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Since first being published in 2016, Artist-Run Europe: Practice/Projects/Spaces has become a key text on the subject, a practical tool for those running or wishing to set up artist-run spaces, and a source of research for artists, academics and students, seminars, symposia and publications. The groundbreaking study includes commissioned texts, case studies of spaces and projects, and an expansive and detailed index of artist-run spaces in Europe. A second edition published in 2023 by Set Margins’ includes an updated and expanded index, with the inclusion of 50 additional spaces, and featuring spaces from Ukraine for the first time.

artist-run.eu continues the ongoing Artist-Run Europe research project, featuring new case studies, and a searchable, updatable index: an online resource which quantifies and compares the disparate attributes, organisational models, funding structures and aims of a vast number of spaces across the continent of Europe. A companion to the printed publication, the aim of artist-run.eu is to enable artist-run spaces to learn about and connect with each other, and allow artists, curators, researchers and general visitors to explore, learn about and visit artist-run spaces.

Artist-run spaces and projects are invited to submit or update their entries, allowing the resource to develop and expand over time, acting as an important record of both current spaces, as well as acknowledging defunct spaces and their legacies.

artist-run.eu is a non-profit, free-to-use project, initiated by Pallas Projects (Ireland) and funded by The Arts Council

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Index Methodology

The Artist-Run Index was envisaged as a tool to quantify and compare the disparate attributes, organisational models, funding structures and aims of a vast number of spaces in virtually every corner of the European continent. A lack of knowledge in this area – complicated by language barriers, differences in terminology (i.e. presentation spaces, project spaces, off-spaces, alternative spaces), the short timespan of many spaces, along with a scarcity of published accounts distributed beyond the city or country of origin – has meant that the level of artist-run activity from country to country, and its relevance and impact has previously been difficult to ascertain. 

Over an initial 4-year period (2012–16) we attempted to research each country in turn, consulting exhibitions and publications relating to artist-run activity, organisations’ websites, through individual contacts on the ground, and via artist representative organisations and funding bodies. A number of existing online sources were also consulted, including: artist-run-spaces.org (Glassbox, France), The New Museum’s Art Spaces Map (since defunct), sluice.info (UK), supermarketartfair.com (Stockholm), artspaceguide.ch (Zurich), arttransponder.net (Berlin), alternativeartguide.com, and artistrunalliance.org.

Our main parameters for inclusion were: artist-run spaces with a dedicated programme showing contemporary, alternative and critically engaged art practices. All spaces featured were contacted and encouraged to supply more information if necessary (and given the option to opt out of the index if desired). Certain artist-initiated spaces which are no-longer artist-run have also been included, as have those with expanded administrative and institutional structures but which remain artist-run or artist-directed. In countries where it has been difficult to ascertain specific artist-run spaces, we opted to include what we feel is nearest to an artist-run model.

A table graphic was devised for the print edition so that attributes and information could be viewed easily. The funding column indicates where spaces receive their core or additional support, it cannot be assumed however that spaces are wholly funded from listed sources, with many spaces relying primarily on self-funding and voluntary labour, with varying degrees of support from public and private funding bodies. The designation of ‘Non-profit/Project’ has been given a dual role: where a space states explicitly that it is non-profit, or in a number of cases to indicate a non-profit/project space that exhibit artist-run characteristics, for instance in certain countries where artist-led and project spaces are not differentiated. It can be assumed however that most spaces in the index are non-profit.

When first compiling this index we were aware that much of it would quickly go out of date, and while certain regions and countries (Ireland, The Netherlands, and The UK, and cities such as Berlin and Zurich) were well represented, we acknowledge that many spaces, cities and regions may have been missed due to the difficulties listed above. The second edition and this online version try to rectify this in part, including more spaces from eastern Europe, the Baltic and Balkan regions, and by widening our parameters to include Ukraine. During the initial 4-year research period (2012–16) many spaces closed their doors, and the decision was made to retain these in the index. This is no less true today, and the index denotes those which have become inactive between 2016 and 2023 – 149 or more than 25% – making it an important record of these now-defunct spaces. In addition, any changes (names, location, website info, etc.) to the original index have been updated and noted. 

Despite this constant flux, the online version of the index represents a valuable document that can continue to be added to, improved, and expanded over time.

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Credits

artist-run.eu (2024) is edited by Gavin Murphy and updated by Lana-May Flemming

Index originally devised and edited by Gavin Murphy & Mark Cullen

Researched and compiled (2016 edition) by Róisín Hackett, Lucy Watts, Tadhg Ó Cuirrín and Elizabeth Lyne, with additional research by Daniel Birmingham and Niamh Reynolds

Updated (2023 edition) by Gavin Murphy, with Viktorija Kacanauskaite, Louise Dolan, Aisling Clark, Adela Cerezo

Updated for the web (2024) by Luna Miccoli, Lana-May Flemming, and Lana Zubovic

Website designed by Other Office

Contact: hello@artist-run.eu

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