Location: Oulu Theatre - Main Stage
Address: Kaarlenväylä 2, 90015 Oulu, Finland | Venue Information | Event Map

Captions are available for this session.

This session will be live streamed via HowlRound. You can access the live stream on the day via this landing page.

Art and artists exist within networks of power, where funding is rarely neutral and often comes with compromise. Support from governments and private trusts can shape agendas and curb dissent, placing pressure on freedom of expression and democratic governance.

This opening panel discussion and Q&A confronts the power structures embedded in arts funding. It examines how these structures necessitate critical judgments, from navigating subtle pressures to resisting influence or refusing support outright, with implications for the work we make, the communities we build and the public spaces that sustain debate. 

Bringing together academics, researchers and cultural leaders, we consider the ethical, practical and political stakes at play.

Confirmed speakers:

Ksenija Đurović, Bitef, Serbia
Sepp Eckenhaussen, Institute of Network Cultures & Caradt, the Netherlands
Maija Karasvaara, Kone Foundation, Finland

Moderator:

Beáta Hock, GWZO, Germany/Hungary

Resources:

Six Theses towards the Liberation of Arts Philanthropy, by Sepp Eckenhaussen

Evolving networks: International sponsors of post-socialist art scenes, by Beáta Hock

Philanthropy or plutocracy? From Soros Realism to the Soros Plan [in Hungarian], by Beáta Hock