Various Artists

Subsidiewinkel - Magasin Subventionné  

Various Artists, Subsidiewinkel - Magasin Subventionné, 2021.

subTrunk LIVE STREAM: 8 May 9am to 5pm.

Subsidiewinkel / Magasin Subventionné is a project by Various Artists on the Art of Application Writing. During three weeks people can visit the Subsidies Shop to get advice on (and/or buy) Funding, Grants, Awards, Competitions, Art Prizes, Festivals, Publications, Exhibition Calls, Surveys, Advertising, NFTs and Phds, and free coffee.

An important theme for Various Artists has become the position of the artist in the arts field. Since a few decades the gap between creator and consumer/receiver/spectator of art has been widening. This trend runs parallel to an evolution towards a decreasing investment by society in the artist. On the one hand, the public expects more and larger productions. On the other hand, the consumption of art and culture is becoming increasingly short-lived. Excessive administrative regulations and the thirst for large-scale productions stand in contrast to the constant savings. Above all, it leads to a continuous loss of budget for artists.

Subsidiewinkel / Magasin Subventionné investigates the economic sustainability of art practice. What if writing applications (for private and public support) becomes the work of art itself? What if the passing on of information and knowledge about this field - which is taken over by semantics and is no longer about the actual art - is taken back by the artist? Is this a way in which the money will finally flow to the artists?

Subsidiewinkel / Magasin Subventionné wants to confront the public and private services that decide whether a work may be made or not with the reality of the work. Do ideas have to be constantly adapted or rewritten until they fit into a picture painted by an institution that shows less and less interest in small-scale and experimental culture?

While they kept the shop open, Various Artists worked on 66 applications to be submitted to the Flemish government on 15 September. 

QUESTIONNAIRE SUBVENTIONNÉ (anonyme)

SUBSIDISED SURVEY (anonymous)

GESUBSIDIEERDE ENQUÊTE (anoniem)

by Clémence Carel, Julia Droga & Various Artists.