Checkpoint Helsinki>>We are Open! -seminar

International seminar in the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
We are Open! -seminar

Organising openness in artistic, curatorial and institutional practices
29th–30th August 2013

Checkpoint Helsinki and Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma organise a two-day seminar to explore the concept and practices of openness in producing and mediating contemporary art. Openness is a central concept according to which Checkpoint Helsinki, Kiasma and many other organisations function and is frequently used to describe how we should relate to each other. We are Open! -seminar will provide ideas about how openness can be applied in the work of artists, curators and institutions.

The invited speakers are:
Aaron Levy (director, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, USA)
Juha Huuskonen (independent curator, Helsinki)
Can Gülcü and Katharina Morawek (directors, artistic and executive team, Shedhalle, Zürich)
Matteo Lucchetti (independent curator, Brussels)
Oliver Marchart (political and cultural theorist, Vienna)
Dana Yahalomi (artist, Public Movement, Tel Aviv)
Ganzeer (artist, Egypt, part of On the Move: Political Strategies in Art programme of HIAP)

On Thursday the 29th of August the invited artists and curators present their talks in three thematic sessions. The topic of openness is discussed within the frameworks of knowledge production, curating, collaborative working methods, public space and audience. Opening speech will be at 10:30 and the programme at Kiasma will finish at 17:00. After the talks everyone is invited to a casual evening gathering at 19:00 in Gallery Augusta (Suomenlinna).

On the second day, Friday the 30th of August, the audience and the speakers have a possibility to delve into the themes of the first day in the form of a facilitated open space workshop and find ways to apply the topics of the first day to their own practices and needs. The workshop will start at 10:00 and finish at 16:00. In June 2012 Checkpoint Helsinki organised a previous open space workshop, where more than a hundred art professionals discussed the needs of the art field and the activities of Checkpoint Helsinki. Checkpoint Helsinki aims to continue working as a platform for artists, curators and other art professionals to discuss and network.

The seminar is free of charge, but the seating is limited. Enrolment by 22nd of August and further information: coordinator Laura Kokkonen, seminar@checkpointhelsinki.fi, tel. +358 40 480 4366.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/509029362499726/

Checkpoint Helsinki is a new, non-profit art organisation that commissions and produces artworks and projects by emerging international artists. We are Open! seminar, organised in collaboration with Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, is part of the pilot year programme of Checkpoint Helsinki. Checkpoint Helsinki's first commission is titled Chimney Project and it can be seen in the city space during the Helsinki Festival, during the last week of August.

www.checkpointhelsinki.fi/en