Do conflicting rationales within Nordic cultural policy pose new dilemmas for artistic freedom?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural policy in the Nordic countries has historically been closely linked to welfare policy. Public funding of arts has aimed at securing income and social security of artists, to safeguard the possibilities for artists to make a living, have children, grow old, become ill, etc., and produce works of art that are informed by and reflect different life experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a shift towards market dynamics and neoliberal logics in cultural policy has tightened strings attached to public financing of the arts and raised new questions of the autonomy of art and artists in society. We see more criteria, accountability, evaluations and fewer risk-willing grants – which narrows the range of art projects receiving funding. Now attention is drawn to the normalisation of the precarity of the lives of artists – which are characterised by project-based temporality and ongoing efforts to deal with economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Nordic countries (still) offer some of the most well-established and institutionalised support systems for art and culture, it is worth asking how the possibilities for artistic work differ according to cultural and educational backgrounds, gender, class, geography etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research shows that public funding is mostly open for an established group of people who are trained in a certain institutional logic and can navigate the system. Newcomers, on the other hand, struggle to get in. In other words: if grant applicants manage to circumvent the system, there seems to be a high degree of freedom for artists. But when the licence to operate is based on narrow criterias, measurable effects, economic efficiency or even prejudice, examples show how certain groups of people or art forms are excluded. This affects the general understanding of who \u2018is worthy of\u2019<\/em> living and working as an artist and even what kind of art they can do: \u201cWhen I\u2019m assessed, what they see is a Syrian refugee. What they expect is an aesthetic related to war. They do not expect me to paint a beautiful flower. And they don\u2019t want me to. My white colleagues have a larger window of opportunity to operate in\u201d, <\/em>says artist and activist Khaled Barakeh in an interview for The Living Catalogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signals we have collected show potential in developing a differentiated and more community-based approach which can serve a variety of people from different backgrounds and less system-professionalised competencies. One example is the creation of a member-based voting system to select what artists get to exhibit in the local neighbourhood. The question is how the framework of cultural policy could be opened up further? And also how funding structures could be administered on the basis of trust and risk-willingness in order to include a wider spectrum of life experiences and thereby coping with new needs created by current and future changes in society?<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":1183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_themes":[139],"class_list":["post-1180","insights","type-insights","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","_themes-artistic-freedoms"],"acf":{"signals":[{"ID":1157,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2021-12-16 11:54:56","post_date_gmt":"2021-12-16 11:54:56","post_content":"\"In Sweden, there are a lot of artists that do high-quality work. Real craftsmanship. But you don't feel the artist, their story or their identity. I believe technical quality is not necessarily interesting to the viewer because the artist behind is not telling anything about their personal story. It's harder for the audience to connect when there's no background story.\"\r\n\r\n\"There is a tendency within the Scandinavian artistic landscape that you don't express who you are. However, you see identity coming to the table in many other places in the world. You see immigrant artists, and you can see feel their identity in their works. And you realise that people come from different places.\" \r\n\r\n\"That's what the Nordic countries should strive for. To include everyone.\"\r\n","post_title":"Identity > Quality?","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"identity-quality","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-12-16 11:54:56","post_modified_gmt":"2021-12-16 11:54:56","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/identity-quality\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1155,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2021-12-16 13:17:27","post_date_gmt":"2021-12-16 13:17:27","post_content":"\"Scandinavia is the perfect place to have dialogues around artistic freedom. And this is why Anordic should address it. In Scandinavia, we have the opportunity to invite voices, like Israeli and Palestinians, and sit down to have a dialogue. It's not about being a naive or privileged voice, but we (Scandinavian countries) need to dare to take all these voices in, to be a think thank that listens to everyone, I think that's Anordic's responsibility. \r\n\r\n\"And remember, these 'outside' voices are no longer based in some remote country far away from Denmark or Sweden. These people are here: Migrating from war and oppression to Scandinavia. And when they are here, you should listen to all these voices. And art has the potential to make these voices heard; to create a dialogue between people that normally don't speak to each other. And to tell people who these new voices are and why they are here.