ArtLeaks Public Discussion at the 9th Annual Historical Materialism Conference, London, November 7th, 2012
ArtLeaks invites you to a public discussion with the occasion of the 9th Historical Materialism conference, “Weighs Like a Nightmare” in Central London. Our event will take place on Wednesday, November 7th from 7 -10 PM in the Khalili Lecture Theatre at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London. More information in the announcement below. Please help us spread the word!
Presentation of the international platform ArtLeaks and on the urgency of launching the ArtLeaks Gazette
Part of the 9th Annual Historical Materialism Conference ‘Weighs Like a Nightmare’, London, November 7th-12th, 2012
Khalili Lecture Theatre
SOAS, University of London (the School of Oriental and African Studies)
7th of November 2012
ArtLeaks is an international platform for cultural workers where instances of abuse, corruption and exploitation are exposed and submitted for public inquiry. ArtLeaks stresses the urgent need to seriously revise these workers’ relationship with institutions, networks and economies involved with the production and consumption of art and culture. The goal of ArtLeaks is to create a space where one could engage directly with actual conditions of cultural work internationally – conditions that affect those working in cultural production as well as those from traditionally creative fields. Furthermore, ArtLeaks is developing in the direction of creating transversal alliances between local activist and cultural workers groups, through which we may collectively tackle situation of repression and inequality.
While building on previous models that emerged in the highly politicized milieus of the 1970s and 1980s, such as the institutional critique practice of left-wing collectives like Art Workers’ Coalition(AWC), The Guerrilla Art Action Group (GAAG), Art & Language, Political Art Documentation/ Distribution (PAD/D), Group Material to name just a few, ArtLeaks seeks to expand the scope of these historical precedents towards international geo-political engagement. One of the outcome of ArtLeaks working assemblies and workshops was the establishment of alliances with international groups such as: W.A.G.E.(NYC), Occupy Museums (NYC), Arts & Labor (NYC), Haben und Brauchen (Berlin), the Precarious Workers Brigade (London), Carrotworkers’ Collective (London), Critical Practice (London), The May Congress of Creative Workers(Moscow). It is our strong belief is that only an internationally coordinated movement would be able to expose and denounce exploitation and censorship in contemporary culture, and collectively imagine new types of organizational articulations which would respond to the needs and desires of political subjects constituted at the crossing points of the current economic, politic and cultural shifts.
For the 2012 Historical Materialism Conference, members of ArtLeaks will present the outcome of their previous working assemblies which took place this year in Berlin, Moscow and Belgrade and bring up for discussion the urgent need to establish ArtLeaks Gazette (forthcoming 2013). This regular, on-line publication aims to be a tool for empowerment in the face of the systemic abuse of cultural workers’ basic labor rights, repression or even blatant censorship, and the growing corporatization of culture that we face today.
Facilitators: Corina L. Apostol & Vlad Morariu with Vladan Jeremić & Dmitry Vilensky (in heart and mind)
More about the ArtLeaks Gazette: https://art-leaks.org/artleaks-gazette/
More about Historical Materialism : http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/about-us
ArtLeaks 