MAKING ART ACCESSIBLE
Six full-day seminars throughout 2022,
available online and offline
The Tallinn Biennial 2022 aims to make contemporary art inclusive and accessible to a wider public on a local, national and international level. In order to accomplish this, we will be organizing contact seminars in the Baltic and Nordic countries in 2022 both before and during the biennial.
The contact seminars are based on three main ideas: to develop models of art production that inspire, educate and encourage (emerging) artists how to create art with a purpose; to collaborate with international colleagues in order to share knowledge, experiences and to strengthen the network of art professionals that (re)connects the Baltic and Nordic regions; and finally, to develop artworks and program content for the Tallinn Biennial 2022. The contact seminars will involve partnerships with art institutions, artists and other cultural workers who can share information and insight related to a local art scene and its work with cultural production (exhibitions, festivals and biennials).
There will be five hybrid contact seminars presented in different Baltic and Nordic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway) that are hosted by collaborating organizations during the spring of 2022. For each event, local speakers as well as 3-4 artists will be invited to participate. The seminars will be open to the public (20-25 participants), and also made available in an online format. The 6th and final seminar will be held during the Tallinn Biennial 2022 as a feedback session and also open to the public as part of the biennial program.
Each contact seminar is a one-day event that is divided into two blocks and takes a pedagogical focus to encourage knowledge sharing. The first block will focus on sustainable structural and funding models of large art festivals and how they can have an important impact on society. The second block focuses on the Tallinn Biennial’s 2022 curatorial theme, Animistic Cosmologies. Each contact seminar will work with different topics in order to create diverse discussions and expanded insight to encourage an inclusive and educational platform on cultural production.
Block I
The first block focuses on sustainable structural and funding models of different art festivals and events that have contributed positively to society. We are looking for case studies of different strategies and methods and the proposals could be explored on a local or international level. In preparing the presentations for the 1st block, the experts should consider some of the following subjects:
- Sustainable structural models for creating large cultural events and supporting artworks.
- Funding opportunities for organizations and artists (in Baltics and Nordic countries) as well as how an artist could engage in seeking financial support (funds, investors, sponsors) for executing his/her ideas.
- Communication and cultural mediation. (How to engage the public and media and integrate it within the event).
- The importance of teamwork and problem-solving. (How to plan projects in cooperation with curators, artists and other creative and administrative members).
- Perceiving context. (How to determine and develop new project goals within a defined location and how it can reach local, national and international audiences).
- Short-term and long-term values and effects of large art events on communities (and how to measure them).
- How cultural networks can be strengthened locally, nationally and between neighbouring countries through cultural events.
Block II
The 2nd block focuses on the curatorial theme of the upcoming Tallinn Biennial 2022, Animistic Cosmologies. During this block, there will be presentations by artists participating in the biennial, as well as philosophers, anthropologists and other experts that have insight into the subject of Animism.
Topics of discussion can center around ideas presented in the works of artists in the biennial or expand upon the diverse aspects of animism which includes an appreciation for and awareness of life forms that exist within the inanimate.
Animistic Cosmologies focuses on mystical, metaphysical and otherworldly narratives. Most importantly, the discussions will explore animism’s ancient past, its presence in the Baltic and Nordic countries and how it has evolved and is relevant within contemporary society today.