Artists for Artists Masterclass

26 - 30 March 2021

Politics of Sharing

Over the last decade, economic recession and online services proliferation have led to the exponential growth of sharing practices. This has contributed to the sense of sharing as a new currency. Not inherently equitable, sharing culture today is marked by contradictions; solidarity becomes exploitation, and collaboration turns into “business as usual.” In the cultural sphere and in art production, this often means unequal shares of knowledge, resources, power, and benefits.

The 3rd AfA Masterclass edition addresses the nexus between art practice and the politics of sharing. Led by Advising Artists, Megan Cope, Maria Papadimitriou, Gregory Sholette, and Dmitry Vilensky / Chto Delat?, AfA workshops will explore diverse sharing modalities, analyzing how they impact sublimated histories, contested resources, intersectional communities, and collectives. 

The International AfA Masterclass will select a group of twelve early-career artists for a five-day intensive program. Participating Artists will be introduced to methods, practices, and cultures of collaboration, cooperation, and co-imagining.

WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES

Megan Cope | T​he Politics of Sharing

This Masterclass will circumnavigate the politics of sharing through the discussion of collaboration, the art of agreement/ disagreement, locating the center of care, and negotiations of value and worth.

Keywords: Indigenous, Knowledge, Sovereignty, Identity, Collaboration

Maria Papadimitriou | Situations, Co-existences, Commons 

The Cases of “ Temporary Autonomous Museum for All”( T.A.M.A. 1998 up to now), SOUZY TROS Art Canteen (2012 up to now), Victoria Square Project (2017 up to now). 

This Masterclass focuses on socially engaged art projects and in situ activities, that produce art and involve the audience. It will examine, public art, participatory aesthetics, and the critical role of social engagement. The Masterclass will question the role of the artist as an educator and knowledge producer, illustrating how knowledge is generated beyond disciplinary boundaries in a collaborative and research-based pedagogical practice.

Keywords: participatory aesthetics, public art, in situ, the artist as an educator

Gregory Sholette | Which Art Collective Do You Belong To?

Trying to make sense of the art world's sudden love affair with radical art.

Drawing on research from his upcoming book The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art, as well as decades of involvement with activist art groups such as PAD/D, REPOhistory, and Gulf Labor Coalition, Sholette proposes that something unprecedented is taking place. For although art’s social agency has regularly been forced into visibility in the past, usually as a response to extra-artistic circumstances, it has just as rapidly submerged again out of sight. That is until it doesn’t, or until it won’t.

Keywords: collectivism, activist art genealogies, socially engaged art, artworld, neoliberalism

Dmitry Vilensky | Between Share and Gift: Art that Belongs to No-one 

We all share certain reservations about the current proliferation of platforms for sharing different things – flats, cars, skills, and so on. This Masterclass draws attention to the completely different model of an economic system based on ‘the gift’ and analyses how the idea of ‘the gift’ might influence and change art systems. 

Keywords: share, gift, economic systems, art world change

Masterclass Structure

AfA Masterclasses consist of a suite of lectures and small-scale workshops. A total of 12 Participating Artists will be invited to take part in the Politics of Sharing AfA Masterclass. These Participating Artists will be divided into two groups of six. Each group will be assigned to two workshops led by Advising Artists based on the correlation between their practices. 

Lecture / Workshop Format:

In workshops, each Participating Artist presents a proposal/project that relates to the theme of Politics of Sharing (for example, artists can present a new proposal/idea or previous projects). During workshops presented via Zoom, each Participating Artist will receive detailed feedback from Advising Artists and their peers. Each Participating Artist will have access to all lectures presented by Advising Artists.

The International AfA Masterclass is an open pedagogical platform, characterized by experimentation, inclusivity, and global outreach. Its modalities and praxis are informed by an ethos of solidarity and an equitable peer-to-peer model. The Artists for Artists facilitates a direct connection between established artists and those in their early career stages. International artists leading previous AfA editions include Decolonize this Place (Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon), Noah Fischer, Terike Haapoja, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Ahmet Ogut, Vivien Sansour, and Stefanos Tsivopoulos.

Artists for Artists Masterclass Radical Care