SOTA Foyers #1
September 14th, 18h – 20h
SOTA is organising a series of early evening gatherings in the Beursschouwburg Foyer in the fall, to forge fresh alliances from outside our familiar bubble, and to rekindle old friendships. Each evening has its own focus with special guests sharing proposals and ideas, to be discussed in a warm and informal setting.
“We, recently graduated students, find ourselves confronted with a situation that is often explained to us as ‘the harsh reality of being an artist’. We are quite alone in the wide gap between the art school and the working field.”
In February 2022, The Gap group was formed. It is composed of alumni and cultural workers who wish to draw attention to the gap between higher arts education and the professional field and make proposals to bridge this gap. The Gap published an open letter to art schools, art institutions, and Flemish policy makers in Rekto Verso.
Since then, the Gap has held several open meetings to discuss issues and proposals named in the article, at Monty in Antwerp where SOTA was resident in 2022. The Gap also initiated ‘Pairing is Caring’, a career mentorship system between young/emerging artists and more established artists or cultural workers. After a year of success in Antwerp, they are initiating this system in Ghent i.c.w. Kunsthal Ghent.
The Gap in the Beursschouwburg!
On September 14th, from 18h – 20h, the group members will share their work, their unresolved questions and concerns on how to make the artfield an ecology of solidarity rather than one of competition.
The objective is to meet through various exchanges and conversations, to form a new group that can reflect and organise a Pairing is Caring is Brussels for the 2024-25 season.