\"\r\n","post_title":"Anordic's role \u2014 as a Scandinavian think thank \u2014 should be to create dialogue and make marginalised voices heard","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"anordics-role-as-a-scandinavian-think-thank-should-be-to-create-dialogue-and-make-marginalised-voices-heard","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-12-16 13:17:27","post_modified_gmt":"2021-12-16 13:17:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/anordics-role-as-a-scandinavian-think-thank-should-be-to-create-dialogue-and-make-marginalised-voices-heard\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1147,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-06 12:09:10","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:09:10","post_content":"\"Nobody says that art should be instrumentalised (...). Some artists have a very strong social agenda to advocate for the issues there are important to them. And that in a way is also part of the role of art: to provoke; to make us feel uncomfortable; to inspire. \r\n\r\n\"I think using the word instrumentality is problematic, but I think art for social change, or art that has a social-transformative element, especially in the global south, kind of go hand in hand. But artists shouldn't feel obliged to practice in a certain way, they should still have the freedom to decide for themselves. (...) \"The more opportunities you have for broader definitions of what you are talking you are starting to realise that what you are doing is narrowing a fantastic opportunity for there to be a really rich engagement.\" ","post_title":"Terminate the discussion on instrumentality: See it as \"Art for social change\"","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"terminate-the-discussion-on-instrumentality-see-it-as-art-for-social-change","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-06 12:09:10","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:09:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/terminate-the-discussion-on-instrumentality-see-it-as-art-for-social-change\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1143,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-06 12:10:40","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:10:40","post_content":"\"There are various ways to respond to the discussion of instrumentality vs autonomy in the arts. There are experts who perfect a craft, which absolutely needs to be honoured. But, on the other hand, there are challenges caused by the professionalization of the sector, in that anybody can pick up a camera and take an incredible shot. And this taps into the discussion of quality. (...) Some years ago, the Arts Council of England decided to change the wording around their strategy and removed 'excellency' and replaced it with 'achieving great art for everyone. ' They recognized their country was changing; there was much more diversity and different cultural backgrounds. \"\r\n\r\n\"You can talk about quality or excellence in a particular way if the art form is static, but as we know, it's not! And with so much transnational collaboration, aesthetics have been mixed. That sort of creative synapsis is fascinating, and that's what the creative case is about - it's about broadening the aesthetic.\"","post_title":"The notion of quality: From excellency to great art for all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-notion-of-quality-from-excellency-to-great-art-for-all","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-06 12:10:40","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:10:40","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/the-notion-of-quality-from-excellency-to-great-art-for-all\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1141,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-06 12:11:12","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:11:12","post_content":"\"The pandemic has revealed that many independent sectors suffered severely because they didn't qualify for the support criteria as their creative work wasn't recognised as labour. As a result, they have lost benefits from human services in terms of safety net taking leaves and vacations. And while that may not be the case in the Nordic region, it was certainly the case in the Global South. They needed to be registered in a particular way; they needed to have a business network.\"\r\n\r\n\"And they had to go out to put food on the table. I guess it's labour, human services in terms of safety net, being able to take leaves, we know the sector works on projects to project, generally have the opportunity to take leaves, taxation, housing, that would be a really interesting opportunity y to have a conversation to have a more thriving sector.\" [42:12]","post_title":"When art is labour and when it isn't \u2014 lack of recognition removes support from public","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"when-art-is-labour-and-when-it-isnt-lack-of-recognition-removes-support-from-public","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-06 12:11:12","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-06 12:11:12","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/when-art-is-labour-and-when-it-isnt-lack-of-recognition-removes-support-from-public\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1138,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-10 14:37:57","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-10 14:37:57","post_content":"An initiative called \"Pontus de cultural\", or Points of Culture, started in Brazil about providing support to cultural groups to help them collaborate and co-program ideas bottom-up. I would say, in any environment, you would need a diversity of entry points. I think there is a place for strategic initiatives that governments and cultural policy should be able to do through arts and culture. I believe it is important and benefits the country and