03 Feb 2016

Open Call: ArtLeaks Gazette No.4 // Demanding Justice: Social Rights and Radical Art Practices

ArtLeaks Gazette No. 4

Demanding Justice: Social Rights and Radical Art Practices

Today, art workers around the world are struggling to contextualize their practice in a period marked by human rights, labor, and anti-war campaigns, on the background of an ever violent and oppressive global climate. They are trying to reconcile their artworks, texts, exhibitions, projects with a desire to act politically in line with these campaigns by blurring the lines between artistic, non-artistic and political activist types of work. Their strategies have taken the form of nonviolent actions directed at the museum and gallery system, the art market and even at local governments.

The fourth edition of the ArtLeaks Gazette will be focused on theorizing, analyzing and supporting art workers' campaigns, and with regards to their social (civil, economic and legal) rights, and demands for an increase in art institutions' responsibilities in upholding these rights. This responsibilities encompass struggles related to representing art workers' projects with integrity, treating their profession fairly and with respect, and remaining open to debates with art workers. While not all art workers' campaigns are united by the same specific goals, as contexts and needs differ, they include increasing the representation of art workers' voices in art institutions and at the state level.

In addition to analyzing concrete practices and campaigns, this issue will engage theoretically with relevant issues related to truth, ethics, social rights, economic democracy, jurisdictions, legislatures and competences, in order to develop a critique of the neoliberal formats that are tremendously spreading across the globe. As the aforementioned issues could be framed differently in various socio-economic and political contexts, we are looking for texts which are able to put in question neoliberal realities and austerity regimes, considering not only overall conditions in the artworld but also local specificities.

We welcome contributions in a variety of narrative forms, from articles, commentaries, and glossary entries, to posters and drawings. The deadline for entries is the 4th of April, 2016. Contributions should be delivered in English, or as an exemption in other languages after negotiations with the editorial council. The editorial council of ArtLeaks takes responsibility for communicating with all authors during the editorial process.

Please contact us with any questions, comments, and submit materials to: artsleaks@gmail.com.

The on-line gazette will be published in English under the Creative Commons attribution noncommercial-share alike and its materials will be offered for translation in any languages to any interested parts.

Limited printed copies will be available. We encourage anyone who would like to support us to print smaller print runs of ALG#4. We will make several PDF formats of the ALG to meet various digital needs, as well as an epub edition. We encourage contributors to be an active part of spreading the ALG by hosting it on their site and forwarding it on to their networks.

Editors: Corina L. Apostol, Vladan Jeremic, Katja Praznik, Airi Triisberg


Highlights of the public presentations and discussions around previous issues of the ALG this year.

We wish all our readers, friends, supporters etc. happy holidays and all the best in 2016!