Mobilising capitals and gender performativity within the practice of arts entrepreneurship: A case study

Within the field of ‘arts entrepreneurship’ there exists an imperative to construct original careers, where taking risks can potentially bring greater rewards. In exploring ‘arts entrepreneurship’, we draw on a case study of a self-employed, British-based, South-African born, working-class female artist, and her new public art installation in Nanjing, China entitled Moving Museum 35. Operationalising Pierre Bourdieu’s approach to ‘capital’ and Judith Butler’s conception of ‘gender performativity’, we explore how one artist mobilises emotional capital and her practice of gender performativity in the production of a landmark public art installation designed to raise awareness of the rejuvenation of cultural heritage. The article identifies how the artist leads the project through building relationships, taking risks and capitalising on creativity and passion as dimensions of emotional capital facilitating how she works across national and disciplinary borders.