raises cultures that may not be as visible. You can call it Cultural Diplomacy, which is a word that covers what happens between the ministries of foreign affairs. It's about channelling the vibrancy in the art scene through the means of foreign affairs to go into an environment where you want to showcase what a country stands for. For example, when the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade acknowledges and pays respect to Bangarra Dance, a contemporary indigenous dance company, Australia sends an important message by putting Bangarra dance on the main political stage and legitimises indigenous culture. ","post_title":"Cultural diplomacy","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"cultural-diplomacy","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-10 14:37:57","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-10 14:37:57","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/cultural-diplomacy\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1130,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-27 15:50:08","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-27 15:50:08","post_content":"\"Denmark doesn't even live up to its own obligations in terms of UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UNESCO's definition of artistic freedom. As a Nation, Denmark doesn't help unfairly prosecuted or suppressed artists around the world. You can just take a look at our residency schemes. And compare that to other countries like Norway and Finland.\"","post_title":"Denmarks moral & legal position within the Artistic Freedom landscape","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"denmarks-moral-legal-position-within-the-artistic-freedom-landscape","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-27 15:50:08","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-27 15:50:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/denmarks-moral-legal-position-within-the-artistic-freedom-landscape\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1110,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-11 09:32:26","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-11 09:32:26","post_content":"(29:49) \"Lately, I was invited to Salzburg Global Seminar with 16 policymakers. And everyone is talking about \"using art for freedom, using art for a better society, using art for this and that\". It was very interesting how much it was repetitive in general. [...] Basically, it's using art and abusing artists. Because most of the time, everywhere, artists are poor; have social and psychological issues, instead of supporting artists' freedom. [...] We talk about the process of being free, not the product to be free.\"","post_title":"Support the artist, not the art","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"support-the-artist-not-the-art","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-11 09:32:26","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-11 09:32:26","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/support-the-artist-not-the-art\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1109,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-11 09:52:19","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-11 09:52:19","post_content":"(37:55) \"There is an organisation that I really like, it's called 'nGbK', and exists in the Kreutsberg-area. It's a community-based member-based organisation that gathers and decides what artists should be allowed to exhibit. So if an artist wants to do a project, they come to a meeting, I think it happens once a year, they have around 5000 members, so you have to present your work to the community, and then the community decides which work should be funded.\"\r\n\r\nnGbk description from its website: \"The neue Gesellschaft f\u00fcr bildende Kunst (nGbK), founded with a grass-roots structure in 1969, is today one of Germany\u2019s most significant and largest art societies. The unique structure of the nGbK enables its members to directly influence its thematic orientation: exhibitions, interventions, research projects, event series and publications are developed in interdisciplinary project groups and supervised from the initial idea to the final implementation. The decision on the programme of the nGbK is also made by its members. Each year, it is discussed and voted for in a collective process. In this manner, numerous projects have been realized, whose significance can hardly be overestimated in retrospect: The nGbK has established itself as an innovative venue for contemporary art and exhibition production which has left its mark on generations of curators, artists and creatives, and whose experimental exhibition concepts count as path-breaking. \"","post_title":"Community-based artistic freedom","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"community-based-artistic-freedom","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-06-29 09:18:06","post_modified_gmt":"2022-06-29 09:18:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/community-based-artistic-freedom\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1100,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-21 17:23:11","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-21 17:23:11","post_content":"According to a new report initiated by the Saami Council, the national arts funding structures and schemes in the Nordic countries don't recognize and acknowledge the Sapmi region and community as one nation. The report states that most of the funding opportunities for S\u00e1mi art and culture comes from outside the S\u00e1mi authorities, which gives national policy instruments a great deal of decision-making and definition power. Projects are expected to fulfill requirements and expectations based on nationally defined relevance and quality objectives. Many S\u00e1mi artists therefore feel that they need to make compromises and adapt to the Nordic and Western prevailing approaches.