What are artists’ collectives?

Rocky mountain ridge with snow-covered tops

The buzzword in the art world is undoubtedly ‘collaborative work’ or ‘collectives’. Ever since Documenta, at the very latest, there have been many debates surrounding the concept of collaboration in the artistic sphere. But what exactly lies behind the concept of a collective, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?

A new exhibition by SKM will take place in Hamburg from 27 October 2022 to 30 October 2022. Various artists will be featured here. Although a group exhibition comprises individual contributions, the process of coming together to form a shared exhibition framework is an approach characteristic of collective work. In this context, it is important to understand the structures and be able to apply helpful strategies.

Documenta 22

Let’s take Documenta 22 in Kassel as an example. The curatorial team ‘Ruangrupa’ operates as a collective and has taken on the curation jointly. In doing so, it was particularly important to them to allow plenty of creative freedom and not to interfere in the work of the invited collectives. This approach leads to a questioning of power structures that certainly exist within the art scene. Questions such as: Who decides what is good and what is not? are channelled into a democratic vote, rather than being decided by a single individual. Often, individuals are legitimised by a favourable power structure and thus frequently reach only a very select audience.

What do you think? Are there any subcategories missing, or are any of them superfluous? For example, are there subcategories such as ‘Religious Art’ and ‘Everyday Life’? Technology: Painting Drawing Sculpture Printmaking Photography Collage Mosaic Street Art Digital Art Assemblage Performance Art Subject Portrait Landscape Still Life Abstraction Narrative Art Depictions of Animals Historical Depictions Religious Art Everyday Life Mythology and Symbolism Fantasy and Science-fiction Social and political art Nudes Architecture Pop culture Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.