Wednesday, 12 February, 2020 at 5–7pm

We will gather once more, at Kohta, for a conversation about art criticism and what conditions it. This time about ‘the art critic and the public’.

Both words are in the singular – but perhaps there are many kinds of critics, just as there are many kinds of publics? A number of issues will be scrutinised in the conversation this evening: For whom does the critic write, who is the presumptive reader? How can we reach beyond the most reliable readership? As the demography of our society and the media landscape are both changing, do we have ideas for developing the form of art criticism to reach new readers? What happens in the encounter between the critic and the reader – are the critics themselves ever critiqued? And what does the critic’s influence on the public mean from the perspective of the artist?

This, the last of four conversations, will hopefully offer clear points of view, at the intersections where critics and many different publics meet.

The current exhibition at Kohta by Belgian artist Lili Dujourie will also be commented.

The participants in the discussion are writer Tatjana Brandt, artist Martti Aiha, poet Pauliina Haasjoki and curator and critic Anders Kreuger. The discussion, bilingual in Finnish and Swedish, will be moderated by critic and writer Pontus Kyander.

Local coffee roastery Helsingin Kahvipaahtimo will be serving their finest coffee to all guests.

Warmly welcome!

This conversation is the third in the series ‘Criticism in a Changing Media Landscape’, four public conversations at Kunsthalle Kohta in autumn–winter 2019–20.

The series is organised in collaboration between the kunsthalle Kohta, Kritikbyrån, the Swedish-language journal Ny Tid and the Finnish-language online art journal Mustekala and funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.