\r\n\r\n","post_title":"Weakened by national borders","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"weakened-by-national-borders","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-21 17:23:11","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-21 17:23:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/weakened-by-national-borders\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1099,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-21 16:57:42","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-21 16:57:42","post_content":"\"When talking about artistic freedom it is also important to ask who the art is for and who gets to experience it? In the whole S\u00e1pmi region for example there is only one art gallery. Can art be free if it only can be seen and experienced by certain people with a certain social status and living in bigger cities\", asks S\u00e1mi activist and artist Jenni Laiti.\r\n\r\n\"If we want to build art systems and structures that could make art more accessible, we need to also change the way in which we define and categorize art and the artist's role - art should not be seen as something that only can be made by certain groups in society, but as something that belongs to everyone and can be created by everyone. In recent years we have seen many polarized debates about who can be considered a professional artist and who can make art, but these discussions usually completely ignore for example the perspectives of people living in small villages in the northern periphery.\" ","post_title":"The importance of accessibility","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-importance-of-accessibility","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-21 16:57:42","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-21 16:57:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/the-importance-of-accessibility\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1064,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-10 13:36:34","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-10 13:36:34","post_content":"Maria Lind, curator, art writer and educator, writes in her contribution to IFACCA, how the concept of Artistic space to manouvre has helped her to think beyond dichotomies that come with the notion of \"artistic freedom of expression\". According to her, discussions on Artistic freedom often end up being too black and white, focusing on who has it and who doesn't.\r\nThe concept of \"artistic space to manouvre\" can help to create a more nuanced understanding and situate perspectives in different environments. \r\n\r\n\"By emphasising a shared area which is continuously variable, even malleable, \u2018artistic space to manoeuvre\u2019 moves away from preconceptions about \u2018the strong and the weak\u2019, those \u2018helping or rescuing\u2019 and those receiving \u2018help or rescue\u2019. \"\r\n","post_title":"From artistic freedom to artistic space to manouvre","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"from-artistic-freedom-to-artistic-space-to-manouvre","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-10 13:36:34","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-10 13:36:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/from-artistic-freedom-to-artistic-space-to-manouvre\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1063,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-08 16:53:40","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-08 16:53:40","post_content":"Patrick Sam, a Namibian thought leader and the chairperson of the National Arts Council of Namibia (NACN), writes In his contribution to IFACCA's Discussion Paper on Artistic Freedoms, how \"violations of artistic freedom impede on the ability of artists and cultural practitioners to access opportunities for personal and professional growth and upward mobility.\" Artistic freedom should therefore be safeguarded by developing a cultural and creative ecosystem that dignifies the lives of artists and cultural practitioners and by recognising the value of artists and cultural practitioners in society. If succeeded, artistic freedom can fuel the well-being and development of sustainable societies. \r\n\r\nAccording to Sam, current instruments for safeguarding artistic freedom are however reserved for a few with privilege, power or supremacy: \"Developing nations continue to face the macro-economic challenge of development as government, private sector and civil society efforts are unable to meet the demands of the population, due to a lack infrastructure, resources and skills to ensure the creation, production, exhibition and participation; as well as an inability to prioritise and transform the digitalisation of diverse cultural expressions.\"","post_title":"Dignifying culture to fuel human development","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"dignifying-culture-to-fuel-human-development","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-08 16:53:40","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-08 16:53:40","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/dignifying-culture-to-fuel-human-development\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1057,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-08 15:10:37","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-08 15:10:37","post_content":"A free and independent cultural life is traditionally considered and described as an important ideal and objective within cultural policy in the Nordic countries. \r\nA recent report by \"Kulturanalys Norden\" points out however, that research within cultural policy has rarely discussed what \"artistic freedom\" in policy contexts actually means, and instead has had a