Strange Encounters in the Cultural Sector

🌍 Welcome new visitor(text-style: "blink")[_] For this Mayday weekend, we invite you to join us on a virtual journey into the cultural sector from a worker's perspective. \ \ =><= (live: 4s) [[[Begin your journey->make your choice]]] ==> [(color: #8B0000)[(link: "(cheat)")[(link: "really?")[(link: "this takes you straight to the end...")[(go-to: "cheat end")]] ]] ]

OOOh no! it costs 9k/year. What can you do? {(live: 2s)[ [[start my life with a colossal debt]] ]} {(live: 3s)[ [[juggle multiple jobs and start my life with a colossal debt]] ]} {(live: 4s)[ [[change my mind|make your choice 2]] ]}

(alert:"You WON! now use your connections to blow up the art world!💣 make everyone join the union!")You WON! now use your connections to blow up the art world! make everyone join the union!(open-url: "https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/join-online") (text-style: "smear")[ [[start again->just landed]]]

👏 Well done $answer, a few years have passed and you've made it through university! Saldy, you're left with a mountain of debt. {(live: 4s)[ [[And time has come for you to enter *the workforce*.->workforce]] ]} {(live: 5s)[ ##(align: "=><==")[😈] ]} {(live: 7s)[ High student debts means artists are more likely to ABANDON their art practice out of financial necessity… What can we do about this? <a href="https://sci-hub.im/10.1080/10632913.2014.954088" target="_blank">**Read this article about art students in debt.**</a> ]} {(live: 9s)[ How can we negotiate - better pay - benefits and the ability to work in the industry we choose? <a href="https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/design-culture-workers" target="_blank">**Start by joining the union ✊**</a> ]} {(live: 11s)[ [[Wait, no! I haven't finished uni yet.->still at uni]] ]}

Between writing another paper for uni and trying to attend classes, you work a few hours per week in a pub and have a part time job in a graphic design company. You feel lucky enough to have a bit of stability and what looks like a place in the industry, but the work hours aren't like anything you've experienced before! One day, you get an order in for some freelance work. This attractive offer could help you manage your hours and focus more on your university work. What will you do? {(live: 10s)[ [[quit my part time job and take on more punctual freelance missions->workforce]] ]} {(live: 12s)[ [[continue working part time for the graphic design company->flyer at work]] ]}

Mmmmmh... looks like they've missed more than a point <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic_on_the_arts_and_cultural_heritage#cite_note-:2-176" target="_blank">**here.**</a> This Mayday, we would like to reestablish the workers' experience as central to the impact that Covid-19 has had on the "arts and cultural heritage". This <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic_on_the_arts_and_cultural_heritage#cite_note-:2-176" target="_blank">**Wikipedia page**</a> seems to miss how mass closures of cultural institutions have hit workers all over the world. It misses how mass cancelations of gigs, projects, commissions have left employed workers, independant workers, "flexible", "casual", "zero-hour contract" workers without income overnight. It misses many things. It //does// list pieces of work produced during the pandemic, like Damien Hirst's new posters and Antony Gormley's miniature sculpture exhibited online at the White Cube gallery. It //does not// list the art that won't be produced because fundings were cut. It //does not// list the art that that can't be produced or the creative labour inappropriately asked of us in a time of crisis, when productivity in lockdown is dependent on class and privilege. So join us on our [[Arts+Covid19 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon]]! //Wikipedia page Edit-a-thons//, often organised by Feminist groups, like <a href="https://www.artandfeminism.org/" target="_blank">**Art+Feminism**</a>, who "seek to address the structural underrepresentation of women, non-binary people, people of color, and Indigenous people on Wikipedia", aim to correct and complete the content of the internet’s largest free encyclopedia still disproportionately written by and about men. A recent <a href="https://www.newmuseum.org/calendar/view/1629/art-feminism-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-1" target="_blank">**Art+Feminism Edith-a-thon**</a> was organised during the lockdown, in which they created 29 new articles, edited 58, added 181 references and 35.7K new words.

**Thank you $answer for joining us in our Arts+Covid19 Wikipedia page Edit-a-thon!** Wikipedia page editing can be done by anyone, anytime, and pretty simply. * These are tutorials by Art+Feminism with a <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Introduction_to_Wikipedia_by_Zita_Ursula_Zage_and_Sophie_Reverdy_recorded_by_Art%2BFeminism.webm" target="_blank">**very helpful video**</a> and a <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/AFQuickGuideforEditingWikipedia_January2020.pdf" target="_blank">**quick guide.**</a> * This is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:FAQ/Editing" target="_blank">**Wikipedia's FAQ page**</a> for editing. * Wikipedia page editing can seem easy, but your changes can also disappear very quickly. Avoid this by linking your sources, such as online articles. <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PVF3VUKhjHAi9h4kpssJnnbWTAbFZUShq9Su7bR8T1U/edit" target="_blank">**This doc 📝**</a> lists different sources we found relevant, add yours and browse through the existing content to help bring sources to your edits. * If you haven't come across it already, visit our [[Covid19 Timeline->timeline]]

(set: $answer to (prompt: "What would you like us to call you?", "")) Dear $answer, {(live: 1s)[ You've been sent to this planet with the unfortunate desire to work in the (background: "rgb(16, 0, 156)")[cultural and design sector.] ]} {(live: 3s)[ //How will you embark on such a mission?// ]} {(live: 6s)[ [[send an application to some arts uni?]] ]} {(live: 8s)[ [[offer my work for free, aka intern?->internship]] ]} {(live: 10s)[ [[call all my connections? Like that uncle who runs a gallery in West London ☺]] ]} {(live: 15s)[Are you ready? let's go!]} {(live: 15.5s)[We can't be late.]} {(live: 16s)[Remember, this planet will always want you to move fast.]}

Okay, let's try again. {(live: 2s)[ [[offer my work for free, aka intern?->internship]] ]} {(live: 3s)[ [[call all my connections? Remember...that uncle who runs a gallery in West London ☺->call all my connections? Like that uncle who runs a gallery in West London ☺]] ]} {(live: 6.5s)[😡 (colour: red)[none of these options work for me] ]} {(live: 8s)[(color: red)[(link: "begin my alternative journey")[(go-to: "workforce")]] ]}

Double-click this passage to edit it.

**hurray! You found a community!** (live: 1.5s) [<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13n-AuothxUOOrfutk5rXXxTZPp3Z8y25/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">**Read the flyer**</a>] (live: 3s) [+ Join our collective space for experience sharing, idea exchanging, demand formulating...or just for chatting(text-style: "blink")[_]] \ \ =><= (live: 7s) [[[Enter the live pad->live pad]] 💚]

(open-url: "https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/mayday2020-antiuniversity-dcw")

(set: $warning to (confirm: "sorry, an unforeseeable global pandemic has hit planet earth.")) (text-rotate:45)[##WAIT.<h2>] {(live: 1s)[ (text-rotate:-30)[###WHAT<h3>] ]} {(live: 1.5s)[ (text-rotate:30)[###JUST<h3>] ]} {(live: 2s)[ (text-rotate:90)[##HAPPENED<h2>] ]} =><= {(live: 3s)[ #(link: "?")[(go-to: "coronavirus")]<h1> ]}

🕔 The sense of time has been turned upside down. BC can now stand for *Before Covid-19*. AC, the aftermath of the pandemic. If you are in lockdown, *yesterday* can feel like all the days before and tomorrow is nothing but today, stretched onto an infinite plateau. We’re writing this while navigating Covid-19. A time when, ironically, we are all using art and culture to cope, yet not enough support seems to be coming our way. [[Let's walk through some events of the Covid-19 timeline together.->timeline]]

December 2019 (click-append: "December 2019") [ : (colour: green)[The Covid-19 outbreak starts in Wuhan, China.]] 2 February 2020 (click-append: "2 February 2020") [ : (colour: green)[The UK Government launches a public information campaign to advise on how to slow the spread of COVID-19, ‘Wash your hands’ at an advisable length of two happy birthdays.]] 14 February 2020 (click-append: "14 February 2020") [ : (colour: green)[London Fashion Week opens.]] 11 March 2020 (click-append: "11 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[World Health Organization describes COVID-19 as a pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces a £12bn package of emergency support to businesses. There is no mention of self-employed or freelancers.]] 13 March 2020 (click-append: "13 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[“(…) we are formally requesting Tate (…) In the event of a closure during the government’s delay phase in their coronavirus action plan, we need to ensure that staff, contractor and temporary staff will continue to be paid fully.” — PCS Tate United An employee at the Tate Modern in Bankside has tested positive for coronavirus.]] 1. Slipping through the net (click-append: "1. Slipping through the net") [ : (colour: red)[‘We need urgent clarity from the Government about what exactly these new changes will mean. The Government must spell out whether there will be a formal ban, when that might come into effect, which venues and events will be impacted…’— UK Music Acting CEO Tom Kiehl]] 14 March 2020 (click-append: "14 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[“In order to protect the health and wellbeing of our staff, partners and visitors, the South London Gallery has taken the decision to close as of 6pm on Saturday 14 March until further notice.” SLG becomes first UK exhibition space to close due to coronavirus.]] 15 March 2020 (click-append: "15 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[“By closing its exhibition spaces, the ICA preempts what we hope will eventually be the decision for all cultural organisations in London and the UK in order to safeguard our staff, our visitors, and the artists with whom we work”— Stefan Kalmar, ICA director ICA becomes first UK cinema to close due to coronavirus.]] 16 March 2020 (click-append: "16 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Boris Johnson begins daily press briefings, advising against all “non-essential” travel and mass gatherings, asking people to avoid pubs, clubs, theatres. Government is criticised for being vague and lacking clarity in the messaging. Arts, theatres and museum industries bodies say that lack of outright ban on visiting venues leaves them unable to claim on insurance, causing them further damage which could have been avoided. ]] 2. Slipping through the net (click-append: "2. Slipping through the net") [ : (colour: red)[Museums and galleries are notoriously organised with multiple types of contracted (or non contracted/agency) workers. This means a substantial amount of people working in cultural institutions, especially front of house staff, will be on part-time often zero hour contracts.]] 17 March 2020 (click-append: "17 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Photographers Gallery closes and staff furloughed. “(…) we can confirm that we are paying all ICA staff including front of house and third-party contractors”— ICA Rishi Sunak announces the biggest package of emergency state support for business since the 2008 financial crash (£330bn-worth of government-backed loans and more than £20bn in tax cuts and grants for companies threatened with collapse).]] 18 March 2020 (click-append: "18 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Serpentine Galleries, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Chisenhale Gallery, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, the Barbican Arts Complex, the Southbank Centre venues (including the Hayward Gallery), all the sites of National Museums Liverpool, Nottingham Contemporary, the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, and the Fitzwilliam Museum and Kettle’s Yard — CLOSED] (colour: red)[What will happen to the workers? The artists and the freelancers dependent on these institutions?] (colour: green)[The four Tate galleries, the Victoria & Albert Museums, the British Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Whitechapel Gallery, the British Library, Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Horniman Museum and Gardens, the Foundling Museum, the Wallace Collection, the Estorick Collection, the Design Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery — CLOSED]] 20 March 2020 (click-append: "20 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Schools shut across the UK until further notice. Boris Johnson orders all pubs, cafes, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues to close. The chancellor announces the government will pay up to 80% of wages for workers at risk of being laid off.]] 3. Slipping through the net (click-append: "3. Slipping through the net") [ : (colour: red)[While people rely on museums and culture to create respite from the chaos, how can we ensure that these places support those which create escapism for others?]] 