By Mette Garfield
web special, The trade magazine Biledkunstneren #1 2022.
Municipalities can advantageously incorporate art in public buildings, on gables in the urban space, in involvement processes with citizens and in the development of urban spaces and rural areas.
These are some of the opportunities that were shared at this year's BKF conference on art in the municipalities, where a large number of artists and curators talked about their diverse collaborations with municipalities.
Nis Rømer, former spokesperson for BKF, moderated the digital BKF conference.
Nis Rømer, visual artist, former spokesperson for BKF and moderator at the conference, welcomed the total of 176 participants from home and abroad who took part in the conference via Zoom.
And then he gave the floor to the conference's seven presenters: Katja Aßmann, Berit Kirksæther, Kerstin Bergendal, Thomas Seest, Lene Floris, Kristoffer Ørum and Hannah Toticki, who are all engaged in different ways in thinking art into the development of municipalities and the everyday lives of citizens.
Photo at top: 'Changed'. Outdoor exhibition at Nyhavna, Trondheim 2021-22. Photo: Theodor With. More about Trondheim Municipality's work with art in public spaces further down in the article.
The artists must be involved from the start
Katja Aßmann, who is the curator and artistic director of Green Berlin, talked about the role of art in sustainable urban development with a special focus on the new Spreepark Berlin.
Aßmann pointed out that the work processes in interdisciplinary development projects should be discussed. And she asked rhetorically if it is really best to invite the artists in at the end of the process, as is most often the case in Germany.
She showed three examples of art projects in the Emscher area out of more than 100 realized projects that were developed over six years. And told, among other things about a footbridge developed by the artist Tobias Rehberger:
"The bridge is a symbol of Emscher Art and of how you can create something very valuable when you bring the disciplines together. But it can be difficult to find a common point of view.”
Visualization, Spreepark Berlin: ©ARGE Spreepark Freianlagen c/o die grille.
Aßmann sees a tendency for urban planners to involve artists only late in the development process. And that the artists often experience that the urban planners do not have an actual strategy for the work, e.g. when cities get smaller or grow too fast.
"My thesis and way of working is that the truth lies in the middle between the perceptions of the urban planners and the artists. If you bring the experience of the two disciplines together, you can create the new that is needed when old urban planning strategies no longer suit the development of cities," said Katja Aßmann.
Spree Park Art
Aßmann concluded his presentation by talking about his latest passion, Spree Park Art, which has a very colorful history.
"In 1969, the only permanent amusement park in the whole of East Germany was built. It was a great success. Then a large investor from Hamburg took over, but without success. The city of Berlin subsequently wanted the site to be open to the public," explained Aßmann and continued: "But nothing happened for the next 14 years, and nature took over."
Photo: Spreepark © Frank Sperling.
Aßmann showed photos of rides, leaning Ferris wheels and weathered dinosaur figures entangled in treetops and grass. “There are endangered plants, over 40 rare insect species and a lot of animals that have taken advantage of the slowness of the park. Many therefore also believe that the park should remain untouched.”
Aßmann showed the master plan for the 30-hectare Spree Park, which will open in 2025, and explained that no new theme park will be built as the entire area is now protected.
"But we want to create a public park with other types of amusements. The Ferris wheel is allowed, but we must recreate and use the other old rides.”
A hall that was previously used for repairs to the carousels will be an exhibition venue, but will also function as a concert venue and host other cultural events. Aßmann talked about the integrated work process: "We made an open call to artists to get different ideas for new infrastructure for the park. Not ideas for benches and dustbins, but for places to hide in, atmospheres where you can enjoy nature in new ways.”
A participant asked about criteria for choosing artists, to which Aßmann replied: “You have to be willing to change your ideas for the sake of the whole. Not all artists are ready to enter such projects. I had a list of 60 artists for Spree Park, but only 20 said yes.”
Monika Gora: Viewpoint. Huseby schools, 2021. Realized via Trondheim Municipality's percentage scheme for art in public spaces, as part of the Saupstad - Kolstad area initiative. Photo: Kjersti Berg / Trondheim municipality.
Trondheim has a percentage scheme for the arts
Berit Kirksæther, visual artist and advisor for art and culture in Trondheim Municipality, spoke in his presentation about the municipality's work with art, particularly in the development of the Nyhavna harbor area.
"In 2003, it was politically agreed that 1,25% of the municipality's investment budget should go to art. The art scheme may seem traditional, but is incredibly important for us to be able to do larger art development projects.”
Kirksæther showed photo documentation of the municipality's art in kindergartens, schools, health centres, in municipal businesses and in public parks. She also said that the municipality disseminates the art projects in a number of publications, via Instagram and local media.
