Dark Matter: Art Economy For Our Times

DARK MATTER: ART ECONOMIES IN OUR TIME


25 November 2026, 09:00–17:15

Dinner on 25 November, 17:30–20:00

26 November 2026, 09:00–15:45

Everything is free!

A symposium by visual artists Madeleine Park and Marianne Heier.

How do we safeguard artistic autonomy and freedom of expression in an increasingly market-driven art field? How can resistance be organised and alienation be counteracted?

Norwegian art life still rests on the economic model that was developed and fought for through Kunstneraksjon 74 (Artists’ Action 74). The famous Three-Point Demand of 1974 sets out a complete production economy for Norwegian artists, one that compensates for class differences, market conditions and periods of lower production, while ensuring that the public at large has access to art. Since the 1970s and the Three-Point Demand, a right-wing wave has swept across the country and washed away much of the foundation on which that demand was built.

Trust in the public sector has been severely weakened, and market liberalism has tightened its grip on Norwegian culture, politics and society. The support schemes that artists have been able to rely on are being dismantled at an alarming pace, while class divisions within the art field are growing. Drawing on the experiences of contributors from the Norwegian, Nordic and international art fields, Dark Matter examines the shifts in power between the private and public sectors in the wake of many years of neoliberal, market-oriented cultural policy.

Artistic freedom is a precondition for genuine freedom of expression. When the independent art field is weakened, democracy is threatened.

The event is free and open to all, but registration is required.

Full programme to follow.

Vegan lunch and dinner will be provided.

A warm welcome to all!

PROGRAMME

Wednesday 25 November, 09:00–17:15

Speakers: Ragnhild Aamås, Gregory Sholette, Mariken Lauvstad, Kuba Szreder and Joshua Schwebel, moderated by Abirami Logendran

Dinner, 17:30–20:00

Thursday 26 November, 09:00–17:00

Speakers: Kim West, Rana Issa, Thomas Røkås, Maximilian Thiel and Constanza Mendoza, Marianne Heier and Madeleine Park, moderated by Una Gjerde Mathiesen

PARTICIPANTS

Abirami Logendran (NO) is an artist, curator and artistic director of Fotogalleriet Oslo.

Una Gjerde Mathiesen (NO) is a curator and director of Billedkunstnerne i Oslo (BO).

Ragnhild Aamås (NO) is an artist and chair of the board of UKS.

Gregory Sholette (US) is an artist, writer, educator, activist and professor of sculpture and social practice at the City University of New York. The symposium takes its title from Sholette’s 2010 book Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture. His new book The Radical Unpresent: Cultural Resistance in a Fractured World (MIT Press) was published in October 2026.

Mariken Lauvstad (NO) is a theatre critic and writer whose work appears in Klassekampen, among others. Her latest book is Kampen om kunsten – et forsvar for kulturens rolle i demokratiet (The Battle for Art: A Defence of Culture’s Role in Democracy, 2025).

Kuba Szreder (PL) is a researcher and curator. He collaborates with artists’ organisations, collectives, research networks and institutions across Europe, and researches artistic working conditions, new institutional models, self-organisation and post-artistic practice.

Joshua Schwebel (CA) is an artist. His work The Employee (2020/21) was a performative project and publication that responded to the financial and staffing conditions at the artist-run Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario.

Kim West (SE) is a critic and researcher. He is co-author of Kritik av konstens frihet – en motrapport (A Critique of the Freedom of Art: A Counter-Report, 2022). West is currently one of the curators of the exhibition De besegrade – Motståndets estetik (The Defeated: The Aesthetics of Resistance) at Bonnier Konsthall in Stockholm.

Rana Issa (NO/PS/LB) is a writer, cultural producer and artistic director of Masahat, an association for Arabic art and culture in exile. She works at the intersection of activism and academia.

Thomas Røkås (NO) is head of policy and co-founder of ALM – Centre for Economic Policy, and a member of Rethinking Economics Oslo.

Maximilian Thiel (DE) and Constanza Mendoza (CL) are artists with extensive experience of organised political solidarity work in the art field, both in Germany and internationally. Both have been active in BBK Berlin.

Dark Matter is supported by KORO – Public Art Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation, Arts Council Norway and Letterstedtska Föreningen. The symposium is co-produced with BO – Billedkunstnerne i Oslo and UKS. With thanks to Kunstnernes Hus for their support along the way.

The title is borrowed from Gregory Sholette’s book Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (2010).

ACCESSIBILITY

The event will be held in English.


UKS is wheelchair accessible.

Please contact m.wistreich@uks.no if you require sign language interpretation.


More information about visiting UKS can be found in our access statement here.