Shades of Agency

Collaborative, socially engaged arts redistribute the agency of art-making among artists, participants and institutional contexts. In this event we will address the complex negotiations involved in the production and presentation of collaborative projects.

What types of roles are framed for the participants of collaborative projects? What is the nature and degree of influence they can exert on the process? How do museums, galleries and other institutions affect the projects they commission?

What kinds of social practices and contracts should guide the collective authorship, and how to respond to potential conflicts of interest? How should the artist navigate the contexts and affects involved in the creation of a collaborative piece?

The event format is a 'cafe discussion' with short provocations from invited speakers and screenings.

Shades of Agency was the public event of the Helsinki 'staging post' within the CAPP network. The 3-day event also included collaborative sessions between artists and partners at HIAP Suomenlinna and in Maunula.