Autonomy and artist-run space
The Successful Artist? roundtable
Saturday 23 June 2018 11am - 12.30pm
The Wolfson British Academy Room, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
Free, booking required.
Join members of Auto Italia South East, Marianne Forrest and Ed Gillman, in exploring ideas of autonomous artist-led spaces and asking what autonomy can look like – and what its terms are – for artists working in London today.
Auto Italia is an artist-run organisation that commissions and produces new work, collaborating directly with emerging artists to provide a framework for developing alternative approaches to production and exhibition formats. Auto Italia was founded in 2007 by a group of fine art graduates as a response to an absence of accessible space to show work and a desire to create a peer-led mode of working. Intending to work outside of the art market, the project has experimented with ideas of autonomous collaborative space and the politics of self-organisation.
From 2007-2014, Auto Italia worked out of a series of donated spaces. They collaborated with a number of housing associations in order to secure space in London from which to work. Questioning what it means to occupy these spaces, Auto Italia has always sought to open up the conversation around the politics of occupation and the impact of opening up cultural space in London. The Auto Italia network is not restricted to artists, but involves a much wider creative community involving writers, designers and activists.
This event invites the audience to participate in a roundtable discussion led by Auto Italia where we will collectively discuss what the current landscape looks like for artist-led organising, what form possibilities for autonomous production could take, and how collaborative practice might offer alternative modes for operating both inside and outside of the London art market.
We encourage ticket holders to bring thoughts and perspectives to share with others and generate an informed debate with invited speakers.
Admission is on a first-come-first-served basis for those with tickets. We would recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before the start time to avoid disappointment.
The Successful Artist? programme is proudly supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of the new RA Collections programme.