In the late summer of 2020, IAA Europe starts a series of online debates to bring members and supporters closer together, to discuss what can be the role of artists associations today and especially their (re)union on an international level.
Join the opening debate on 17 September 2020 at 2pm CET via Zoom (link).
17.09.2020, 2.00-3.30pm CET
Welcome and moderation: Andrea Kristek Kozarova (SUVA – Slovak Union of Visual Artists, president of IAA Europe)
Speakers:
- Fabio Tolledi (President of Italian Centre of International Theatre Institute – ITI, Vice president for Europe in the ITI Executive Council and Secretary of the Theater in Conflict Zones Network – TCZN)
- Teemu Mäki (Artists’ Association of Finland/ Finnish National Committee of IAA/ AIAP, board member of IAA Europe)
- Marta Mabel Perez / to be confirmed / (Executive Director of The Puerto Rico Museum of Art, Asociación Puertorriqueña De Artistas Plásticos/ Puerto Rico National Committee of IAA/AIAP, treasurer of IAA/AIAP)
Discussion followed by Q&A with the participants
The 2020 Corona pandemic has catapulted the world into an unprecedent crisis, medically, socially and economically. This situation has also considerably weakened the social and economic status of artists and of cultural operators, who work most often as freelancers or form small-sized enterprises and are especially vulnerable to economic instability. But also larger institutions of the cultural sector suffer of restrictions in public life and easily fear a loss of state support, when economic pressure weighs hard in political decision-making.
In the opening talk in September 2020 Fabio Tolledi, Marta Mabel Perez and Teemu Mäki will discuss how artists and art institutions currently deal with or recover from the crisis in – exemplarily – Italy, Finland and Puerto Rico. How do artists make a living in those countries?
The Corona pandemic did not create the phenomenon, that the arts are largely consumed but artists tend to get paid little for their work. It only reinforced the problem. What measures are governments taking to improve the status of artists and what can be learnt from each other here? How can the foundations for freedom of expression be fostered: having the right to say what you think, but also having the means to actually say it?
In this opening, we will also look into the history of the International Association of Art (AIAP/IAA) and the International Theatre Institute (ITI), both associations in partnership with UNESCO: What is their (common) strategy, what are their current activities? How can we get inspired across the artistic branches, where can we support each other?
The 2nd talk in the IAA Europe Talk series is scheduled for November/December 2020. Register for the IAA Europe Newsletter to be informed about updates.