Abracadabra, Politics of Collaboration

Andreas Ribbung, ‘Unsubduable Matter’, wall installation; Penka Mincheva, ‘Love and Fear’, mixed media

Floris Kruidenberg, ‘Container’, video

AIM Workshop AIM Wrocław – ‘Politics of collaboration’ took place between 12 and 14 May 2016.

The meeting was hosted by Wrocław 2016 European Capital of Culture and brought together representatives of Polish and European initiatives, who attended thematic sessions, group discussions and studio visits to Wrocław artist-run spaces.

Over three days, Barbara hosted 31 artists and arts managers from ten countries, including a number of AIM members. The sessions were also attended by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław.

Sociologist and art historian Anna Tomaszewska, who have curated multiple projects, including at the Polish Institute in Stockholm, prepared the agenda of the discussions and seminars together with Andreas Ribbung, who was also the curator of the exhibition held in conjunction to the meeting. The meeting was organised by the Office of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016. A detailed schedule of activities was accounted and guests were assigned to international working groups where under the guidance of a moderator they would discuss the problems, limitations and challenges faced by self-organised initiatives.

An important aspect of the AIM Wrocław meeting was the local context of the event, which served as a pretext for exploring the tradition of self-organisation in Wrocław and Poland. The activists who gathered had the chance to talk with representatives of Wrocław-based independent organisations and to make study visits.

The discussions that began on 12 May in groups continued on 13 May during summing-up sessions and a semi-open seminar. As suggested by the title of

the programme (‘Polityka współpracy/ Politics of collaboration’), discussions were to focus on the importance of artists’ self‑organisation and on selected aspects of collaboration (at gallery, local, national and international level), factoring in the current context, including the growing isolationist tendencies across Europe, reduced funds for independent, experimental and critical efforts, limited access to public indoor and outdoor spaces, dominance of public institutions and commercial galleries, material interests of individuals being put above group interest (especially in the context of ‘competitiveness’ within the art world), low status and visibility of independent galleries within artistic milieus and the insufficient strength and leverage to negotiate with local authorities and institutions, etc.

The local context of the meeting became an important aspect of the discussion, so the participants were encouraged to look at the tradition of artists’ self‑organisation in Wrocław and at the ways of funding and detailed programmes of self-organised initiatives.

In addition to the jointly discussed topics, each of the five international groups focused on a chosen aspect of artists’ self-organised initiatives.

The last highlight was the preview of ‘Abracadabra. Politics of collaboration’ exhibition held on Saturday, where works by artists belonging to the AIM network aswell as local Polish artists were presented.

On Saturday the AIM members also held a closed meeting and made a summary of the Wrocław meeting and discussed current and future issues related to network’s activity and development.

Participants: Andreas Ribbung (Supermarket and Candyland, Sweden), Kaspars Lielgavis (Totaldobze, Riga), Kim Dotty Hachmann (Microwesten/top e.V., Berlin), Lina Rukeviciute (LTMKS, Vilnius), Marcos Vidal Font (St Marc, Sineu, Mallorca), Matthias Roth (Microwesten/top e.V., Berlin), Mindaugas Gapševičius (LTMKS/ top e.V., Vilnius), Nia Pushkarova (Watertower Art Fest, Sofia), Nico Feragnoli (1646, the Hague), Signe Vad (TYS Exhibition Space, Copenhagen) and Timo Soppela (Muu, Helsinki) as well as representatives of Polish independent cultural institutions from Wrocław: Alicja and Mariusz Jodko (Entropia Gallery); Adam Martyniak, Michał Mejnartowicz, Karolina Włodek, Karolina Balcer, Michał Kamiński, Anna Wlazło and Krzysztof Rubach (WYKWIT Gallery); Dominika Łabądź (U Gallery); and from other towns and cities: Joanna Rzepka-Dziedzic and Łukasz Dziedzic (Galeria Szara, Cieszyn/ Katowice); Piotr Lisowski and Natalia Wiśniewska (Galeria Miłość, Toruń); Gaweł Kownacki (F.A.I.T, Cracow); Ewelina Chmielewska (Galeria Wschodna, Łódź); Norbert Delman (Stroboskop, Warsaw); Marta Gendera (Fundacja Salony, Zielona Góra); Anna Stec and Karolina Bieniek (ART TRANSPARENT Foundation).

Students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław: Iwona Ogrodzka, Jagoda Dobecka, Anita Welter, Ewa Służyńska and Maja Dubowska.

About AIM The network AIM (Artists’ Initiatives’ Meetings) consists of eleven artists’ initiatives from around Europe. The initiative was taken in 2010 by the art fair Supermarket – Stockholm Independent Art Fair that has established itself as one of the most important international meeting places for artist‑run galleries and other artists’ initiatives.

In 2010 Supermarket introduced a new programme for networking meetings: Supermarket Meetings. A large number of participants in the exhibition were invited to participate in scheduled meetings where they could exchange ideas and make new contacts.

The meetings consist of 5–6 participants, they are non-public and relatively short.

The contact between the participants can continue after the meeting.

Meetings became very popular and the concept has evolved since then, with a moderator and prepared questions to discuss.

The artists who run Supermarket realised that the exchange of experience and knowledge that took place in these meetings could be developed and therefore took the initiative to a two-day conference in Berlin. Nine other artists’ initiatives, who all

previously participated in Supermarket were invited. They represented different types of artist-run project spaces, galleries and groups so that common topics could be discussed from different perspectives.

The network has gathered in Stockholm and Copenhagen in 2011, Binissalem in Mallorca in 2012, in Helsinki in 2013, in Athens and Riga 2014, and in Wroclaw in 2016 and since 2012 a public event has been organised in Stockholm in conjunction with Supermarket. In most cases the conferences has been held at the same time as an art fair or other major art event. A few occasions a group exhibition with the participating artists has been organised.

At each conference local artists’ initiatives has been invited for presentations and discussion. At the conference in Wroclaw artists’ initiatives from across Poland were invited for longer conversations in groups.

Some network partners have left and some have been added, but most are the same since six years. The network consists of partners from Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Germany.

We have identified the need for a common platform and begun building a world‑wide network of artists’ initiatives. There is a great need to increase visibility and accessibility for the organisations themselves, for artists and professionals in the art field, and for a broader public.

The AIM Network

Artists’ Inititatives’ Meetings AIM is a network of 11 artists’ initiatives from across Europe.

The network is for exchange of experience and knowledge and to increase mobility and cooperation.