Since 2013 AIM has arranged annual public events in the Supermarket Talks seminar programme: a part of Supermarket – Stockholm Independent Art Fair.
Supermarket Talks were held in Studio 3 at Kulturhuset. The seminar started with Andreas Ribbung and John W. Fail presenting the database/CMS for artists’ initiatives around the world,designed both as a network platform and a public web directory. Signe Vad moderated a panel discussion called ‘Visibility – an empty buzzword or an important focus issue?’. Artists Sookyoung Huh, Philip Tonda Heide, and Nico Feragnoli, talked about artist-run initiatives in relation to the public sphere, and whether they can compete with institutions and private companies regarding audience. The panel considered if such a competition is even worth the effort, what the benefits are, what the costs are, and what are the alternatives.
The seminar concluded with Kaspars Lielgalvis showing his ‘Culture Currencies’ project, which strives to overcome one of the main challenges preventing the development of non-governmental institutions – the constant lack of funding.
Eleven participants from nine partner organisations and a Finnish guest organisation took part in ten smaller meetings organised in the framework of Supermarket Meetings. During a joint working meeting possible features and content of a web portal were discussed, e.g. a directory/map, event listings, open calls and residencies, a database of articles and resources about artist-run initiatives, social media features, links to other information, and intranet facilities for AIM members where work documents and messages could be exchanged.