tendency to mainly focus on the different ways this idea of autonomy is being limited. \r\n\r\nThe report states also, that the ideal of an autonomous art field stems from the Kantian understanding of arts and culture as an independent societal sphere that should not serve other goals outside of its own. However, The cultural policy in the Nordic countries has to a large extent also been seen as an integral part of welfare policy and therefore including other values\/objectives than just artistic freedom and quality. \r\n\r\n","post_title":"The complex freedom of arts and culture","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-complex-freedom-of-arts-and-culture","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-08 15:10:37","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-08 15:10:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/the-complex-freedom-of-arts-and-culture\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1052,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-04 10:14:40","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-04 10:14:40","post_content":"Many debates in Sweden started after the publication of \"S\u00e5 fri \u00e4r konsten\". \r\n33% have relinquished from applying to Arts Councils\/organisations because they thought that the criteria were in conflict with the concept of artistic freedom. 46% have adjusted the content to criteria - without adding to the quality of the project. ","post_title":"Criteria and artistic freedom","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"criteria-and-artistic-freedom","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-04 10:14:40","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-04 10:14:40","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/criteria-and-artistic-freedom\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1048,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-05-03 10:27:53","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-03 10:27:53","post_content":"Norge har systematisert sin oversikt over minoriteter blant annet ved hjelp av kategoriene \"historiske minoriteter\". Disse historiske minoritetene er: Samene (urfolk), taterne, kvenene, sig\u00f8ynerne, samt skogfinnene. Skogfinnene er et folk som binder Norden sammen. Slik kan de ogs\u00e5 sammenlignes med folk og kulturer som ble splittet av et kolonialt m\u00f8nster. \r\nKan nye gruppe av nordiske beboere, med bakgrunn for eksempel fra et postkolonialt Afrika, ha noe \u00e5 l\u00e6re bort til nordiske \"historiske minoriteter\" med hensyn til \u00e5 ivareta en transnasjonal identitet? Hvordan blir Den nye samtalen?\r\n \r\nAf Adelheid Seyfarth\r\n","post_title":"Minoritetenes hierarki","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"minoritetenes-hierarki","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-03 10:27:53","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-03 10:27:53","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/minoritetenes-hierarki\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1047,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-04-26 17:59:24","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-26 17:59:24","post_content":"Recent art debates entail a discourse tension between the aesthetic (autonomy of art and artistic freedom) and the instrumental (applied art) conceptions of art. It is often thought that processes in applied contexts limit artistic freedom, which is regarded as detached and self-governed in the aesthetic context. Those defending artistic freedom often eschew the idea of instrumentalization in applied practices. \r\n\r\nA Finnish book on artistic interventions in organizations reconsiders artists working in applied contexts from the viewpoint of artistic freedom. The book's editors suggest that artistic freedom is inherently linked to the freedom to choose in which contexts one decides to work as an artist. Artistic freedom includes the right to participate in society and, if an artist so wishes, to bring their expertise, know-how, and insights into multi-professional contexts such as organization development and innovation development. \r\n\r\nThe book's editors trust that art can enter applied contexts such as well-being services, which does not deprive or threaten the value of \"free\" art. Instead, applied practices can serve as audience development through which \"free\" art can reach entirely new audiences. ","post_title":"Autonomous art vs. applied art","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"autonomous-art-vs-applied-art","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-26 17:59:24","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-26 17:59:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/autonomous-art-vs-applied-art\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1044,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-04-26 15:58:07","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-26 15:58:07","post_content":"Censorship limits the work of artists in many countries. They are also at risk of persecution, torture, abduction, imprisonment, or even death in some cases. When an artist applies for asylum, the asylum process must consider better freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental human right. However, several asylum decisions made by the Finnish Immigration Service have conflicted with the concept of freedom of expression, says the authors of ArtsEqual's recent policy brief on artists as asylum seekers and subjects to international protection. Finnish Immigration Services does not sufficiently understand what kind of art, in a particular context, appears threatening to those in power. Therefore they must consult reliable sources of expertise in this matter. Country-specific information about art and the situation of artists is needed to support decision-making, the authors of the policy brief argue.