Christian Chambert
1. Time for new strategies in art criticism
Locale: Göteborg Museum of Art. Date: Saturday 5 November 2005. Guest speakers: Sara Arrhenius, curator for this year’s art biennial; Christian Chambert, president of the Swedish section of AICA; Marie Demker, professor in political science, Göteborg University; Ingrid Elam, head of Department of Art, Culture and Communication (K3), Malmö University; Discussion leader: Sophie Allgårdh, art critic for the national daily, Svenska Dagbladet. The conversation was conducted in Swedish. The Swedish section of AICA arranged the round table in collaboration with the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2005.
2. On December 18, 2005 Swedish AICA arranged the annual Christmas party, this time at the landmark Stockholm restaurant Lydmar with its international touch, the watering hole for people in the cultural field, famous for its concerts and exhibitions. The invitation was open to all people in the art world.
3. The Artist in the Making and the Reality of Art Criticism
On February 17, 2006 the Stockholm Art Fair in Sollentuna in collaboration with Swedish AICA offered two seminars on the situation of young artists and the way that influences their writing about art and art criticism. Program coordinator: Sophie Allgårdh, acting editor of Paletten, freelance critic at Svenska Dagbladet and Swedish Radio. The seminars were held in Swedish.
a. Artist, Come Hell or High Water
Lineup: Gertrud Sandqvist, Department Head, Malmö Art Academy; Andreas Ribbung, artist and producer of the exhibition ”Vardande” [In the Making]; Ola Gustafsson, Galleri ELASTIC in Malmö, with a focus on the international art scene; Beatrice Ehrström, student at Valand School of Fine Arts with a B.S. in economics, specializing in the finances of artists; Christian Chambert, President, Swedish Art Critics Association; Moderator: Sophie Allgårdh.
b. The Artist Eye to Eye with the Art Critic
Lineup: Fredrik Svensk, freelance critic, Göteborgsposten, board member, Paletten, and instructor at Valand School of Fine Arts and the School of Photography; Fia-Stina Sandlund, artist with a speciality in norm- and power-analysis; Jessica Kempe, freelance critic at Dagens Nyheter; Måns Holst-Ekström, senior lecturer at The Royal University College of Fine Arts; Christian Chambert, President, Swedish Art Critics Association; Moderator: Sophie Allgårdh.
4. After the Administrative Council meeting on March 4, 2006 the Director of Centre Culturel Suédois (CCS) Annika Levin invited the board members to the centre and briefly informed them about Hôtel de Marle and about the activities of the centre. Sophie Allgårdh gave her personal perspective on the energetic cutting edge art scene in Sweden. The Director of Malmö Konstmuseum Göran Christenson introduced his show at CCS, Malmö – Marais art contemporain suédois du Malmö Konstmuseum, running at the centre from March 3.
5. The Call of the Site Yearning for Art
Lecture in English by Peter Noever. Date: 7 March, 2006. Venue: Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. The lecture had been jointly organized by Craft in Dialogue/IASPIS, Swedish Art Critics Association and the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
6. The Swedish AICA section is planning a round table in September 2006, which will be held in Swedish, with the preliminary title Art in Public Spaces.
7. The board member Margareta Tillberg has recently been commissioned to take care of the editing, in two separate volumes, of the proceedings of the round tables A New Deal and Pressures on Art Criticism. The books will be published in June 2006.
8. Information about the section’s public programs is distributed in Swedish by e-mail to about 2.300 addresses, including the members of the section, in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Most programs are also sent out world wide in English and are at the same time published in the two language versions on the web site: http://www.aicasweden.org The site recently got a new technical design which makes it easier to navigate.
