Conference on Independent Art Institutions
June 8–9, 2019
Keysers gate 1
0165 Oslo
Norway
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday 12–5pm,
Thursday 12–7pm
T +47 22 19 50 50
info@uks.no
Conference Venue: Kunstnernes Hus Kino, Oslo
Tickets: To reserve, please write tickets [at] uks.no*
Concluding its Spring program, on June 8–9, UKS presents the large-scale international conference on independent art institutions—Bande à part—conceptualized by UKS Director and co-founder of PRAXES Center for Contemporary Art, Rhea Dall, in collaboration with co-founder of Lulu, Chris Sharp, and founder of P!, Prem Krishnamurthy.
The conference discusses the reasons, means, and rationales of a range of recent independent institutions, which often have a small economy yet create a considerable impact within their respective art scenes and the art world at large. Through a two-day convention, a close look will be taken at how small- to mid-scale models depart, each in a different way, from the traditional formats of the institutional white cube. The focus revolves around the operation of alternative mechanisms, instigating unconventional hierarchies between artwork, artist, audience, institution—between participants and authors, agents and aliens.
Three keynotes—Chris Kraus, writer, filmmaker, and founder of the Native Agents imprint at Semiotext(e), New York; Lars Bang Larsen, curator at Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and Christine Tohme, founder of Ashkal Alwan, Beirut—consider the value of alternative institutional models vis-à-vis a default organizational infrastructure, from opening hours to art world newspeak.
The featured institutions include: 1857, Oslo (Steffen Håndlykken & Stian Eide Kluge); The Artist’s Institute, New York (Anthony Huberman); Asakusa, Tokyo (Koichiro Osaka); castillo/corrales—Paraguay, Paris (Thomas Boutoux); Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (Luís Silva & João Mourão); Kunstverein, Amsterdam (Yana Foqué); Louise Dany, Oslo (Ina Hagen & Daisuke Kosugi); Lulu, Mexico City (Chris Sharp); New Theater, Berlin (Calla Henkel); P!, New York/Berlin (Prem Krishnamurthy); Pivô, São Paulo (Fernanda Brenner); PRAXES Center for Contemporary Art, Berlin (Rhea Dall & Kristine Siegel); Primer, Copenhagen (David Hilmer Rex); RAW Material Company, Dakar (Dulcie Abrahams Altass); Signal – Center for Contemporary Art, Malmö (Elena Tzotzi); and Sørfinnset skole/ the nord land, Gildeskål (Geir Tore Holm & Søssa Jørgensen).
Bande à part will be followed by a publication reflecting on whether, why, and, in particular, how other toolboxes and institutional measures might matter today. The book will contain voices from the above-mentioned institutions, while also including those of Jenny Jaskey (The Artist’s Institute), Maxine Kopsa (Kunstverein), Koyo Kouoh (RAW Material Company), Max Pitegoff (New Theater), and other contributors.
The conference concludes the UKS talk series on Artists’ Institutions. It is made possible with the generous support of Arts Council of Norway, Fritt Ord, and Nordic Culture Fond. Moreover, it is supported by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York and the collaborators Kunstnernes Hus and OCA Office for Contemporary Art Norway.
*NB: Tickets are limited and sold on a first-come first-served basis.