"The funds are not earmarked for each individual construction project. The responsibility lies with the municipality, but we always establish an art committee, which is led by an external art consultant, which we find through KORO." (KORO: Art in Public Space, government authority under the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, ed.).
Kirksæther explained that private actors can co-finance art projects with the municipality. And then she mentioned an important tool in Trondheim's art policy: an addendum to the requirements of the Norwegian Town Planning Act, which the municipality has given the name 'let art and culture characterize Nyhavna'.
Nyhavna. Photo: Trondheim Municipality.
“Good economic models are very important. But we need more collaborations around funding the arts. If art is to characterize Nyhavna, it will either cost those who want to make money from housing development, or the municipality, or both," Kirksæther concluded.
A hyper-local park
But how can art be included in municipal urban development here at home? Several of the next presenters gave concrete suggestions for this.
First on the screen was visual artist Kerstin Bergendal, who has developed artistic methods and questioned the blind spots of professional groups, including her own. She talked about her project 'speaking of a meadow":
"It is a collaboration between area renewal Nordvest and the Statens Kunstfond on a green area of 850 square meters in Copenhagen's Nordwest quarter. It must be transformed into a local park, protected against storm surges and given a new role,” she explained.
“My first act was to make 16 video portraits of people who had some connection to the park. Together, they could be perceived as a kind of mapping of the area, in line with soil surveys.”
Visual artist Kerstin Bergendal visiting a local pizza baker in the project apropos en eng.
The artist's video portraits are included in the tender material in the competition to find the right advisers for the task, and the collaboration with the art project is entered as one of the competition's parameters. Bergendal sees it as a clear advantage that as an artist you can create space for improvisations in an otherwise very determined process.
"The landscape architects have delivery dates and insurance responsibilities. But as an artist, I can choose to spend many hours and come up with utopian proposals.”
Sustainability, cooperation and utopia
Afterwards, visual artist Thomas Seest told about an art project with a focus on landscape, nature and sustainability in Guldborgsund Municipality, where he, together with artist Søren Lose, is associated as house artist.
'Sustainability', 'collaboration' and 'utopia' are the three words around which the artists have collaborated in the development of new formats. The artists were given an area of three hectares near the town hall in Guldborgsund to create art and workshops.
"We called the area Vildparken to use one of the municipality's properties buzzwords, and stopped some of the huge machines that were about to crush it all. And then we had the opportunity to plant flower seeds in the tracks left by the machines," he said.
In Guldborgsund Municipality's house artist project, created by visual artists Thomas Seest and Søren Lose, both children and adults actively participated along the way. Photo: Anders Knudsen, Lolland-Falster Folketidende.
The artists themselves have found the materials for the project in a place where all of the municipality's remains are stored. Afterwards, they invited local schools to workshops.
"We make, among other things, insect nest and talks to the children about the plants and animals that can live here. The aim is to be a place to be for people, animals and plants. So we also ask them what it takes for them to want to be there.”
The children have many good ideas, e.g. to make caves for people. And since Guldborgsund is a very clayey place, the artists also made clay beads with the children.
"It's about giving the children a sense of and connection to the landscape. We have come to the conclusion that it is about touching and doing something with it.”
The artists have also created festivals and invited other artists: "It is all of us who have to change, and the House Artist Scheme states that you can create a framework for artistic activities. It is important to say that we are not coming to listen to anyone, but we will make showcases of some of the objectives in the climate area that the municipality has for the citizens."
Seest believes that one e.g. not just to get some to plant trees, but to ensure that the people who plant the trees have a sense of belonging to them and to the earth: "We are not landscape architects, but can provide a ritualized format and an artistic value."
Caitlin Keogh: Ribands For a Wall. Holbæk Art 2020. Photo: Line Bigum Marqvertsen.
Art and business
The next short presentation was by Lene Floris, who is an advisor and spokesperson for Holbæk Art.
"Holbæk Art was started by the business world, by Holbæk Rotary in 2012. An independent institution was created to create art and activities in Holbæk, both visual art and sculptural art," Floris explained.
"You wanted to own, maintain, convey art - and get the money. In 2014 we held the first edition of Holbæk Art with 13 works, and every two years since then new works have been added. We are now trying to raise funds for four or five works in 2022.”
Holbæk Art is curated by rotating curators who come up with proposals for works and artists. This is followed by a double process, where gables and walls are looked at, which are paired with the artists by the curator.
"All curators have understood working in a smaller town like Holbæk. We have wanted to maintain a dialogue at eye level at the same time that we have insisted on a high professional level."
Floris explained that Holbæk Art communicates about art in many formats, e.g. via the website, but also emphasizes that the artists are visible in the city. There are also QR codes for each work, as well as guided tours and a pocket guide. Holbæk Art has also created teaching material in collaboration with the local educational centre.
