Artists on the move - conversations on sharing, openness and the (re)distribution of resources

Published: 31 March, 2017

A one day seminar, sat 22/4, 10-16 at Art Lab Gnesta

The last years we have seen several initiatives trying to open up the structures of the swedish field of art for colleagues who have recently gotten here. Art Lab Gnesta want to invite you to a one day seminar where we will discuss experiences from some of these initiatives. Together we will discuss how artists who has recently gotten here can continue their work by getting access to existing networks and resources.

What interests and needs do our colleagues have? How can small scale platforms for contemporary art share their resources? What social, juridical and political obstacles do our colleagues face and how can we work together to change them? Can we, with knowledge about the fact that life for many remain uncertain, establish a network that provides a collegial network and artistic context no matter where in sweden you are based?

This seminar is open to artists, organizations and networks with knowledge and experience about working with newly arrived colleagues as well as artists, organizations and networks interested in learning more and wanting to engage in the work to open the art field up for newly arrived colleagues.

Participation is free of charge, submit by emailing: sebastian.dahlqvist@artlabgnesta.se

The seminar is planned by Caroline Malmström and Sebastian Dahlqvist. It is a part of Momentum Gnesta, a project stretching over several years in which newly arrived kids and youngsters, artists, local organizations and other people living in Gnesta meet in collaborative art- and culture projects.

Schedule

10.00 – Introduction by Sebastian Dahlqvist

10.15 – Lina Sofia Lundin (artist, KiD) shares her experiences from working as a project manager for Konst i Dalarnas project directed towards helping newly arrived artists and her ongoing work in the neighbourhood Tjärna Ängar in Borlänge.

10.45 – Ola Öhlin (artist, KRO) has long experience of working inside society’s bureaucratic and juridical structures to open them up for artists who have just arrived to sweden. One of Öhlins most recent projects is Konsten att delta.

11.15 – Ulrika Flink (curator, Konstfrämjandet) will depart from her experiences from working with the curatorial project The Artist Council which she is running together with Abir Boukhari.

11.45 – Abir Boukhari (curator) will depart from the work with the now nomadic platform AllArtNow as well as her work with The Artist Council.

12.15 – Lunch (included for all participants)

13.15 – Sahar Burhan (artist) is among other things running the gallery Kameleont in Norrköping. Sahar Burhan will share her experiences of trying to get into the swedish field of art and the bureaucratic and juridical obstacles she has faced when doing so.

13.45 – Felipe Castelblanco (artist) will depart from his work with the autonomus and anonymous educational platform Para-Site School. A platform for artists seeking asylum, operating inside art schools all over the world.

14.30 – Panel, moderated by Sebastian Dahlqvist.

15.00 – Workshop with the aim to establish a national network that collect different initiatives, groups and organizations with the aim to offer a collegial network and make resources available for newly arrived and asylum seeking artists all over sweden.

16.00 – End

Participants

Lina Sofia Lundin is an artist and pedagoge working with participatory processes often departing from textile practices. During 2016 Lundin was the curator for the exhibition Transition I at Leksands Kulturhus, focusing on migration and changing human landscapes. She was also the project manager for Konst i Dalarnas project directed towards newly arrived colleagues. At the moment Lundin is working with The Public Art Agency in the neighbourhood Tjärna Ängar in Borlänge.

Ola Öhlin is an artist working partly as project manager within the field of art and culture in sweden. Öhlin has been working in various projects the last couple of years together with artists seeking asylum in sweden. All of the different projects have aimed to open up the field of art in sweden to artists seeking asylum. The project Konsten att delta (The art of participation) has made the conditions for newly arrived artists visible. The project consist of several different projects, the first starting ten years ago. Through his work Öhlin has managed to locate artists not given access to the arts- and culture sector. With his recent projects Öhlin has managed to affect some of the limiting bureaucratic structures.

Ulrika Flink is a curator based in stockholm. She received her MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London. Recent curatorial projects include The Artist Council (2015- ). A project she is running with Abir Boukhari under the roof of Konstfrämjandet. The project is targeting artists in sweden seeking asylum. The group is working together to create events and a common cultural festival, in the work all participants depart from their own specific artistic practice. Meetings, workshops and field trips are mixed with discussions about one’s own artistic practice, artistic processes and how and if people seeking asylum in sweden have access to the field of art.

Abir Boukhari is a curator from Syria. She is the co-founder of AllArtNow, an independent platform for contemporary art established in 2005 in Damascus. A neglected house in the old city of Damascus served as the platforms main venue and laboratory for art. AllArtNow functioned as a meeting point for local as well as international artists. Since 2012 AllArtNow has closed its doors in Syria to open it up to Syrian refugee families. Since then AllArtNow operates as a nomadic platform for contemporary art. Boukhari is also working with The Artist Council (2015-) together with Ulrika Flink.

Sahar Burhan hold a BA in art from Damascus University. Burhan is based in Norrköping where she is currently working as an artist, freelance cartoonist and running the gallery Kameleont. She runs the gallery with the belief in a society that recognizes the importance of giving everybody access to art. Burhan was one of the participating artists in the project Konsten att delta (The art of participation).

Felipe Castelblanco is an colombian/american artist working in the intersection of socially engaged art and new media art. Through urban interventions, video, sculpture, performance and participatory projects Castelblanco creates encounters between audiences and groups of people who otherwise would have been unlikely to meet each other. Castelblanco holds a MFA from Carnegie Melon University. Among his collaborative projects we find The Para-Site School a autonomous and anonymous platform for artists seekin asylum, operating inside art schools around the world. By giving access to the resources held by the art schools Castelblanco together with his participants and collaborators manage to redistribute resources and create new spaces for artistic production and the exchange of knowledge. The educational platform has among other places been set up in Tehran, Portland and.