Think Tanks

16 Think Tank discussion groups were developed in close conversation with Supermarket Art Fair. Several Think Tanks build on conversations that took place in May 2023 through Supermarket’s Meetings program.

So Me, So NOT Me
Hosted by Stuart Mayes (

Saturday, June 14, 2025

So Me, So NOT Me

Social Media (So Me) seems to be an essential part of the artists toolkit. Concerns have been raised regarding the significant recent content moderation policy changes that allow users of Facebook and Instagram to say that being, or identifying as, lgbtqi+ is a mental illness. In the light of the general pally-ness between tech-bros and the Trump administration do we need to consider alternatives to the platforms we have become familiar with? What do we do when social media doesn’t reflect our moral codes?

Hosted by Stuart Mayes (Glitter Ball showroom & projects)
10.00-11.00
Location: Cantina

The Ecology of a Creative Residency

As we set up The Lacuna Studios creative residency on an ecologically regenerative olive grove, we are prompted to consider the oneness of humans and nature and to look at the necessary interconnectedness of systems and processes. It is increasingly apparent that the components of a sustainable and regenerative olive grove are strikingly similar to that of a sustainable and regenerative arts practice.

How can we take learning from the permaculture principles being applied in the grove and apply it to The Lacuna Studios creative residency and, perhaps more interestingly, vice versa?

Hosted by Sarah-Jane Mason (Lacuna Festivals)
10.00-11.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

Imagining Kashmir: Creative dialogues across borders

Malt AIR artist-in-residence Sidra Khawaja introduces Kashmir Creatives Collective, a Kashmiri-driven, not for profit, independent group of creatives focusing on humanizing Kashmir through artistic and cultural traditions of the state. Following her introduction Sidra will lead an interactive ideation activity that aims to build visibility, solidarity and momentum for the collective while inviting fellow members to co-imagine pathways for exchange, collaboration, and amplification on a broader scale.

Hosted by Sidra Khawaja (Kashmir Creatives Collective)
11.00-12.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

Hello the Edges

We want to discuss what it’s like to be an artist not at the centre of things and not caring.

We like the idea of art that you can tell where it comes from. Not that it should be a particular type of art, but that the aggregate of the artists working in a locality defines that area's visual identity.

We want to discuss what it could mean to be part of North Sea renaissance, thinking of the sea not as a barrier but a transnational gyre. The sea could link communities of artists reflecting our shared cultural roots and our shared challenges around the impacts of climate change on our coasts, population shifts and growth, industrialisation of rural areas through new forms of power generation. Our land will be unrecognisable in 20 years and we need to go into that transformation with our eyes open, with artists shaping and documenting that change.

Hosted by Ben Coode-Adams (Blackwater Polytechnic)
11.00-12.00
Location: Cantina

Samtidskunsten som lobbyist! (in Danish)

Hvad skal der til for at samtidskunsten får vi hul igennem til relevante politikere som kan bakke op om vores engagement? Hvordan fungerer lobbyisme og hvad kan det gøre for samtidskunstnere og de kunstnerstyrede udstillingssteder? Skal vi lobby alle mod alle eller finde fællesnævnere, som vi sammen kæmper for?

Oplægget tager afsæt i erfaringer med at gøre udvalgte politiker interesserede i samtidskunsten og den forskel scenen gør for en by som Aarhus. Oplæg ved Jette Gejl afløst af diskussioner om behov og strategi for samtidskunstscenen i Aarhus.

Jette Gejl (KH7 Artspace)
11.00-12.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Preconceptions of Neurodifference in the art world

There is no doubt that my Autism has affected my creative life and career for good and evil. I want to discuss the impacts of neuro-difference on people’s creative lives, for example, when superpowers turn into self-sabotage, notions of outsider art and savantism. I want to hear how other countries and cultures deal with neuro-difference, and I’d like to begin to produce some initiatives that could improve the art world and outcomes for people with neuro-difference. No diagnosis needed. No shade over language; use the language and terms you are comfortable with.

Hosted by Ben Coode-Adams (Blackwater Polytechnic)
10.00-11.00
Location: Cantina

This Thing We Call Art

This Thing We Call Art is an online resource containing interview excerpts from an international cohort of 70+ artists and art workers which detail the living and working conditions of contemporary artists. In this workshop, we’ll explore these excerpts together through writing and discussion. Please bring something to write with and to write on.

https://www.thisthingwecallart.com/

Hosted by Kelly Lloyd (This Thing We Call Art)
10.00-11.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

Soft City: Artist-Run Interventions in City Redevelopment Projects

Soft City is a research project exploring the potential impact of art on urban redevelopment projects. The project connects artists, architects, and artist-run spaces in Aarhus and Gdansk who are working in the two cities' harbour districts.

