wall (of the USA), Vicky Arlidge (of Britain), the “TFBoys” (of China) and the Massaka Kids Africana (of Uganda), plead in favour of the thesis saying that kid artists are legitimate stakeholders of the global professional artistic production. Many of these kid artists are recognised by peers (adult artists working in the same artistic discipline) and critics as strong artistic forces. Many of them have gone through specialised training in their respective artistic fields. Additionally, many of them are committed to artistic work and have a history of public presentations in a professional context. 

Juvenile talents and agency are clearly observable in the global professional artistic production. However, they have not attracted a modicum of attention from scholars. Most of the research works devoted to kid artists prioritise issues such as artistic capacity building programs for kids and the childhood habits of today’s professional artists (Rop 2020, Barnes 2015; Fox & Schirrmacher 2014, Waldorf 2002). The contribution of kid artists to the growth of the global professional artistic production is left un-researched. This thematic is an interesting topic for theorisation. 

Objectives

In a bid to fill the aforementioned gap, the present book sets out to attain two principal objectives: 1) examine kid artists’ agency and contribution to the growth of the global artistic production and 2) explore the socio-political, national and transnational institutions that facilitate these agency and contribution.

Target Audiences

The target audience of this book will consists of students, scholars, professional artists, media practitioners, policy makers, international relation experts and politicians.

Recommended Topics

  • The kid artist in professional music, cinema and dance
  • Children in plastic/visual arts and photography
  • The kid artist in media production
  • The kid artist and fan culture
  • The star child and fashion
  • The kid artist and advertisement
  • The kid artist and public diplomacy
  • The kid artist, the body and ethics 
  • The kid artist as a social activist
  • Kid-Adult cooperation in the creative industry
  • Education/training, the kid artist and creative development
  • The kid artist, the creative industry and legal issues
  • The kid artists, politics and policy making
  • The kid artist and art and culture festivals
  • Children and art award programs
  • Children in national/international art contests
  • The kid artist, parenting and socialisation 
  • Professional artistic production and the development of the child
  • The childhood of contemporary professional artists   

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before January 12, 2025, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by January 26, 2025 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by April 27, 2025, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at http://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project. Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Networked Business Models in the Circular Economy. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-blind peer review editorial process. All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery®TM online submission manager.

Submit your proposal online at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/8362

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication.

 

Important Dates

January 12, 2025: Proposal Submission Deadline

January 26, 2025: Notification of Acceptance

April 27, 2025: Full Chapter Submission

June 29, 2025: Review Results Returned

August 10, 2025: Final Acceptance Notification

August 24, 2025: Final Chapter Submission