Fair Pay for Artists: Exhibition Payment Symposium 2021

Sharing their experiences, speakers will offer examples of different exhibition payment models in Europe and North America, and examine ways to change policy and legal frameworks both at local and European level. The event will provide concrete tools for advocacy work; implementing fair payment practices and securing the sustainability and recovery of the visual arts industry after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The opening speech will be given by the Minister of Science and Culture of Finland, Antti Kurvinen. Other speakers include Rune Peitersen, Platform BK, Teemu Mäki, The Artists’ Association of Finland, artists Jane & Louise Wilson, Curator and member of W.A.G.E. board Richard Birkett, and a panel discussion with arts and policy makers in Finland;  Henri Terho, Special Advisor, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Sakarias Sokka, Researcher, Cupore – Center for Cultural Policy Research and Hilkka Kemppi, Member, Education and Culture Committee of the Finnish Parliament.

Fair Pay for Artists: Exhibition Payment Symposium 2021 is free to attend. Event registration is open from June 22 – September 5, 2021.

Registering for the event has ended. If you have questions concerning participating, please contact aaf@artists.fi.

Helsinki Central Library Ode’s Maijansali is an accessible space. A live transcript of the keynotes and discussions will be available for attendees in person and online. Please contact aaf@artists.fi if you have any access needs or questions concerning participation in the event.

Please refer to your local government guidelines for information on COVID-19 and abide by local and international rules. Safety information for those attending the Symposium in person, and joining details for those attending online will be sent to registrants via email in advance of the event.

Fair Pay for Artists: Exhibition Payment Symposium 2021 is co-hosted by the International Artists Association Europe (IAA Europe), the Artists’ Association of Finland and a-n The Artists Information Company.

 

Exhibition Payment Symposium

Friday 24 September 2021, Helsinki
Local Finnish time, EEST

10.00–10.15 Welcoming words: Julie Lomax, CEO, a-n The Artists Information Company

10.15–10.30 Opening speech: Antti Kurvinen, Minister of Science and Culture, Finland

10.30–11.15 How will artists get paid in the future? The rising importanceof getting commercial income not only from selling art, but also from presenting art: Teemu Mäki, Chairman, The Artists’ Association of Finland

11.15–12.00 Kunstenaarshonorarium – the exhibition payment model in the Netherlands: Rune Peitersen, Platform BK

12.00–13.00 Lunch

13.00–13.45 Our collaborative working strategies, within the individual institutional, survival model: Jane & Louise Wilson, Newcastle University

13.45–14.00 Break

14.00–14.45 Panel discussion: Implementation of the exhibitionpayment model in Finland as a political process.

Henri Terho, Special Advisor, Arts Promotion Centre Finland
Sakarias Sokka, Researcher, Cupore - Center for Cultural Policy Research
Hilkka Kemppi, MP, Member of the Education and Culture Committee of the Finnish Parliament
Moderator Annukka Vähäsöyrinki, Director, The Artists’ Association of Finland

14.45–15.30 Working Artist and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.): The politics of labour and work in an atomized field: Richard Birkett, Curator and member of W.A.G.E board 

15.30 Closing words

The event is hosted by Laura Boxberg, Head of Communications at Frame Contemporary Art Finland

 

Speakers:

Julie Lomax

Julie Lomax is CEO at a-n The Artists Information Company. She has held previous roles as Director of Development at Liverpool Biennial, Director of Visual Arts for the Australia Council for the Arts, Director of Visual Arts for London at Arts Council England, responsible for over £40m investment in the arts in London. Julie Lomax is Chair of The Showroom, London and Executive Committee member of the Association of Women in the Arts and regularly lectures at Sotheby’s Institute. She originally trained as an artist, graduating from Chelsea School of Art with a degree in Fine Art.

Antti Kurvinen

Antti Kurvinen (born 1986) was appointed Minister of Science and Culture in May 2021. He has served as Member of Parliament since 2015 and chaired the Centre Party Parliamentary Group since 2019 until 2021. He is a lawyer with a Master of Laws degree from the University of Lapland.

Teemu Mäki 

Teemu Mäki is a visual artist, writer, director (theatre/film), researcher and chariman of Artists’ Association of Finland.

Rune Peitersen

Rune Peitersen, born in Denmark in 1971, lives and works in Amsterdam (NL) and Brussels (BE). Peitersen’s work has been exhibited internationally and he has received awards from the Mondriaan Foundation. Next to his artistic practice, Peitersen teaches at the St. Joost Art Academy, regularly lectures on his work and is a co-founder of several artists’ initiatives among which the think-tank Platform Beeldende Kunst (Platform for Visual Arts).

Jane & Louise Wilson

Jane and Louise Wilson have been working as an artist duo in collaboration for over three decades. In 2020 they were appointed the coordinators’ for the 252nd Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the first time it had been coordinated by an artistic duo. Jane and Louise are appointed as joint Professors of Fine Art at Newcastle University, Joint Royal Academicians, and are honorary Visiting Professors of Fine Art at the University of Wolverhampton.

Richard Birkett

Richard Birkett is a curator and writer based in Glasgow, UK. He was Chief Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, from 2017 to 2020, and previously Curator at Artists Space in New York. He has also organised exhibitions at Yale Union in Portland, Oregon; mumok, Vienna; PS1 MoMA, New York; and the National Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina. Across these roles and projects he has worked with artists, writers, filmmakers and performers including Terry Atkinson, Julie Becker, Bernadette Corporation, Chto Delat?, Forensic Architecture, Emma Hedditch, Morag Keil & Georgie Nettell, Chris Kraus, Taylor Le Melle, Laura Poitras, Cameron Rowland, Hito Steyerl and The Wooster Group. He has edited and written for publications including Cosey Complex (with Maria Fusco, 2012), Bernadette Corporation: 2000 Wasted Years (with BC, Jim Fletcher and Stefan Kalmár, 2013) and Tell It To My Heart - Collected by Julie Ault, Volume 2 (with Julie Ault and Martin Beck, 2015). 

Henri Terho

Henri Terho is working as a special advisor in Arts Promotion Centre Finland. Terho is responsible for funding for artists and arts organisations operating in the field of visual arts. He was a member of the task force under the Ministry of Education which was forming the guidelines of artists’ fee structure for art exhibitions in 2021. Terho is also the Chair of Finnish State Art Commission.

Sakarias Sokka 

Sakarias Sokka is a senior researcher in the Center for Cultural Policy Research (CUPORE), where his current work includes projects about art and culture funding and situation of professional artists working in Finland.

Hilkka Kemppi 

Hilkka Kemppi is Member of Parliament of Finland (Centre Party) and Member of Education and Culture Committee. 

Annukka Vähäsöyrinki

Annukka Vähäsöyrinki works as the Director at the Artists' Association of Finland (AAF). As the national advocacy organisation for visual arts, AAF promotes the status and working conditions of over 3000 professional artists and strengthens the role of visual arts in society by actively participating in cultural policy development.