3rd ArtLeaks Working Assembly - Belgrade

Cultural Center REX, Jevrejska 16, Belgrade, Serbia
Friday, 31st of August, 7pm, 2012

Participants: Corina L. Apostol, Maja Ciric, Pavle Cosic / KORNET, Nikola Radic Lucati, Vladan Jeremic, Selman Trtovac, Vesna Milosavljevic / SEEcult.org, Stefan Tiron, Noa Treister, The Bureau of Melodramatic Research, Marica Radojcic, Rena Rädle.
The 3rd ArtLeaks Working Assembly will be facilitated by Corina Apostol, The Bureau of Melodramatic Research, Stefan Tiron and Vladan Jeremic.

3rd ArtLeaks Working Assembly - Belgrade

3rd ArtLeaks Working Assembly - Belgrade
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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.  Our goal is to create a space where one could engage directly with actual conditions of cultural work both locally and 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.

Through direct exposure, educational initiatives and a forthcoming on-line publication, we seek to empower like-minded people to stand together against the intense exploitation of cultural labor, all forms of repression, the enclosure of public space and the instrumentalization of radical culture under the umbrella of corporations. We strongly believe that issues of censorship and abuse cannot be divorced from specific politico-economic contexts and further, that they should be raised in connection with new forms of class consciousness in the artistic field in particular, and the cultural field more generally.

Building on our previous experience organizing an ArtLeaks Working Assemblies in Berlin in June 2012 and Moscow in July 2012, we would like to invite you to a similar working-group format that allows direct engagement with the public at the Cultural Center REX in Belgrade.

An outcome of our previous working assemblies was the establishment of alliances with international groups such W.A.G.E.(NYC) , Occupy Museums (NYC), Arts & Labor(NYC), Haben und Brauchen (Berlin), the Precarious Workers Brigade(London), The May Congress of Creative Workers(Moscow), groups whose mission is to formulate direct actions and raise awareness in relation to the above mentioned urgencies and problems. It is our strong belief is that only such internationally coordinated alliances could not only denounce exploitation and censorship in contemporary art and culture, but also 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 our Belgrade assembly, our goals for further developments are :
(1) To reach new constituencies from the cultural, social, and political milieu of Belgrade, and  invite them to join our struggles
(2) To research the local sociopolitical context in which cultural workers are exploited in Belgrade, Serbia in particular and the Balkans generally; to find out about local cases of abuse, corruption and exploitation
(3) To receive critique regarding the manners in which ArtLeaks is currently functioning and may be improved further
(4) To collectively formulate concrete working methodologies and actions that our cultural workers' alliances may incorporate into their development.

As for working topics for our assembly, we suggest: formulating narratives of exposure, drafting ethical guidelines, developing terminology to address abuse and exploitation, strategies of constituting alliances.

Report of ArtLeaks' Second Public Assembly, Moscow, July 15th 2012
http://art-leaks.org/2012/07/27/report-of-artleaks-second-public-assembly-moscow-july-15th-2012/

Report of ArtLeaks' First Public Assembly and Workshop, Berlin Jun 3-4th 2012
http://art-leaks.org/2012/07/02/report-of-artleaks-first-public-assembly-and-workshop-berlin-june-3-4-2012/

Link to the annoucement on our page:
http://art-leaks.org/2012/08/25/schedule-of-the-3rd-artleaks-working-assembly-in-belgrade/

Facebook event page.

Schedule
31st of August 2012

- 13:00-17:00h ArtLeaks internal meeting at REX (all participants are invited to join)

- 19:00-22:30 ArtLeaks Assembly at the Cultural Center REX, Jevrejska 16 (open to the public)

Program:

- 19:00-19:45 Presentation of the ArtLeaks platform

Introducing ArtLeaks: on the urgency of the project, its goals, methodologies, values; although ArtLeaks has core members, we wish to expand the project and invite other people to join us
Presentation of 3-4 case-studies, ArtLeaks initiatives (no fee statement, workshops, assemblies, forthcoming journal), facilitators: Corina L. Apostol,  Vladan Jeremi?, ?tefan Tiron andThe Bureau of Melodramatic Research

- 19:45-20:15 Discussion among the participants : Corina L. Apostol, ?tefan Tiron, The Bureau of Melodramatic Research, Vladan Jeremi?, Rena Raedle, Selman Trtovac,Vesna Milosavljevi? /SEEcult.org, Maja ?iri?, Nikola Radi? Lucati, Noa Treister,Pavle ?osi? /KORNET
Summarizing some important points of debate from previous assemblies, and opening up discussion points: formulating narratives of exposure, drafting ethical guidelines, developing terminology to address abuse and exploitation, strategies of constituting alliances.
Comments, criticism, suggestions about further improvement of ArtLeaks.

- 20:15-20:45 Break: Drinks and refreshments

- 20:45-21:55 Presentation of the local context and local case studies, every participant has 10 mins to contribute. Participants: Selman Trtovac, Vesna Milosavljevic, Maja Ciric,Nikola Radic Lucati, Noa Treister, Pavle Cosic

- 21:55-22:30 Discussion among the participants, local context and similar activities/projects

This event is not sponsored by any foundation and it is realized with  individual resources of the members and participants of the ArtLeaks. Special thanks to Cultural Center REX for the generous opportunity to have our assembly event in their space on the 31st of August 2012.

http://art-leaks.org

Source:
http://art-leaks.org/2012/08/01/3rd-artleaks-working-assembly-in-belgrade-august-31st-2012/

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