This Think Tank invites reflection on the role of the artist-run in city planning. How can artists challenge politicians and real estate developers to think differently about how cities can look, feel, and function?

Hosted by Pam Grombacher (Aarhus Billedkunstcenter)
11.00-12.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

Sustainable Self-Publishing

A Think Tank focused on environmentally sustainable practices in independent publishing. This informal gathering will be an occasion to exchange knowledge on eco-friendly materials, printing techniques, and distribution strategies. The goal is to start building a shared resource of tools, references, and suppliers in the Nordic and Baltic regions supporting artists and self-publishers in adopting more sustainable methods.

Hosted by Alberto Rossi (Take 10 Press)
11.00-12.00
Meeting point: Godsbanen foyer, info booth

The Exploded Art School

What happens if you designate a town, a city, or a region as an Art School, a place for creative learning?

What are the most radical and impactful ways artists can work to enable collaborative, place-responsive learning?

What does a truly collaborative local faculty look like for artists, students, partners and communities?

Hosted by Kaavous Clayton and Julia Devonshire (Blackwater Polytechnic)
11.00-12.00
Location: Cantina

Artist's needs, internationality, and the use of utopia and foresight tools – Perspective of the Artists and the Artist Organizations
Hosted by Saija Koponen (Finnish Painters’ Union)

Valuing Artists as Consultants
Hosted by Marie Markman (artist)

Climate Sustainability - Where to Start?
Hosted by Helen Wewiora (Castlefield Gallery) and Pam Grombacher (Juxtapose Art Fair)

Empowering Artists in Practice
Hosted by Katerina Lipovka (De Structura)

Twin Flame
Hosted by Erika Råberg (artist)

Monoculture vs. diversity - what humans can learn about vulnerability from the ecosystems of nature
Hosted by Lotte Lind (artist) and Sasha Rose Richter (Juxtapose Art Fair)

Balancing Act: the local and the global as an artist-run initiative
Hosted by Mie Frederikke Fischer Christensen (Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station)

This Thing We Call Art
Hosted by Kelly Lloyd (artist)

Exploring Residencies as Transformative Curatorial Spaces
Hosted by Katy Morrison (PINK)

Evaluating the Creative Force project
Hosted by Filip Rahim Hansson

Disabled Artists and the Artist-Led Scene
Hosted by Sarah-Jane Mason (Lacuna Festivals)

Art Meetings with Children
Hosted by Marianne Jørgensen (artist) and Cecilie Bernts (Juxtapose Art Fair)

Ultra processed art: a thought experiment
Hosted by Stuart Mayes (Supermarket Art Fair)

And You Plan And You Gather: A Discussion on Community / Collective Care through Food
Hosted by Charli Herrington and Gordon H. Williams (Family Dinner)

The concept of identity in a liquid society
Hosted by Hans Overvliet (ruimteCAESUUR)

Our experiences and challenges working with art and youth
Hosted by Filip Rahim Hansson (Galleri Rostrum)

Nordic Visitors Program

In 2023 we expanded our Visitors Program beyond curators to include art workers from a variety of institutions in Iceland. This program was co-developed and co-hosted with Icelandic Art Center.

Participants: Auður Jörundsdóttir (Director of the Icelandic Art Center), Sunna Ástþórsdóttir (Director at NÝLISTASAFNIÐ/The Living Art Museum), Becky Forsythe (Curator, Art Writer and Editor and Project Manager Exhibitions and Public Engagement at Reykjavík Art Museum), Dorothea Olesen Halldórsdóttir (Associate Director at i8 Gallery), Pari Stave (Director at Skaftfell Art Center), Erling T.V. Klingenberg (Co-founder of Kling & Bang)

SUSTAIN workshop

Co-hosted by Aarhus Billedkunstcenter and Castlefield Gallery, the SUSTAIN workshop was a thought experiment about how our work as artists will be impacted by climate change, and also an opportunity to reflect on why climate questions can be so challenging within the artist-run sector.

Collaborating Partners

Supermarket Art Fair, Icelandic Art Center, Aarhus Billedkunstcenter, Castlefield Gallery, Billedkunstnernes Forbund, Det Jyske Kunstakademi, Klima-X

Funders

Nordisk Kulturfond, Aarhus Kommune - Kulturudviklingspuljen, Den Jyske Kunstfond, Statens Kunstfond - Kuratoriske researchrejser, BKF’s Udvalg til Fordeling af Kulturelle Midler, Aarhus Kommune - KlimaPuF, Dansk-Islandsk Forbundsfond

Sponsors

Godsbanen, Radar, Spiselauget, Billedkunstnernes Forbund