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Global Health Econ Sustain

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Resilience, art activities, and income of artists

in a low-to-middle-income country during the
COVID-19 pandemic

Clorinda Panebianco *, Werdie van Staden , Carol Lotter , and Rory du Plessis 3
1
2
1
1 School of the Arts: Music, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
2 Centre for Ethics and Philosophy of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of
Pretoria, Pretoria,South Africa
3 School of the Arts: Visual Art, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract
This study examined the experienced impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the
resilience, art activities, and income among performance and visual artists in a
low- to middle-income country, including the relationship between resilience and
art activities. Practicing artists in South Africa with a tertiary qualification in visual or
performance art were recruited through social media platforms. Amid the pandemic,
109 participants completed a questionnaire that incorporated the Connor-Davidson
Resilience Scale, income variables before and during the pandemic, 26 art activity
items that captured the experienced impact of the pandemic on their commitment,
Academic editor: productivity, social connection and engagement, financial implications, and
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE changes in their art activities. The results revealed that the resilience of participants
decreased significantly during the pandemic (t-test = 7.631; p < 0.001), whereas no
*Corresponding author:
Clorinda Panebianco relationship was found between resilience preceding the pandemic and changes
(clorinda.panebianco@up.ac.za) in art activities. Higher resilience scores during the pandemic were associated with
Citation: Panebianco C., being more productive (β = 0.244, t = 2.56, p = 0.012), stimulated in commitment
Staden W.V., Lotter C., Plessis R.D. (β = 0.263, t = 2.796, p = 0.006), and less inhibited (β = −0.552 – −0.541, t = −6.749 −
2023. Resilience, art activities, −6.594, p < 0.001) in art activities. The income of participants decreased significantly
and income of artists in a low-to-
middle-income country during the during the pandemic (Fisher’s exact test = 98.193; p < 0.001), causing apprehension
COVID-19 pandemic. Global Health in art activities, especially for those who were less resilient (β = −0.306, t = −3.314,
Econ Sustain, 1(1): 0911. p < 0.001), and the situation was compounded by being self-employed (p = 0.003).
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0911
Despite decreased resilience and loss of financial income during the pandemic,
Received: May 5, 2023 participating artists in South Africa explored new ways of doing their art, were
Accepted: June 26, 2023 stimulated in their commitment, and sought social connections in their art activities.
Published Online: July 21, 2023
Keywords: Artistic activity; Artists; Resilience; Income
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, and 1. Introduction
reproduction in any medium, which
provided that the original work is The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC)
properly cited.
on income and the culture and creative industries is exemplified in an estimated 40%
Publisher’s Note: AccScience income loss across households in South Africa (South African Cultural Observatory,
Publishing remains neutral with regard
to jurisdictional claims in published 2020a). Its impact on South Africa’s cultural and creative industries was initially assessed
maps and institutional affiliations. and estimated to have incurred a ZAR53.3 billion loss in 2020 (South African Cultural

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0911