Symposium

(re)framing the international

SEA Foundation attends (re)framing the international in Antwerp on the subject of internationalisation in the arts. This event which is organised by Kunstenpunt.be and the Flanders Arts Institute marks the the end of a research & development trajectory which started in 2016. (re)framing the international researches working internationally in the arts, how it has changed over time and what it might look like in the future. The symposium shares experiences by professionals and lessons learned by looking at the data. Some of the subjects that have come up in the research are:

Globalisation and visual art

Over the past decades, the subject of globalisation has been covered in numerous exhibitions, symposia and publications. According to the narrative, ‘globalisation’ refers to a number of fundamental changes that the field of the visual arts has undergone at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the present century. It is in this new context that ‘contemporary art’ is created, exhibited and traded in places where this was not the case before. The manner and scale at which art is made and the way in which communication and information is spread has been radically altered by the emergence of new media and the internet. The international mobility of artists and curators has changed radically, partly due to changes in regulations on labour migration and the support mechanisms of national governments. Read more 

Arts and mobility

Artists have been travelling from one country to another since the beginning of civilization. Cultural exchanges may be old, international collaboration has only become common practice since globalization started some 30 years ago. This evolution is not neutral. What about Western dominance, unequal access to means of production and distribution, the precarious situation of individual artists, and the trend where art becomes a commodity in a commercial environment and gets alienated from society? Read more

Philanthropy and private foundations

As governments have reduced their role and adopt a repressive attitude towards autonomous civil initiatives and independent culture. Independent cultural initiatives, however, particularly in Eastern – and Southern Europe are not supported by the government but by individuals, businesses and philanthropic foundations. Can the alliance between philanthropy and independent culture help make the global economy, and national and transnational politics, more sustainable, and if so, how? Read more

Results from this research have been published in three pop-up magazines that can be found online at the Belgian Kunstenpunt here.