Art Space Unlimited

Five European non-profit art organizations have teamed up to learn from each other and find new ways to open up to audiences with limited access to institutionalized culture. Initiated by La Escocesa (Barcelona, Spain), OFF-Biennale Budapest (Hungary), < rotor > (Graz, Austria), Shtatëmbëdhjetë / Foundation 17 (Pristina, Kosovo), and tranzit.cz / Biennale Matter of Art (Prague, Czech Republic), the project Art Space Unlimited builds upon the individual artistic and educational efforts of these institutions, providing space for local communities to gain resilience through participation in politically engaged exhibition programming and residencies. The art spaces involved will build shared knowledge and organize public events centered around the mediation of art. The project will help these institutions to become spaces relevant for an audience with limited access to institutionalized contemporary art and develop strategies which will be relevant across Europe. The project will culminate in a book that will be made available to cultural organizers and curators in six languages.

While shaped by their local cultures, languages, and cultural policies, each of the five organizations employs different formats and strategies to engage with audiences as well as artists and the professional public, ranging from year-long exhibition programs and discursive events to concentrated biennial exhibitions to regular artistic residencies. The activities planned will allow them to expand their regular programming, helping the institutions to develop mediation programs based on empathy, participation, and mutual understanding.