Friday, November 7th 2025: Talk & Discussion with Q & A, 5:00 – 7:00pm (CET)
Location: Online (link below)
*Event Language: English
*The event is free of admission – no sign-up is necessary
UKK is pleased to welcome you to Artistic Organization and Democratic Contexts – a digital event featuring the art interest organizations The Art Workers Union MDPS (Lithuania) and Kiila (Finland) hosted by UKK’s Democracy and Citizenship working group.
Friday, November 7th 2025: Talk & Discussion with Q & A, 5:00 – 7:00pm (CET)
Location: Online (link below)
*Event Language: English
*The event is free of admission – no sign-up is necessary
UKK is pleased to welcome you to Artistic Organization and Democratic Contexts – a digital event featuring the art interest organizations The Art Workers Union MDPS (Lithuania) and Kiila (Finland) hosted by UKK’s Democracy and Citizenship working group.
In this online exchange, UKK invites different art organizations to introduce their organization, advocacy practice, and discuss how their work (in)directly facilitates and enacts democratic processes and practices within the (art) world. By unfolding MDPS’s founding and advocacy work in the face of a changing cultural political climate in Lithuania as as well as Kiila’s advocacy work as the oldest functioning non-aligned leftist writers’ and artists’ association in Finland, UKK is seeking to learn from and exchange with organizations that are influencing ameliorative changes within their own contexts. UKK will also discuss their own organizational development and put focus on the role of art advocacy in relation to democratic principles and contexts in Denmark.
During the exchange, UKK’s is seeking to further understand art organizational and advocacy work across contexts in relationship to democratic practices and values. How do art organizations create a greater voice and more inclusive policy for artists, curators, and art workers? What strategies are most effective? How can art interest organizations work more democratically themselves? How does art and artistic advocacy fit into and encourage democratic principles across society? The discussion will describe the advocacy of art organizations across borders, but also discuss how their work is implemented and contextualize organizational strategies – as greater understanding of art’s role in creating a more democratic (art) world is increasingly important globally.
The event will feature Vaida Stephanoviaté (The Art Workers Union – MDPS co-founder), Nadiye Koçak (Kiila board member) and will be hosted by UKK’s Democracy and Citizenship working group consisting of Scott William Raby and Marie Wengler (UKK).
This is a part of UKK’s second iteration of the Urgent Matters program, which brings attention, new voices, and diverse perspectives around topics that are politically pressing in the art sector and more broadly. The primary focus is on highlighting innovative, experimental, and critical approaches to bridge gaps in understanding, but also create new networks in relation to different artistic (and social) crises. The events will take place throughout Denmark and/or online in 2025.
This is kindly supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.
Links:
Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84363375860?pwd=zbuBBCi1MK8jwpMZ4CneWC1bYBeSq3.1
MDPS (Art Workers Union):
https://g1ps.lt/en/art-workers
Kiila:
https://www.instagram.com/kiila_finland/?hl=en
UKK:
https://ukk.dk/en