The art-business paradox: how do artists challenge power?

This article addresses the question: How do performing arts cultural organizations resist the tension that emerges from art-business paradox? Through a qualitative multiple case study, we analyse how the Colombian State has exerted domination over Performing Arts Cultural Organizations (PACOs) and how they have developed resistance mechanisms through irony and symbolic collective actions. We propose the concept of “subsistence resistance,” which reflects a unique way of challenging power through the persistence and survival. This study contributes to the literature on paradoxes and power by providing empirical evidence from a specific organizational context, detailing PACOs’ resistance strategies against state power.