21 March 2020 (click-append: "21 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[DCW sets out a COVID-19 Studio Rent survey. ** • Facilitate the transition to remote working! • Implement a rent freeze across all studio spaces! • Ensure full salary sick pay for those not able to work because of COVID-19!** “Koppel are keeping their studios open as long as possible to force tenants to keep paying”— Anonymous ]] 22 March 2020 (click-append: "22 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Universal Credit advice: If you are self-employed and claiming Universal Credit, and are required to stay at home or are ill as a result of coronavirus, the Minimum Income Floor (an assumed level of income) will not be applied for a period of time whilst you are affected.]] Late March 2020 (click-append: "Late March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[“If you are experiencing serious difficulties with your income please contact us directly (…) providing us with most recent 3 months bank statements and a copy of communications from your employer confirming your position. For those of you that are self employed please send the most recent 3 months business bank account statements in addition. Once received we will speak to you personally about your situation.”— Proposition Studios]] 23 March 2020 (click-append: "23 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Government introduces a nation-wide lockdown, requiring people to ‘Stay Home, Save Lives’, closing non-essential shops and community spaces. It also asks 1.5 million vulnerable people to stay in for 3 months.]] 24 March 2020 (click-append: "24 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[The Arts Council England announces £160 million to support creative practitioners, individuals, and independent cultural organisations.]] 26 March 2020 (click-append: "26 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[The Coronavirus Act 2020 is passed and gives the government and other authorities “unprecedented” powers. Public gatherings for more than two people are banned. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils Self Employed Income Support Scheme, a taxable grant of 80% of the average monthly profit (for those with earnings less than £50k) over the last three years, per month.]] 27 March 2020 (click-append: "27 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Wikipedia page on the Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage is created. “I’m sorry your work has dried up. All mine dried up in one, really weird day.”— Anonymous graphic designer based in Sheffield]] 28 March 2020 (click-append: "28 March 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Government announces Statutory Sick Pay to be paid from the first day of an employee’s absence due to the coronavirus.]] 4. Slipping through the net (click-append: "4. Slipping through the net") [ : (colour: red)[“Yes there are too many gaps and idiotically there are people and businesses who get enormous benefits: Like TESCO who get a year free business rate!! They get £585m thanks to that scheme and local printers, laser cutters or frame makers in railways arches don’t get it (like us) because they are “workshops or workspace” rather than “Retail”… complete nonsense!”]] 5. Slipping through the net (click-append: "5. Slipping through the net") [ : (colour: red)[“I am working hard to get funding. Sadly none of the government scheme are applicable for us… NOT ONE!! I don’t even seem to get the business rate holiday! (we are not retail, nor leisure) We don’t get the rate grant (the building is too large) we don’t get the Emergency D+Business Fund (we employ more than 10 people) We will get the 80% of the salaries but we don’t know when we can apply (not before end of April) We cannot get any of the Arts Council £50M because we have not done work for them before etc etc …”]] 9 April 2020 (click-append: "9 April 2020") [ : (colour: green)[“Be prepared for interviewers to ask ‘What did you do during the pandemic?’ If your answer is that you played on your Xbox, or even just that you learned to code, you’ll be viewed poorly…” — J Baldwin, Glasgow School of Art in AIGA Eye on Design]] 16 April 2020 (click-append: "16 April 2020") [ : (colour: green)[Artists’ Union England sends a letter to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak asking for grants for artists studios following their Studios Survey drawing attention to the problems experiences by artists renting studios during the Covid crisis. ** DCW sends out a Good Practice Protocol for Studio Providers • Rent suspension for all (no payback) • No rent increases or evictions • Studio closure for all but identified essential workers! • Transparency!**]] 22 April 2020 (click-append: "22 April 2020") [ : (colour: green)[UK will need social distancing until at least end of year, says government senior science adviser.]] 23 April 2020 (click-append: "23 April 2020") [ : (colour: green)[ Treasury blocks wage top-ups for furloughed museum staff.]] 🕘 [[Time to take action?->take action]]

If you are still going through university, we encourage you to join another Antiuniversity event, <a href="https://2020.antiuniversity.org/events/pause-or-pay-uk-open-meeting" target="_blank">**Pause or Pay: Open Meeting**</a>, this Sunday 3 May, 11:00 am. RCA, UAL, GSA and Goldsmiths students are gathering together under the banner: pauseorpayuk in attempt to lobby HEIs and the UK government about studio-based learners. Check their <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pauseorpayuk/" target="_blank">**Instagram!**</a> {(live: 5s)[ (text-style: "smear")[ [[start again->just landed]] ] ]}

This could be a good start to your career! ☕ You may land in a great institution that cares about your learning - *congratulations* (although still unpaid). You may be asked to stay late to pour champagne during a Private View. Either way - you cannot live from experience or exposure and you slowly start to realise that you and the other interns are working behind the scenes making sure art is made, exhibited and sold. This is not fair! Everyone should have access to networks, education and experience without gate keeping these from people who cannot afford them. {(live: 16s)[ [[During one of your rare lunch break, tired and upset, you enter a book store and spot something on the shelves->flyer at internship]] ]} {(live: 20s)[ PS: Read about <a href="https://research.gold.ac.uk/24826/1/PWB_Text_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">**The Precarious Workers Brigade**</a> and their critique of wageless and other exploitative forms of labour in the arts. ]} {(live: 22s)[ And, read the article <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324863734_Art_Struggles_Confronting_Internships_and_Unpaid_Labour_in_Contemporary_Art" target="_blank">**"Art Struggles: Confronting Internships and Unpaid Labour in Contemporary Art"**</a>. How can cultural industry workers from solidarity with artists, interns and volunteers? ]}

(link: "📃")[(link: "“Artworkers of the world unite!”")[(link: "mmmh can this be me?")[(link: "“Illegally, 90% of internships are still offered unpaid. Fee payments are routinely late, workers have an unmanageable workload, and no job security and no pension…”")[(link: "sounds familiar...")[(link: "“Workers in the design and cultural sectors are coming together to organise for our collective rights”")[(link: "WOW!")[(link: "...let's go 😀")[(go-to: "community for atomised workers")]] ]]]]]]

Another late night at the office. (link: "You return from a trip to the coffee machine ...")[(link: "📃")[(link: "This landed on your desk")[(link: "you've never seen it before")[(link: "could it be that colleague always checking you're not staying too late?")[(link: "could it be something left by that colleague always leaving work on time to go to more meetings?")[(link: "Where are they going?")[(link: "🚪")[(go-to: "community for atomised workers")]] ]]]]] ]

for now, {(live: 2s)[ (text-style: "fade-in-out")[ [[help us report on the crisis]] [[enter the live pad->live pad]] ] ]} {(live: 5s)[ (text-style: "smear")[ [[start again->just landed]] ] ]}

Good thing this just came into your inbox! <a href="https://precaritypilot.net/from-university-to-work/" target="_blank">**Read me.**</a> {(live: 2s)[ ... What else can I do? 😰 ]} {(live: 4s)[ [[Join Pause or Pay UK!->pause or pay]] ]} {(live: 6s) [[[Enter the live pad!->live pad]] ]} {(live: 8s)[ (text-style: "fade-in-out")[ [[Help us report on the crisis->help us report on the crisis]]] ]}

🙄 okay... different routes taken in the game would have led you to different destinations, here they are: (color: #0000FF)[(link: "💥 a community for atomised workers")[(go-to: "community for atomised workers")]] (color: #0000FF)[(link: "💥 an Arts+Covid19 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon")[(go-to: "help us report on the crisis")]] ...and (color: #0000FF)[(link: "💥 a Covid19 timeline")[(go-to: "coronavirus")]] ...and maybe [<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13n-AuothxUOOrfutk5rXXxTZPp3Z8y25/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">**💥 a DCW flyer**</a>] or perhaps... [<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RApy9XQxm5rwje1Sj8IjuUZsKKlvP0BI/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">**💥 a DCW guideline for studio providers**</a>] with solidarity, designers + cultural workers UVW