\r\n","post_title":"Artists as asylum seekers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"artists-as-asylum-seekers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-26 15:58:07","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-26 15:58:07","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/artists-as-asylum-seekers\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1043,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-04-20 13:14:30","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-20 13:14:30","post_content":"This is an example from SMK in Denmark, of the kind of job many prolific and important Danish artist hold in order to support artist practice, that are unrecognised by the market and institutions. These jobs are badly paid, highly competitive and often deigned for students, with very little job security and zero hour contracts. A number of these artist have even shown in the institution where they work underpaid jobs, pointing to the fact that they artworks are considered by the institutions to be of high quality, an art degree is not considered worthy of the pay level of eg. academics or management. \r\n\r\n","post_title":"Are part time artists professional?","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"are-part-time-artists-professional","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-20 13:14:30","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-20 13:14:30","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/are-part-time-artists-professional\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1038,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-04-20 12:52:32","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-20 12:52:32","post_content":"A sociological examination from 2018 of the economic and social conditions for the visual arts and artists in Denmark. With the study, the authors wanted to contribute with a current empirical basis and its data has as since thee played a central role in for example how the COVID-19 funds were allocated in Denmark. Studies such as this are an important, but often neglected, part of the structures that legitimise funding of the local art scene. ","post_title":"The Economic space of artist","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-economic-space-of-artist","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-20 12:52:32","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-20 12:52:32","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/the-economic-space-of-artist\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1037,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-04-20 12:33:10","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-20 12:33:10","post_content":"This academic paper by Ana Alacovska argues the importance of considering wageless life and related post-wage regimes of work in the study of creative and cultural labour. The article revisits sociological studies of creative work and finds that although such studies have tended to neglect the wageless life of creative workers they have nonetheless implicitly identified a range of alternative economic activities and \u2018consumption work\u2019 practices that go beyond wages and formal contractual employment. These activities include everyday strategies for \u2018getting by\u2019, such as barter, self-provisioning, commoning, thrift and downshifting. A systematic and sustained focus on wageless life that treats work as deeply enmeshed in everyday life is needed in order to make manifest the hidden politics of contemporary post-waged creative work.","post_title":"The Wageless Life of Creative Workers:","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-wageless-life-of-creative-workers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-20 12:33:10","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-20 12:33:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/the-wageless-life-of-creative-workers\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":998,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-03-22 08:16:02","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-22 08:16:02","post_content":"In the spring of 2022, Eric Magassa\u2019s exhibition \u201cMessages from the stars\u201d was exhibited at Bohusl\u00e4ns museum in Sweden. He holds a dialogue with the collection of the museum and uses a selection of objects mainly related to present-day Congo-Kinshasa in the show itself next to his photographic works. Exploring into Sweden's involvement in colonialism and how these objects arrived in Sweden. Swedish sailors were employed in the colonies and brought back objects from their travels. \u201cSeen in the light of the cruel colonial history, these objects today represent a history of abuse and oppression\u201d. ","post_title":"Afro Swedish artists regaze museum\/archive collections of Swedish art institutions","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"afro-swedish-artists-regaze-museum-archive-collections-of-swedish-art-institutions","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-22 08:16:02","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-22 08:16:02","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/afro-swedish-artists-regaze-museum-archive-collections-of-swedish-art-institutions\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":997,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-03-21 18:49:03","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-21 18:49:03","post_content":"A think tank for s\u00e1mi culture initiated by the Saami Council has published a report which aims to contribute to a strengthened Sami self-determination and artistic freedom in the Sami field of art and culture.