The event ‘On the nature and causes of artists’ autonomy’ takes the form of a seminar, with the aim of problematising the visual artist’s economy and how their financial reality determines their performance and production. More specifically, it aims to discuss the nature(s) and cause(s) of the visual artist’s economic reality in the Portuguese context and, with this, to promote reflection on their power to act culturally, socially and politically.

The autonomy/economy of the visual artist is a structural theme in artistic practice that originated in the 18th century, when there was a split between art and craft, or between the figures of the artist and the craftsman. The new condition of patron autonomy brought new challenges in terms of the artist’s way of working and surviving. This cultural change was accentuated from Modernism onwards with the incorporation and legitimisation of new ways of working for the artist, whose activity expanded into the areas of curating, criticism, theorising, production, mediation and education, while at the same time developing collaborative and participatory artistic practices.
Thus, in a line of continuity and expansion of the event’s 1st Edition, we sought to deepen the following questions by debating them with a new panel of guests:
How is the financial autonomy of the visual artist built in the Portuguese context? What relationships can be established between art and the economy from the visual artist’s perspective? How does the contemporary visual artist work? How are institutional support relationships established? How does the art market work? How can the precariousness of the visual artist be overcome?

This event is organised as part of EAAD’s Visual Arts Degree and ESAD.CR’s Master’s in Fine Arts. The event takes place in the drawing amphitheatre, in room 09 of Ep.1.