By Nis Rømer, chairman, Visual Artists Association (BKF)
The skills of visual artists are valuable, even outside the framework of traditional art life. This is what BKF focuses on in the wake of the Copenhagen Business School store examination of visual artists' financial conditions, which last year documented that far too few artists can make a living from their art.
The notion that artistic work is not 'real' work and therefore should not be remunerated like all other work is unfortunately still alive and well. Perhaps this widespread view is based on the fact that we artists are primarily driven by a strong inner necessity, not by financial motivation. We who work with art know that artistic inquiry is necessary and meaningful, and we create art for art's own sake. We must of course continue to do that. And we must be paid properly for that – both when we exhibit and when we make our expertise available, e.g. consultants or teachers. But that is not enough.
Because although visual artists should of course not be social workers, project managers or HR consultants, we as a professional group need to expand our labor market, so that the skills of visual artists to a greater extent also come into play outside the art world. In this way, more artists will be able to make a living in the profession - and more citizens throughout the country will benefit from everything that art and artists can contribute.
This is the starting point for the conference 'Kunsten's competences', which BKF will hold on 4 April 2019. Here, a large number of presenters will present good examples of exciting interdisciplinary collaborations and art projects outside the museums, art galleries and galleries. It deals with, among other things, about the potential of involving artistic competences in companies' development environments, urban development, municipal projects, on digital platforms and in construction. And about formulating new proposals for why visual artists are valuable both for the private business world and for the public sector.
The conference takes place in Carlsberg Academy, where the association has previously held award parties for artist-run exhibition venues. In the years around 1860, the private villa of the old brewer JC Jacobsen formed the setting for the time's important dialogue between business people, researchers and artists. An exemplary tradition that we hope to inspire today's leaders, scientists, artists and politicians to carry on.
The extensive program with approx. 25 presenters from the arts, business, education, research and politics will be published at the beginning of March on www.bkf.dk. So mark your calendars for April 4!
The conference lands in the middle of the run-up to the next parliamentary election, and thus BKF's work to put the visual arts on the political agenda is intensified. We want to speak up for artists' skills, because our professionalism deserves respect and recognition - also financially. And we have a lot to contribute.
We therefore hope that the conference on 4 April will inspire both politicians, private and public actors to make more use of artists' skills: Think, for example, if municipalities and all state-owned limited companies were legally obliged to set aside 1,5 percentage of the tradesmen's expenses in the construction for artistic decoration. And imagine if the rate was increased to 2 percent. It would create many more tasks for professional visual artists.
It is political-structural measures like this that can effectively expand the labor market for visual artists, of which we need far more. And in the end, of course, it's not just about securing a living for more artists. It is about the fact that we as a society need the perspective of art and artists. Both because art fundamentally reminds us of who we are and why we live. But also because we artists, when we engage in dialogue with other professional groups, can help create concrete new solutions to many of the large, urgent societal tasks that must be solved in the coming years.
– the manager is included in the trade journal BILLEDKUNSTNEREN, March 2019.