Furthermore, Holbæk Art has organized the project Young Artists in collaboration with the Art College in Holbæk, where children and young people work with art based on different themes.
"So we have many, but there are also challenges. Especially because for the most part it runs as a voluntary project,” said Floris.
Holbæk Art has generated almost 7 million DKK until 2020, and Holbæk Municipality has granted an annual subsidy of DKK 200.000 for the next two years. In addition, the Statens Kunstfond, Det Obelske Familiefond, LAG, EU funds and the Sparekassens Fyns Fond have provided grants, plus an anonymous donor at the start of the project.
The Kolding Creature
The last short presentation of the conference was by the artist Kristoffer Ørum, who appeared on the screen as a big eye.
Visual artist Kristoffer Ørum created his work in dialogue with Kolding's citizens. Photo courtesy of the artist.
"I want to talk about the project The Kolding Creature, which is part of Radius Kolding. If you are wondering why there is a big eye talking to you, hopefully you will get an explanation later", he said and continued: "The Cold Creature is an experiment in urban space somewhere between permanent and temporary works.”
Ørum showed a photo of The Kolding Creature, as it appears if you use the QR code on the plinth.
"It is an Augmented Reality work. A kind of digital ghost, a monster that can only be seen when using the mobile phone. Why do it in the middle of Kolding, one might ask? And when do works stop and end? That interests me.”
Ørum has long had an interest in fearsome creatures: "The animal represents something human, but something unknown. It's a way of talking about and embodying the fear without talking about it.”
It is also the role of art, Ørum believes, to facilitate conversations about things we are affected by, in other ways than we are used to. Via notices in the city, Ørum got in touch with people with pets. He also collaborated with Kolding Design School and other educational institutions and pet stores.
Kristoffer Ørum: The Kolding Creature. Augmented Reality, RADIUS Kolding, 2021.
“I invited people to have their pets 3D scanned. It happened over the course of a few days, when I was dressed up with this eye, like a kind of living icon, a scanner you could press.”
From all these 27 local pet scans, Ørum built and collected a digital animal, The Kolding Creature. He ended his post with an image of the empty plinth between cars, transport, and people going to and from.
"There is now an invisible monster somewhere between reality and fiction. The Kolding Creature tackles the unpleasant things.”
Diversity of art in the municipality
Former head of the Council for Visual Arts in the Municipality of Copenhagen, Hannah Toticki then spoke about experiences with representation and equality work in the municipality's art policy.
"The council buys art for Copenhagen Municipality's art collection, which contains 4.000 works and supports visual arts projects that take place in the municipality. These are relatively small projects with an average amount of DKK 10.000 per project. project. Art is purchased four times a year. There are five art professionals and three politicians in the council,” she explained.
In the years 2002-15, the council has bought works by 263 male artists and 120 female artists, at a total price of approx. 6,5 and 2,5 million DKK
"The council became aware in 2016 that when it bought on pure intuition, it unfortunately bought many more male artists' works and for much higher amounts. So they became aware that they had to actively have a different purchasing policy," said Toticki.
Nanna Abell, Flacon, 2019, concrete, iron oxide, synthetic musk oil, 103 x 60 x 26 cm. The work has been acquired by Copenhagen Municipality's Council for Visual Arts. Photo: Gallery Susanne Ottesen.
And there was a clear shift when the council became aware of the problem.
"We succeeded in achieving a more or less equal representation between the sexes. What you can perhaps relate to is that, although the council has spent roughly the same amount of money on buying art by men and women in recent years, it has bought works by twelve more female artists, which means that the women's prices are lower than men's,” she said.
"The council has not only wanted to focus on the representation of male and female artists from a binary gender perspective, but also on having different ethnicities and gender identities represented. But there is a GPDR challenge in that. So, for the time being, the council has focused on the problem, without being able to produce statistics in the area."
Toticki also mentioned that in her time the council has worked strategically with several other focus areas, including on artist fees, studio spaces for artists and strategy for art in public space.
As regards the latter, the council has proposed to the politicians that the Municipality of Copenhagen should set aside a percentage of new redevelopment budgets for building-integrated or urban space art, such as e.g. takes place in Stockholm and Oslo municipalities.
"We have set it aside and hope that the new committee will follow up on it," she said.
Mette Garfield is a writer at, among others, Kunsten.nu and editor at the publishing house Bastard.
BKF and art in the municipalities
Together with the National Association of Municipalities, BKF has launched a new professional network to strengthen the work with art in the municipalities. Find information about the new network here...
The BKF conference Art in the municipalities was held on 20 January 2022 and can be seen or re-watched on video here…