A business network perspective on unconventional entrepreneurship: A case from the cultural sector

Entrepreneurship is perceived as a key process to be promoted in the current economic and social context. Academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners acknowledge that a “traditional” view on entrepreneurship is no longer sufficient to encompass all possible forms of entrepreneurship. In this line of thought there is a growing interest to gain a deeper understanding of ‘unconventional’ entrepreneurial initiatives. This paper aims to provide a contribution on the development process of unconventional entrepreneurial processes, placing emphasis on their networked nature. The paper adopts the IMP approach as the guiding conceptual framework and examines a single longitudinal case study of RATATA' Festival concerning figurative arts. This research contributes to the emerging literature on unconventional entrepreneurship emphasizing the key role of the interplay between the community of passionate people promoting the initiative and the wider business network progressively enacted along the different editions of the Festival.