About
Abstract: Shared visions is a groundbreaking initiative to establish a transnational cooperative for visual artists – a democratic, solidarity-based structure committed to reshaping how artists live, work, and organize, especially in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and across wider international contexts. It brings together an international team of visual artists, cultural operators, humanities scholars, web3 practitioners, and activists in a long and intensive series of activities.
The project emerges from a common concern: the increasing precarity of artistic labour and the shrinking space for artistic autonomy across the continent. Despite a growing number of graduates in the arts, many visual artists face limited opportunities, fragmented support systems, and a lack of access to markets – especially in Eastern Europe. Traditional state support is dwindling, while market mechanisms often marginalize experimental and non-commercial practices. Artists are expected to act as entrepreneurs while lacking the necessary infrastructure, legal protections, and collective tools to do so.
In response, Shared Visions proposes a bold alternative: the formation of an international visual artists’ cooperative headquartered in Serbia, a non-EU country with a rich cultural history but a fragile art economy. Unlike conventional institutions and enterprises driven by profit maximization, this cooperative will be owned and democratically governed by its members – artists and cultural workers themselves – combining entrepreneurial ambition with social purpose. In contrast to the often ambiguous line between genuine cooperativism and the rhetoric of the creative industries, this model is grounded in the principle of goal maximization: profits will be reinvested into collective needs, such as studios, legal support, and pension systems, while also supporting non-market forms of collaboration and mutual aid among members and local communities.
The project will integrate expertise from digital commons and Web3 communities to co-design a secure and transparent digital infrastructure for internal decision-making and resource sharing. This will be paired with a feasibility study of art-related markets – from education and tourism to tech and finance – aimed at identifying new access points for artists and increasing public engagement with visual arts.
The Shared Visions cooperative responds to current crises in the art world while also proposing a long-term vision for a more just and sustainable ecosystem. By connecting local experiments with broader European networks, and by foregrounding solidarity, equity, and collective care, the project aims to empower artists to shape the future of their field – together.
Scientific domain: Sociology of Culture
Timetable: July 2025- July 2026
End beneficiaires/target population: Artists; Cultural associations; Cultural cooperatives; Other cultural agents
Internal team: João Teixeira Lopes (responsable at FLUP), Inês Maia