\r\n\r\nThe report finds it problematic that current cultural policy and financial instruments should be able to support the Sami field, even though the policy has developed without real influence from the Sami field and without significant knowledge of how the Sami field works and functions. \r\n\r\nAccording to the think tank most of the funding opportunities for Sami art and culture come from outside the Sami authorities providing the national policy instruments significant decision-making and defining power. In relation to the national policy instruments, the Sami field faces requirements and expectations to meet nationally defined goals of relevance and quality, which reflect power structures privileging the majority's experiences and needs.","post_title":"Lack of self-determination in cultural policy and administration limits artistic freedom in S\u00e1mi field of arts and culture","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"lack-of-self-determination-in-cultural-policy-and-administration-limits-artistic-freedom-in-sami-field-of-arts-and-culture","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-21 18:49:03","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-21 18:49:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/lack-of-self-determination-in-cultural-policy-and-administration-limits-artistic-freedom-in-sami-field-of-arts-and-culture\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":994,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-03-16 18:05:14","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-16 18:05:14","post_content":"The director of Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Jussi Koitela, writes about the problems within the use and understanding of quality in arts and culture institutions. According to Jussi, the definition of quality automatically excludes certain, until now, marginalised groups and forms of expression in society. \r\n\"If we want to think that the role of publicly funded arts institutions in a democratic society is to support and highilight the presence of different cultural expressions and groups, we should forget all about \"Quality\" as a concept\", Koitela says. \r\n\r\nAccording to Jussi, quality is often defined by a silent agreement which favors arts that include \"appropriately everything but nothing too much\"- something that is beautiful but not only that, something that is personal but still universal, and something that can be understood \"anywhere\" globally. He says that this adequacy or suitability usually can only be understood or recognised by an individual that is well-off, with a certain educational background, white, and a so-called 'normal body'.","post_title":"Should we forget about \"Quality\"?","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"should-we-forget-about-quality","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-16 18:05:14","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-16 18:05:14","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/should-we-forget-about-quality\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":983,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-03-10 13:12:12","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-10 13:12:12","post_content":"A Swedish newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, article criticizes the decision of the Nordic Council of Ministers to cancel and pull back support to cultural projects in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. According to the Secretary-General, the aim has been to send a \"clear signal\" to Russia and to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. However, the decision affects also projects such as \"Filmmakers and Risk\", Civil society organisations, and independent artists who have been working to promote human rights, free expression, and democracy and thereby risking their lives in doing so. In the article experts and former diplomats call the decision \"insane.\" \r\n\r\nAt the same time, other organisations and institutions are stressing the need for continued support to projects, practitioners, and organisations in Russia that contribute to the development of free civil society and independent artistic and cultural life.","post_title":"Nordic ministers cancel funding to independent film makers in Russia","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"nordic-ministers-cancel-funding-to-independent-film-makers-in-russia","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-10 13:12:12","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-10 13:12:12","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/nordic-ministers-cancel-funding-to-independent-film-makers-in-russia\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":969,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-03-03 15:07:44","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-03 15:07:44","post_content":"At Elsewhere Studios, we recognize the limited accessibility to residencies as a parent. The length of time, cost of travel, and leaving behind your family can make attending very difficult. Thanks to the generous support of Sustainable Arts Foundation, Elsewhere Studios is happy to host a family-friendly residency every July. \r\n\r\nThis opportunity is open to national and international artists. Accepted artists have the choice to bring their spouse\/ partner and children or come on their own. They are provided with living and studio space and awarded a stipend of $1000 for a 10-day residency. The artist has the freedom to use the stipend for childcare, bills, travel \/ material costs, or for summer camp fees for children (there are several in Paonia.) Staff can assist by connecting parent artists to childcare, summer camps, additional housing, etc. \r\n\r\nFamilies are housed in either the Basement Apartment: an independent living\/studio space with its kitchen, bathroom, and sauna on the lower