Inclusive curating
The Outsider Art Festival is curated in an inclusive way. This means that the festival programme is planned and executed together with outsiders and insiders of the art world.
The artists will be selected by a dedicated artistic working group for each art form. The working groups are made up of curators and mentors. The curators are outsider artists, often belonging to various minority groups. Mentors are experienced professionals in the field of art, for example artists.
The curators are selected from artists who have participated in previous festivals and from the OAF’s networks. Mentors are selected from OAF networks.
The curation process is as follows:
- Every year in October-November, OAF organises a national open call for all outsider artists to participate. What being an outsider means is freely defined by the artist himself/herself.
- OAF puts together an artistic working group. During the introduction members get acquainted with each other and the curatorial work. The working group discusses and agrees on values and principles that influence decision-making and promote equality. The members of the artistic working group will study the applications independently and select their own candidates.
- OAF organises joint workshops for the artistic working group. In these workshops, the members of the artistic working group discuss their choices and selection criteria. The final selections are made together. Discussions will also take place with the production team and the international mentors. Finally, the winner of the OAF Artist of the Year Award will be selected.
- The members of the artistic working group will also be involved in the festival in various expert roles, depending on their skills and interests.
OAF's short glossary of inclusive curating
Inclusive curating
The programme of the Outsider Art Festival is planned and implemented together with outsiders and insiders in the art world. The artists are selected by an artistic working group in each field. The working groups are composed of curators and mentors. Inclusiveness is also taken into account in the selection and presentation of artists: it is important to include artists from different backgrounds and to make the programme as accessible as possible.
Curator
A curator is a person who plans and implements exhibitions or programmes. A curator makes artistic decisions. A curator may also have other tasks. At the Outsider Art Festival, curators are outsider artists, often from different minority groups.
Mentor
Mentors are professionals in the field of art, for example artists. Mentors have previous curatorial experience and their role is to enable and support the curators and to act as a discussion partner. At the OAF, mentors are also involved in artistic decision-making.
Outsider art
There is no unambiguous definition of outsider art. In principle, outsider art can be said to be art that is in some way outside the mainstream of the art field.
Outsider artist
There is also no unambiguous definition of who is an outsider artist. Often, outsider artists operate outside the mainstream of the art world. The OAF believes that each artist has the power to determine whether and in what way they are an outsider artist.
Videos
Greetings from OAF international mentor Tanya Raabe-Webber
Greetings from OAF international mentor John Cafiero
Greetings from OAF international mentor Olga Fominikh
Greetings from OAF international mentor Rebecca Hoffman
