How can artists’ associations serve as spaces for self-organized, solidarity-based political will-formation while also acting as partners for socially engaged art practices?

At the same time, how do the role and structure of artists’ associations in cultural policy differ from those of artistic initiatives and practices?

Together with lecturer Dr. Yvette Mutumba and students from the Institute for Art in Context at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), Christine Düwel and Doris Weinberger, as IGBK project leads, explored these questions in a seminar.

Artists’ associations as project partners for socially engaged art practices and as spaces for self-organised, solidaristic political will-formation

The seminar started out from the project “Opening Space | Promoting Encounters”, which addresses the challenges faced by interdisciplinary and locally rooted art initiatives in various European countries. Especially in times of increasing social polarization, these initiatives are gaining in importance—yet they often face pressure to justify their existence. The exchange within the seminar also helped to broaden the project’s reach and communication.

Discussions centred on the scope for action opened up by socially engaged art practices and on how artistic initiatives can develop concrete strategies for strengthening civil society resilience in such contexts. Participants reflected together on existing models and practices, including interviews conducted as part of “Opening Space | Promoting Encounters”. Based on this, interview concepts were developed, which students then used to conduct their own interviews with initiatives they had researched.

An important component of the seminar was the exchange with European initiatives and additional IGBK representatives. This included a closer look at how associations function and make decisions: How is political will-formation developed within such structures? What differences exist across Europe? For example, one session included artists from the United Kingdom and Sweden, as well as representatives of IAA Europe.

Finally, the seminar also addressed the cultural policy frameworks within which artists’ associations operate, including access to funding structures and NGOs, legal conditions, and questions of participation.