The symposium Mountains of Butter, Lakes of Wine looks into the effects of changing funding conditions for contemporary art.

Conditions for funding of contemporary art have changed rapidly, but we are rarely aware of exactly how. Lack of knowledge and misconceptions about these issues abound, making constructive discussions difficult. The purpose of this symposium is to find out where the land lies in terms of public and private funding for contemporary art, mainly within a European context, and what repercussions this has on art production itself.

To reserve your place, please send an email to: mountains@konsthallc.se

Date and location: 7-8 November 2009 at Stadsteater Lilla scenen and Konsthall C, Stockholm

Programme:

Saturday 7 November

14:00-14:20 Introduction. Maria Lind and Anna Livion.

14:20-14:45 Shifting Ground: An artist’s unrequested inquiry into European agricultural policies. Performance by Goldin+Senneby

14:45-15:30 Transformed Power Relations. Presentation by Jan Debbaut

15:30-16:00 Coffee break

16:00-16:30 Dry Numbers and Hard Facts. Presentation by Milena Hoegsberg

16:30-17:15 From High Society to Civil Society. Presentation by Dieter Bogner

17:15-18:00 Coffee break and group discussions.

20:00-20:45 Building Institutions On Unstable Grounds. Presentation by Tone Hansen, at Konsthall C

20:45- Buffet and drinks at Konsthall C

Sunday 8 November

11:00-11:45 Last Night I Dreamt That Someone Funded Me. Presentation by Stealth

11:45-12:30 Odile Chenal and Jeanne van Heeswijk in conversation with Maria Lind

12:30-14:30 Discussion and lunch

Moderator: TIRDAD ZOLGHADR (Berlin) Writer/curator. He writes for Frieze and other publications, and is editor-at-large for Cabinet magazine.


SPEAKERS

JAN DEBBAUT (London/Groningen) has been Director of exhibitions at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and of the Tate Collections in London. Currently an independent curator based in London and Professor in Curatorial Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit in Groningen.

TIRDAD ZOLGHADR (Berlin) Writer/curator. He writes for Frieze and other publications, and is editor-at-large for Cabinet magazine.

TONE HANSEN (Oslo) Artist, curator and researcher who has studied the new organisation of cultural life in Oslo.

DIETER BOGNER (Vienna) Museum planner who has worked on the master plans of Vienna’s ’museums quarter’, as well as the Documentahalle and the Wilhelmshöhe castle in Kassel.

GOLDIN+SENNEBY (Stockholm) Artists collaboration presently pursuing an allegorical study of agricultural funding policies.

STEALTH (Rotterdam/Belgrade) Architects/cultural practitioners, currently engaged with the provisional future(s) of urban culture in the Western Balkans.

ODILE CHENAL (Amsterdam) currently a member of the strategic team in charge of "Research & Development" at the European Cultural Foundation.

JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK (Rotterdam) is an artist who creates contexts for social interaction in public spaces. In her work, Van Heeswijk stimulates and develops cultural production and creates new public (meeting) spaces or remodels existing ones. To achieve this, she often works closely with artists, designers, architects, software developers, governments and citizens.

MILENA HOEGSBERG (New York) curator, currently working on exhibitions, research, and arts related projects on a freelance basis.


BURNING ISSUES

What is the proportion of public and private funding in different parts of Europe?

Is public funding disappearing? If so, what can we do beyond lamenting the situation? If not, what is happening to public funding against the backdrop of major change?

What does contemporary private art funding actually look like?

Is art affected by different forms of funding? If so, how?

Is there a correlation between funding and the way in which art is produced and presented?

Is the situation stable? If not, how is it developing? What are the arguments behind these developments?

What visions and fears are there for the future?

What kind of policy supports the existing structures?

What do funders want to promote today? What do they want to prevent?

And not least, what do artists think about this?

What are the most effective funding strategies for supporting contemporary art?

Can art ever be free? / If so, at whose expense would it be?


CONTEXT AND ORGANISERS

This symposium is the fifth and final stage of the project Almostreal, initiated by Igor Dobricic at the European Cultural Foundation. In Almostreal the relation between funder and funded has been a curious and driving mode. It provides an interesting case through which one can research a specific 'economy of power'. This final stage is a project in and of itself at the same time as it reflects on the four previous stages. The fifth stage is initiated by STEALTH (Ana Dzokic and Marc Neelen) and curated by Maria Lind, who in turn has invited the artist collaboration Goldin+Senneby (Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby, both based in Stockholm) to make an art project and the curator Anna Livion, Konsthall C, Stockholm) to co-curate the public event.

Mountains of Butter, Lakes of Wine is supported by:

European Cultural Foundation
Konsthall C
Swedish Arts Council
Stockholm Culture administration