Forum program: Visibility

February 5, 14:00 – 19:00

• Have you sold any works yet?
• Have you had a solo exhibition?
• Honorarium?
• Are you going to end the season having no shows?

What is the function of the concept of “visibility”, which has almost become dark matter* in the field of culture and arts? Can visibility replace the artist fee/honorarium? What does it mean for an institution to “provide” visibility to the artist? Is visibility necessary as much as it is claimed to be? What about invisible/unseen labor, violations of rights and other inequalities in the field?

The first session of the forum meetings organized by Depo and Omuz at Depo in February and March 2023 is on Visibility. The effects of exhibitions, fairs and competitions that concentrate upon “young” artists, on the economy of visibility and competition culture; the invisible and devalued labor of those working in the field of culture and arts; the deepening class contradictions and precarity in the field of art will be discussed alongside the relationships of visibility with representation and independence.

Visibility working group: Betül Aksu, Melis Bektaş, Tüten Akay, Umut Erbaş

The forum program aims to create a platform where many urgent issues such as accountability, working conditions, income inequality, precarity, fair distribution of resources, relationships of  agency/complicity and institutional responsibilities in the field of culture and arts are discussed publicly.

Each of the sessions, titled Visibility, Complicity, Institutions, Intersections and Resources, is programmed by a different working group and structured with the contributions of invited participants.

For detailed information:

Forum program

* Gregory Sholette, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture, (Pluto Press, 2011)