Art in Permacrisis: Organizing Art Workers in the World Beyond Art

Activity: Talk or presentationInvited talkAcademic

Description

This contribution explores the desire for economically sustainable
art circulation. Can we imagine a sustainable art economy beyond
precarity? How would this change the circulation of art works, the
curriculum of art and design academies, the exhibition programs of
museums, and the organization of collectives and unions?
In the context of the permacrisis, this feels like a daunting, if
not futile issue to take on. Surely, the economy of the arts is no-
toriously unsustainable. But aren’t there many undeniably more rele-
vant crises? However, permacrisis and the arts are deeply connected,
already by the inescapable shadow of more urgent matters cast on the
question of a ‘fair’ art economy. The precarious social legitimacy of
art puts it at the mercy of crisis management, which in turn leads
to the instrumentalization of art in fighting other crises.
Let’s unpack this complex relation between art and permacrisis layer
by layer, and see where it leaves us. Should we maybe, once again,
declare the end of art – this time, not as a fulfillment of the
dialectics of history, but as a minor casualty to the permacrisis?
Should we continue to try and prove the ‘real’ value of art as an
important part of national identities, an essential part of Bildung,
a comforting refuge, or a catalyst of critical reflection? Or should
we fully embrace creative industries politics, which proposes
art and culture as a profitable and ‘impactful’ endeavor for the
‘social good’. In this narrative, after all, art finds economic
leverage by acting as a crisis solver. The larger the crisis,
the more we need art?
Period26 Oct 2024
Event titleMetaForumX: PermaCrises
Event typeConference
LocationBudapest, HungaryShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational