The objective with Young Curators & Art Operators Network is to start a curatorial network of young and emerging curators from the region (NW Russia and Sweden/Nordic countries) who initiate the projects in the public sphere in order to increase cross-cultural knowledge about each other’s projects and methods the regional curators work with when they work with different communities and engage them into creative practices. Creating a vibrant network of young intellectuals willing to bring change and be open about their artistic practice not only verbally but also through realizing their ideas by involving different communities will create a democratic discourse within the project that will be spread to all its participants and partners who will get a platform for an open discussion and expression by being a part of the Project and its further development.

Creating a vibrant network of young intellectuals willing to bring change and be open about their artistic practice not only verbally but also through realizing their ideas by involving different communities will create a democratic discourse within the project that will be spread to all its participants and partners who will get a platform for an open discussion and expression by being a part of the Project and its further developments. The network and its activities will create a set of opportunities for various people to be agents of change and promote main democratic values as well as stimulate an open and democratic dialogue between different social groups and representatives of different communities, where special attention will be paid to equal representation of people of different gender, background, ethnicity, social status and age. The methodology elaborated by the network will include description of different ways of how artists and curators using art projects in the public sphere can increase the awareness of the citizens of the influence of, for instance, grass root movements on various urban processes and maintain a dialogue with city authorities for a join discussion of the city problems and challenges. This will increase the democratic involvement of the citizens into the life of their cities.

Bringing together the previous experience of organizing art, educational and community-based projects and experience on international collaboration processes we decided to implement a project with a structure that would include mutual educational trips of various lengths of NW Russian and Swedish artists/curators to Russia and Sweden where they could explore the local context for a more productive collaboration.

Results

• Partnermeeting in Stockholm, May 2015. A research and educational trip of young curators and artists from NW Russia to Sweden to meet their colleagues and local agents.
• Partnermeeting in Sankt Petersburg, October 2015. A research and educational trip of young curators and artists from Sweden to NW Russia in October 2015 to meet h local partners, art institutions, local governments and audiences for collecting expertise and knowledge.
• Residencies 2016: In Stockholm and Sankt Petersburg.