13/06/25 - 15/06/25| TALK
an other world: thinking through artist run space

Talk and audio archive installation as part of Juxtapose Art Fair - Aarhus, Denmark 2025.

What is the current state of artist-run space in our contemporary social, political and economic climate? How can the artist-run resist institutional frameworks of art production and presentation? And what alternative models can artist-run spaces propose that benefit the interests and needs of artists, audiences and the communities such spaces create?

The audio archive of artist talks at an other world was installed within a wider exhibition of works by Danish artist duo iovermorgen (iOM) at Juxtapose Art Fair. iOM previously exhibited at an other world upon an invitation to develop a site specific work titled ’Scraps, trash, treasures’ in May 2024. iovermorgen is an Aarhus based arts initiative who facilitate the work of others alongside developing artistic work as a duo. For the exhibition, iOM had salvaged scrap material from the surrounding Rotterdam neighbourhood to make an intervention on the facade of the building. At Juxtapose, iOM had then re-staged this otherwise highly site specific work, echoing the constellation of the original intervention on our building’s facade in Rotterdam. The work allowed the public to encounter an experimental preservation of the building and the neighbourhood, playing with the rhythm, dimensions, and relationships between its architectural elements. an other world’s audio archive was presented as part of this setting and visitors could spend time listening to it within the installation.

In extension of the ideas explored in iOM’s work, an other world gave a talk asking how artists and artist-run spaces operate within a precarious, salvage economy. Both an other world and iovermorgen ran spaces which have now closed due to planned gentrification projects. This is a common narrative of many artist-run collectives who occupy temporary space due to limited financial capacity, the rise of corporate property investment and the instability of available funding. The talk critically examined forms of institutional support. Using their experience of running a space as well as a range of references, an other world discussed how grassroots artist’s initiatives are currently valued within the wider framework of art spaces and institutions. The talk gave a critical reflection of new funding policies, as state funding bodies push artist-run spaces towards institutional ways of working and accountability. Next to that, an other world showed visual material from their exhibition programme and talked about the qualities of collaborating as a collective and working closely with artists on realising exhibitions and events.

Supported by CBK Rotterdam.

Photos Jake Caleb and Stefan Engelbrecht Nielsen

>>>Listen to the talk below<<<