Report Back: Discussion w/Haben und Brauchen in Berlin

Arts & Labor at Haben und Brauchen DiscussionOn June 12, autonomous members of the Arts & Labor Alternative Economies subgroup took part in a presentation and public discussion with members of Haben und Brauchen, a Berlin-based group dedicated to examining the intersection of arts funding and urban development. The two groups came together to share organizational strategies and compare the differing conditions of artistic labor in Berlin and New York. A&L began the presentation with a slide talk summarizing the different arts and culture groups involved in Occupy Wall Street and an overview of the organizational structure of the movement at large; we then spoke about the work of A&L thus far and opened the room to questions. We discussed the space that OWS seemed to create for disparate groups on the left to come together, and learned about the self-critique in Berlin’s art world and the reactions to the political involvement in funding for the arts. Continue reading

Report Back: Arts & Labor in Copenhagen

On June 18th, Arts & Labor participated in the seminar “Working Conditions,” hosted by the Danish artist union UKK (Young Art Workers).

UKK installationThe seminar was part of a two-week exhibition and series of events that UKK hosted as part of their ten-year anniversary at Overgaden. We presented alongside the Precarious Workers Brigade/ Carrot Workers Collective from London, a representative from the research department of the Chilean Ministry of Culture, the Danish art and activist collective Openhagen, and the UKK. Continue reading