level of the main house, or the Suite: the upstairs living\/studio space with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a shared kitchen. Two families-in-residence will overlap during their 1.5-week-long residency, allowing for collaboration, shared childcare\/meals\/experience, etc. We are happy to have the children pursue their creative pursuits as part of the residency and will include them (if they desire) in critiques, open studios, and other Elsewhere events.","post_title":"Family-Friendly Residencies","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"family-friendly-residencies","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-03 15:07:44","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-03 15:07:44","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/family-friendly-residencies\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":964,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-01-05 13:20:05","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-05 13:20:05","post_content":"Jenni Laiti regards art as intertwined into life and community, like in the traditional S\u00e1mi lifestyle. \"Eallit \u010d\u00e1bb\u00e1t,\" means to live beautifully, and describes how good life is lived in reciprocity and balance with the world. Similarly, she regards duodji - referring to handicrafts, work, creation or piece that requires human thinking and action - as an artistic way of living. Living beautifully is a creative way to connect with the world. Freedom then becomes living beautifully and taking care of others and surroundings. For Laiti it means that she can exist as part of the community and the world as exactly the person she defines herself to be. \r\n\r\nAccording to the ethics of duodji, an individual\u2019s gift belongs to the community and it must promote the common good. The general knowledge and understanding of making art and the meaning of art in communities other than those we belong to is inadequate, why Laiti asks for national self-determination of the S\u00e1mi people and the strengthening of their cultural autonomy for S\u00e1mi art to be free.","post_title":"Everyone is an artist and everything is art","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"everyone-is-an-artist-and-everything-is-art","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-05 13:20:05","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-05 13:20:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/everyone-is-an-artist-and-everything-is-art\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":960,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-02-16 14:08:00","post_date_gmt":"2022-02-16 14:08:00","post_content":"In the article \"Our culture is at tipping point\", The curator and consultant Devyani Saltzman talks about her personal experiences working as a BIPOC-person in arts organisations on strategy building and programming with a focus on inclusion and diversity - welcoming people into a space that they often didn\u2019t see themselves in. She writes about how shifting institutions from the inside out is not easy, even when invited in.\r\n\r\nWhile organisations often invite BIPOC or differently-abled folks as individual changemakers, Saltzman highlights the importance of creating collective awareness and action to lead to shifts and organising organisational thinking and culture, and thus asks \"What is beyond that initial invitation and welcome? How can governance and leadership in legacy institutions truly be conscious and embody the values and understand the lived experience of BIPOC or differently-abled folks? \r\n\r\nDevyani Saltzman is an independent curator, writer, and consultant. She has led programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Banff Centre, being the first woman in the role in the centre is 85-year history and the first woman of colour.","post_title":"\"Our culture is at tipping point\"","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"our-culture-is-at-tipping-point","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-02-16 14:08:00","post_modified_gmt":"2022-02-16 14:08:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/our-culture-is-at-tipping-point\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":953,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-02-09 10:19:24","post_date_gmt":"2022-02-09 10:19:24","post_content":"The new strategic vision for Kone Foundation for 2021-2025 states artistic and academic freedom as its most important values. According to the strategy research, the arts must be allowed to develop and operate from their own starting points. Free, responsible, and diverse art and research are the prerequisites of civilisation. Other values mentioned in the strategy are: Ecosocial awareness, Diversity, Boldness, Perseverance and Sense of community","post_title":"Foundation strategy builds upon a new vision for artistic freedom","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"foundation-strategy-builds-upon-a-new-vision-for-artistic-freedom","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-02-09 10:19:24","post_modified_gmt":"2022-02-09 10:19:24","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/anordic.org\/livingcatalogue\/signals\/all\/foundation-strategy-builds-upon-a-new-vision-for-artistic-freedom\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"signals","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}]},"full_image":["https:\/\/livingcatalogue.anordic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/neoliberal.png",1280,600,false],"thumb":["https:\/\/livingcatalogue.anordic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/neoliberal-300x141.png",300,141,true],"thumb_large":["https:\/\/livingcatalogue.anordic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/neoliberal-1024x480.png",640,300,true],"yoast_head":"\n