ArtLeaks invites you to a public working assembly around the issues that are at the core of the group’s mission – exposing instances of abuse, corruption and exploitation in the art world. This is the official public launch of our platform, which began to operate in September 2011, and will be followed by a series of debates and workshops in the near future. These present a unique opportunity to engage more directly with conditions of cultural work that affect not only artists but creative workers in general: those from the traditionally creative fields as well as those generally involved in cultural production.
Members of ArtLeaks will present on the problematic politics of sponsorship in contemporary culture, the intense exploitation of cultural labor, the marketization of public space dedicated to so-called independent initiatives, the appropriation of culture under the umbrella of disreputable corporation and last but not least, what possibilities we may envision for transversal alliances and activism against cases of abuse and corruption of cultural managers and institutions.
We invite to the discussion all those of you who have experienced abuses of your basic rights to be paid for your work, those who have struggled against subjugation under the dictates of galleries who cater to a wealthy minority, those who regularly take on other jobs to finance projects that may never be realized. Join us in forwarding the conversation from a critique of the status quo to formulating strategies on how to make real changes in the system – changes that would benefit the vast majority of creative workers, allowing them to unleash their full potential to bringing about a better world.
To this end, the evening will be divided between a first part dedicated to interventions by members of ArtLeaks, while in the second we would like to engage the public in a conversation and brainstorm on solutions, models and positions in response to concrete problems, concerns, urgencies.
Currently ArtLeaks is working on formulating a new regular publication entirely dedicated to issues of cultural workers’ rights and related struggles. This journal will be unique in focusing specifically on the challenges we face in the field today, related to wide-spread mistreatment, (self)exploitation and corruption and how these may be over-come through strategies of self-organization, solidarity and collective action. ArtLeaks will launch a call for papers at this public meeting.
ArtLeaks members that will facilitate this working assembly: Corina Apostol, Vlad Morariu, David Riff, Dmitry Vilensky, Raluca Voinea. We will have interventions via Skype from Vladan Jeremic and Société Réaliste.
Berlin, Sunday, June 3rd, 19:00h, Flutgraben
Address: Am Flutgraben 3 12435 Berlin +49 30 5321 9658 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +49 30 5321 9658 end_of_the_skype_highlighting www.flutgraben.org
Directions to Flutgraben: http://www.kunstfabrik.org/Anfahrt_Kunstfabrik_engl.pdf
Then on Monday, June 4th, 8pm at West Germany in collaboration with Interflugs, ArtLeaks will co-host a workshop in which we would like to focus on specific cases submitted to our platform, and what we may learn from these instances of abuse and exploitation to create an international front of solidarity to struggle for cultural workers’ rights. How can we then challenge ourselves to re-imagine fairer relationships to institutions, organizations, networks and economies involved in the production and consumption of art and culture? In addressing these concerns as a group, we will develop themes that will form the bases of ArtLeaks’ upcoming publication, a journal which will be entirely dedicated to censorship, cultural workers’ rights and formulating strategies and goals of organizing cultural workers.
ArtLeaks members: Corina Apostol, Vlad Morariu, David Riff, Dmitry Vilensky, Raluca Voinea will facilitate the workshop in collaboration with Interflugs and friends. Special thanks to West Germany.
About Interflugs: http://www.interflugs.de/en
The workshop will be held in English.
Date and time: Monday, June 4th, 8pm Place: West Germany, Skalitzer Str. 133, S-Kottbusser Tor, Berlin