Catalysti 2.0

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

During the grant period we will 1) Reconfigure our organisational structure and hire a team of two people per year from our membership pool to act as the Artistic Directors. 2) Organise 2 exhibitions and a series of 4 workshops hosted by artists for the general public. 3) Create new possibilities for collaboration for our association members between various art domestic and international associations and institutions we have partnered with. Maintaining the foundation that our predecessors have built is a key objective, but the need for substantial change is also evident. Catalysti 2.0 reconfigures our relationship with our membership base, democratise our operating model by transforming Catalysti into a sustainable multi-voiced organisation with an active support environment and create a new working model for artist associations – based on transparency, paid labour, and creating equal opportunities. The plan also includes collaborations with institutions in Finland such as Globe Art Point, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Publics, the Finnish Painters’ Union, Kuvataideakatemia and the Finnish Sculptors Association. In addition, we plan to initiate collaborations and enhance our partnerships internationally by working with Tenthaus art collective, Norway (Oslo) and the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art (Tallinn). These ambitious collaborations expand our activities and reach new audiences domestically and abroad. However vaunted for the richness and sustenance our international artists bring to the field, they remain marginalised in the country they reside, as artists who struggle for reach and visibility. Catalysti is the support system made by and for these practitioners. Furthermore, Catalysti 2.0 emphasises actively supporting Black, Indigenous, people of colour, disabled, LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals.

Kone funding supported the implementation of the Catalysti 2.0 working model (2022-24), which enabled the association to reconfigure its organisational structure, and introduce different working models based on transparency, paid labour, and creating opportunities for all members.

This meant that rather than being supported solely by volunteer labour, Catalysti was able to employ 2 teams of 2 people who each shared the role of Artistic Director for a year.

Funding also supported an annual members’ exhibition; workshops and networking events; and foundational operational work on grant writing, communications and branding, budgeting and financial management, and association processes, in dialogue with Catalysti’s board.