This paper highlights the role of materiality in legitimising art organising
as occurs at festivals and performances. Through ethnographic fieldwork
pertaining to art events and projects, we documented how legitimacy is
accomplished through the very performance of art. We observed that
artistic practices materialise the very norms by which they are assessed
and demarcate a normative space of their own. Our paper contributes to
the research on legitimacy by showing it takes place through connection
with societal norms but also through a disconnection that fosters such a
distinct space. Legitimation thus corresponds to configuring the specific
situation where the actions under scrutiny are legitimate; it is a
continuous process that is accomplished not for but with an audience