Toronto freelancers may be interested in a book launch and panel discussion about the socio-economic conditions of creative and cultural work scheduled for this Saturday, March 29th from 7-9 p.m. at A Space Gallery.
The event, called “Remaking Cultural Relations: Artistic Livelihoods and Collective Alternatives“will explore art and precarious labour with the release of two books. The first is Artistic Lives: A Study of Creativity in Two European Cities by researcher and activist Kirsten Forkert.The other isPrecarious, which is the catalogue from Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge’s photography exhibition currently on display at the Robert Langen Art Gallery at Wilfrid Laurier University.
In addition to the authors, the evening’s panelists include the CMG’s freelance organizer datejie cheko green, graphic designer Chris Lee, artist and arts administrator Michael Maranda, andBryan D. Palmer, editor of Labour/Le Travail.
Each panelist will speak for about 10 minutes about about their own perspective on the issue of precarity in cultural work, from the historical campaigns of artists’ unions to current efforts to unite and organize independent cultural workers.
According to Letters & Handshakes, the collective name of one of the groups organizing the event, “this event is intended to explore how precarious conditions of cultural work can be resisted and mitigated.”
“Cultural work is a kind of laboratory of the employment arrangements that are so prized in a contemporary era that encourages people to ‘do what you love,’ but has less to say about the wages and social protections necessary to sustain creative livelihoods.”
“The panelists were chosen because they are lucid analysts of contemporary labour conditions, they know precarity firsthand, and they are directly involved in collective efforts to combat precarity. Their perspectives help us to rethink what collective organizing looks like and what demands might be made by and for workers who are highly dispersed and work on a project to project basis. ”
Discussion and a reception will follow the presentations. For more information, you can check out the Facebook event page.
