Cultural Production and Social Networks: Studying St. Petersburg Creative Market

The paper to be presented has two main objectives. First, we shall provide a short overview of the most interesting studies applying social network analysis to cultural production mapping. We shall discuss structural characteristics (distances, clustering coefficients, connectedness, dividing attributes etc.) of creative networks and the consequences produced by these characteristics (market segmentation, Mathew effect, neighborhood embeddedness etc.). Second, we shall present some preliminary results of our ongoing field work focused on artistic industries in St. Petersburg. We shall discuss the characteristics of two interconnected networks: (1) producers’ network (street art) and (2) brokerage network (embedded in new non-governmental institutions of cultural and intellectual production (museums, galleries, artcenters) that emerged in the city after 2000).