FAIRSHARE during Kunstennacht Hasselt

Self-publishing as an artistic practice.

What is the future of publishing in the digital age? What can publishing, seen as an artistic practice, entail? How do artists self-organise themselves? These are some of the questions addressed through the first edition of the annual fair organised by KRIEG, Hasselt in collaboration with B32, Maastricht, The School, Hasselt and CIAP Kunstverein, Hasselt. On the 9th of May, this event will transform the building of CIAP into a multiverse where different material, digital, and performative approaches to self-publishing overlap, converge, or collide.  

Self-publishing ‘business’ is particularly interesting when seen as a motor for community-building. It is rarely restricted to the ‘self’ but relies on networks, frequently more concentrated and intimate than their ever-expanding online counterparts. Artists’ publications, zines, records, or bootlegs, and the very specific ‘scenes’ surrounding them, create intricate systems of networks. However, it is only on rare occasions that they intersect.

This is why, FAIRSHARE’s primary aim is to create a platform for the existing networks to interact and new connections to arise. FAIRSHARE invites different artists – from local and national household names to incognito players – to present their books, zines, and prints, along with other experimental formats of printed matter. To traverse disciplinary borders and offer a broader perspective on self-publishing, it features also a selection of records, bootlegs, and other miscellaneous editions. In addition, some artists will perform their work in the space during the public programme. In this way, FAIRSHARE attempts to draw as much attention to the mechanisms of distribution and circulation, as to the nature of the distributed materials themselves.

Publishing means bringing something out to the world, sharing it with the audience that is, for the most part, less proximate than in the case of a performance or even an exhibition. Books, prints, records etc. often travel through different, more or less visible distribution channels, passing from hand to hand, getting further and further away from their makers. In response to that, FAIRSHARE presents an opportunity for an immediate encounter between the artists and their audiences, for a direct exchange of experiences, and last but not least for unbridled transactions*.

* the work acquired during FAIRSHARE comes straight from the artists.

Participants

Practical Information

FAIRSHARE takes place at CIAP Kunstverein, on the 9th of May, from 1pm until 8pm. The public programme of performances, book launches, and presentations will be announced soon.

Organisers

FAIRSHARE is organised by KRIEG, an independent art space based on the premises of the PXL-MAD School of Arts in Hasselt, in collaboration with B32 (Maastricht), the School (Hasselt) and CIAP Kunstverein (Hasselt). Since 2016, KRIEG has been supporting artistic production and presenting a rich programme of exhibitions and screenings, bringing established and mid-career artists to Hasselt.  Each year, KRIEG attempts to organise an event/exhibition directed at the local young art-scene, as a counter-weight to its usual programming.

Contact

Alicja Melzacka: a.e.melzacka@gmail.com
Stijn Maes: Stijn.Maes@pxl.be