10 am- 5 pm CEST in Berlin und Stockholm | Join via Zoom | Cooperation with the Artists' Association of Sweden
Register here for the conference until 23 May 2024 (via Zoom).
On 24 May 2024, IGBK together with the Artists' Association of Sweden, and in partnership with IAA Europe and On The Move, will host the hybrid project conference visual artists | diverse conditions.
In both Berlin and Stockholm, an interconnected round table will take place. Representatives of national and European artists' associations, visual artists, experts and cultural politicians will be discussing diversity aspects in the visual arts in Europe. An interested public can join via Zoom.
Moderation: Sara Edström (Artists' Association of Sweden) and Yohann Floch (Director of Operations/ On The Move)
View a list of round table participants here, with short bios and infos here.
We are delighted that the artist Pham, Minh Duc will be giving an artistic performance in the afternoon between 3.15 and 4.15 p.m. as part of the conference.
The project visual artists | diverse conditions focuses on the framework conditions for artistic work in Europe from the perspective of diversity. It consists of a series of IGBK-workshops and -events in 2023 and 2024.
What impact do characteristics such as age, gender, origin/language, and geographical location (or place of residence) have on the work of visual artists in addition to country-specific cultural policy, art policy and socio-political conditions? To what extent is the presence or absence of diversity structures in institutions, for example, noticeable in the work of artists? Are artists' associations sufficiently diverse with regard to the changing population structure?
The project discusses these questions in the context of three topics, each one considered against the background of diversity aspects:
- funding and working spaces,
- social security and pensions and
- artists associations and structures.
Previously, IGBK organized working groups, a public panel discussion, and digital workshops on the topic with experts from the arts and sciences. In the workshops, the focus was on practical examples from Finland, Spain, Austria, Great Britain and Sweden. For the 2024 conference, the Artists’ Association of Sweden is a collaborative partner, as well as the IAA Europe and the international mobility network On The Move.
The aim of the conference in 2024 is to exchange further knowledge and experiences of how to work with aspects of diversity in the context of working conditions for visual artists in Europe. We live in similar contexts within Europe in many ways, but there are also so many differences. We, as artist organizations working daily to strengthen the conditions for professional artists, see how it gets increasingly more important to secure the freedom of expression and the possibility for as many diverse voices as possible to be heard. The concept of diversity is becoming more and more relevant in democratic and pluralistic societies. But the diversity of lifestyles, identities and cultures is not yet reflected in all areas of a society or in its institutional structures.
About the conference partners:
IGBK (Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste) unites Germany's three most important federal artist associations under one umbrella: the Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler (BBK - Federal Association of Artists), Deutscher Künstlerbund (German Artists' Association) and Verband der Gemeinschaften der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfördernden (GEDOK - Federation of Women Artists and Patrons of the Arts). IGBK represents more than 14,000 visual artists in Germany. The association was founded in 1957 as the German National Committee of the International Association of Art (IAA).
The Artists’ Association of Sweden (Konstnärernas Riksorganisation) has 3,500 members who are artists, designers, and craftspeople. The association represents Swedish visual artists in political issues concerning art and artists' financial and social situation.
The International Association of Art (IAA) Europe is a network of about 40 national member organizations within Europe, representing professional visual artists. Founded in 2022, it is one of the five cultural regions of the International Association of Art (IAA), the largest international non-governmental association of visual artists, with more than 100 member organizations worldwide.
On the Move is an international information network dedicated to artistic and cultural mobility, with 66 members from 24 countries. Since 2002, it has provided regular, up-to-date, and free information on mobility opportunities, conditions, and funding and advocated for the value of cross-border cultural mobility.
Conference project leads: Sara Edström (artist and president of the Swedish Artists Association), Marcel Noack, Christine Düwel, and María Linares (all three artists and chairpersons of the board of IGBK).
