Expert knowledge as a key factor in integration of the professional community of artists

Introduction . The content of the concept of "expert knowledge" and its composition are the subject of numerous discussions concerning its essence and composition, the form of linguistic representation, as well as combination with other types of knowledge in the activities of specific communities. The empirical experience of the authors' research of artistic communities shows that the creative and instrumental activities of members of artistic communities combine elements of different types of knowledge, primarily scientific, specialized, everyday, artistic, of which expert knowledge is currently described least fully, while it is this kind of knowledge that contributes to the integration and self-awareness of artistic communities. The description of the activities of artistic communities in this way requires clarification of the composition and existential characteristics of expert professional knowledge. Materials and methods . The presented research is based on philosophical ideas about empirical knowledge, its essence and forms of existence, methods of abstraction and analysis, comparative method, elements of the biographical method, content analysis of sites of artistic professional communities are used. Results . Expert knowledge is mainly empirical in nature, and the real forms of its existence allow us to assert its specific logical-epistemological and socio-communicative foundations. The former correspond to the forms of existence of empirical knowledge adapted to a specific type of activity (facts, patterns, laws, phenomenological theories specific to this type of activity), the latter are determined by the functional role of the subject in the process of artistic production and reproduction and are presented in the form of tasks of storing and distributing specialized knowledge, presenting expert knowledge in the world of everyday operations, forming and maintaining the unity of the artistic community. The successful solution of the tasks set allows us to assert that the community, as a collective subject of activity, has a specific communicative rationality that allows not only to make decisions of an instrumental nature, but also to form specific moral conventions governing issues of collective and individual responsibility. Discussion and conclusions . The study of expert knowledge in the context of the activities of the artistic community makes it possible to clarify the characteristics of expert knowledge, determine its role in the processes of self-regulation of the artistic community, and also raise the question of the processes of interaction of different types of knowledge in the activities of the community and its individual representative.