Gathering:
A seminar on the Condition
of Independent Art Spaces
and Initiatives
ArtHub Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
4-5 April 2025
Image Credit: Charlie Co and Neil Benaventura, Astronaut, 2020. Photography: Allain Dadivas. Courtesy of Orange Project.
Art Hub Copenhagen (AHC), in collaboration with independent curator Vanini Belarmino, the founder of Belarmino&Partners, presents Gathering, a two-day seminar on 4-5 April 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark, convening artists, curators, and cultural practitioners for critical discussions on the evolving landscape of independent art spaces and initiatives.
Bringing together perspectives from Denmark, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, and Thailand, Gathering fosters dialogue on sustainability, resilience,
and artistic agency in an era of shifting cultural and economic conditions.
The Host: Art Hub Copenhagen
Art Hub Copenhagen (AHC) is a facilitating, experimental, and network-building art institution based in Denmark.
AHC provides time, space, and voice to artistic experimentation through residencies, international development
programmmes, interdisciplinary communities, and public events.
As a platform dedicated to fostering artistic work and research, AHC is a fitting host for Gathering, which seeks to bridge global perspectives on independent art spaces, creating new opportunities for critical exchange, shared strategies, and international collaboration.
Programme Details:
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Dates: 4-6 April 2025
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Place: Art Hub Copenhagen, Thoravej 29, 2700 Copenhagen, Denmark
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Organised by Art Hub Copenhagen in collaboration with Vanini Belarmino
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Invited Guests: 22 artists and curators from Asia, Sweden and Denmark
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Audience: 300 people, primarily artists, curators and art industry representatives from Denmark and Sweden
Image Credit: ArtHub Copenhagen in Thoravej. Photography:Hampus Berndtson
In places where institutional backing is scarce, artists and curators have forged alternative pathways for sustainability, transforming limitations into opportunities. They have repurposed or rebuilt old buildings into creative hubs, built artist-led residency programmes, established community-driven funding models, and mobilised artist networks to create pop-up and nomadic platforms. This research revealed not just the constraints but the resilience and ingenuity of these spaces, highlighting the urgent need for shared strategies and new forms of collaboration—conversations that Gathering aims to foster.
Unfolding through keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, performances, studio visits, and informal exchanges, Gathering provides a collective inquiry into the possibilities for independent artistic practice in a rapidly transforming world.
Image Credit: ArtHub Copenhagen in Thoravej. Photography:Hampus Berndtson
Image Credit: ArtHub Copenhagen in Thoravej. Photography:Hampus Berndtson
Origins of Gathering: A Research-Driven Inquiry into Artist-Run Spaces
The seminar emerges from our founder’s ongoing research on independent art spaces across Southeast Asia, initiated in 2022 as a means to reconnect with artists and cultural workers following years of pandemic-induced disruption.
Through visits to Bacolod, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh, Iloilo, Lucban, Penang, Phnom Penh, and Singapore, Belarmino explored how artist-run spaces navigate evolving challenges—from securing resources to sustaining community engagement in the absence of formal support structures. The idea for Gathering emerged from a desire to bring together these founders and stakeholders—not only to exchange knowledge but to understand that their efforts and challenges are part of a larger, collective journey and acknowledge the common realities they navigate. Thanks to meaningful collaboration with AHC, this vision is now taking shape, bringing together diverse voices in a shared space of reflection and exchange.
Image Credit: The Critical Craft Collective Lab After “One and Three Chairs”, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Image Credit: The Critical Craft Collective Lab After “One and Three Chairs”, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Perspectives from Southeast Asia and Beyond
Beyond its founder's engagement, Belarmino&Partners is proud to see its programme partners—Mook Attankawong/ATT19 (Bangkok, Thailand), Adeline Kueh and Hazel Lim-Schledgel/Critical Craft Collective (Singapore) and Charlie Co/Orange Project (Bacolod City, Philippines),—represented at this gathering. The Southeast Asian delegation will also welcome new peers from Liza Ho/ BackroomKL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and Ashley Chiam/Supper House (Singapore), further expanding the conversation on independent artistic practice.
*A special performance programme is curated by Art Hub Copenhagen and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea (MMCA). It features artists Beum-Kyu Choi, Boma PARK, Suhwa KIM and Yehwan SONG
More Information
Gathering: a seminar on the conditions of independent art spaces and initiatives
ArtHub Copenhagen
Thoravej 29, 2700 Copenhagen, Denmark
4-5 April 2025
For full program details and registration, visit:
Art Hub Copenhagen - Gathering
