PARTICIPATORY IMAGINARIES FOR REST AND THE FUTURE OF RETIREMENT is a one-day assembly in public space focusing on interrogating the current retirement policies for Norway’s artists. In particular for non-EU/EEA artists living and working in the country as professionals who lack the right to a ‘patchwork economy’—that is the impossibility of having multiple and diverse sources of income beyond the arts’ economies. Moreover, as precarious self-employed labor is already an inherent condition of the field, we see how old and new struggles blend and help exacerbate economic injustice and immigration uncertainty.

Recent numbers show that closer to 50% of all artists in Norway are not covered by any kind of pension scheme, while most in the remaining group have nonoptimal pension savings. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic’s side effects in the form of low-income levels, inaccessibility to social assistance, and the cultural deficit in public life have worsened the artists’ economies. When many have incomes that are so low that they can not prioritize setting aside money for social security and a retirement fund. In response, we invite artists to envision together alternative and self-managed retirement models for the future.

Tackling current and real issues for artists’ communities is urgent, however not enough in an increasingly jeopardizing future. We must create new protocols of economic solidarity to provide long-term alternatives to secure livelihoods and artistic practices. Furthermore, we need to question bureaucratic regimes’ high-performance imposition upon artists and refuse institutionalized exhaustion. Is it even possible to rest when our livelihood depends on our hyper-productivity in the form of capital? Here ‘rest’, slowing down, and napping might become an early self-given retirement benefit, and a form of resistance.

The Assembly is produced by Verdensrommet working group:

Concept development, Rodrigo Ghattas

Production assistant, Viviana Cárdenas

[PROGRAMME]
Sunday 15th August (17.00 – 20.00)

Eidsvoll plass (Stortinget), Oslo

Grace period (latecomers and social)

Duration 17.00 – 17.10 (10 min)

Manifesto and keynote on current retirement scheme for artists in Norway (speaker TBA)

Duration: 17.10 – 17.40 (30 min)

Break + “Only Connect 2021: Jodi Rose – Signal on the Silver Bridge”

Duration: 17.40 – 17.55 (15 min)

Creative Exchange & Cultural Economies for artist networks
Participatory workshop led by Jodi Rose on alternatives and imaginaries for the future of retirement for artists

Duration: 17.55 – 18.55 (60 min)

Dinner by Tunco

Duration: 18.55 – 19.30 (35 min)

Nap session by Karina Sletten

On rest and counter-productivity

Duration: 19.30 – 20.00 (30 min)

End of the Assembly

[BIOS]

Jodi Rose produces sonic and conceptual interventions in diverse environments, working in the context of urban spaces, sound, philosophy, media, performance and technology. Tracing her engagement with local cultural practitioners and communities, she co-creates unique ephemeral, performance, improvisation and musical works adapted to the conditions of each specific location and concept. Her works have been produced, broadcast, exhibited and performed internationally.

www.singingbridges.net

Karina Sletten (b.1993 Bergen) is an interdisciplinary artist working with sounds and landscapes. Employing a vast perspective in how to look at, listen to and amplify the spaces and sites she researches.

www.soundcloud.com/karinasletten

Rodrigo Ghattas (b.1989. Lima, Peru) is a Peruvian-Palestinian artist and ‘slow-down’ activist based in Gran, Norway.  Ghattas is also a vernacular socialist with an artistic exploration at the intersection between post-capitalist behavior, solidarity networks, performativity theories, and decentralized art futures.

www.rodrigoghattas.art

Verdensrommet is an artist-powered mutual support network by and for immigrant creative professionals based in Norway. We stand for fair immigration policies, better living and working conditions, and encourage new imaginations for the future of cultural work.
www.verdensrommet.network

15th august 17 -20h

Stortinget, Oslo