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Artist Empowerment & Building of Cross-Sector Collaboration: In Conversation with Artist and Founder of De Structura, Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova
Anastasia is the founder and executive director of De Structura, a contemporary art platform launched in 2021. She is a strong advocate for creatives and cultural professionals and a member of the Reset! network's Executive Committee. As an artist herself, Anastasia is passionate about creating change in the contemporary art world. She holds a BA in Fine Arts and has trained in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Estonia, where she is currently based.
De Structura's mission is twofold: to empower emerging art professionals by providing them with knowledge, connections, and tools to bring their ideas to life, and to foster cross-sector collaboration between the arts and other industries. The platform focuses on collaborative art projects, network building, advocacy, and capacity-building, with a special emphasis on emerging professionals aged 20 to 35.
- Hello Anastasia! Could you tell us more about De Structura and what inspired you and your co-founders to start this project?
Alongside my Fine Arts studies—where I trained as a painter—I spent ten years in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) in various capacities. While EYP hosted many events on topics such as energy policy, migration, and sustainable development, there were hardly any events about culture. With this in mind, in 2018 I came up with the idea of organising a large forum to bring together 100 young art professionals of diverse profiles to discuss the numerous structural issues within the European cultural sector.
Initially, I tried to launch the event under the umbrella of established art organisations, but after several negotiations, it became clear that these developmental efforts were of little interest to anyone other than emerging artists themselves. By then, having had the experience of running an organisation in the past, I decided to hold the forum independently under my own legal entity.
After filling out the paperwork online in the Estonian business registry and opening up a bank account without leaving my flat–one of the many reasons I love Estonia–in the spring of 2021 De Structura was born. We then got together a team of 15 people from across Europe and held the forum a year later, producing a policy report and multiple cross-border collaborations. Over the years we have narrowed down our focus to advancing cross-sectoral collaboration with the arts and structurally improving the status quo for emerging artists.
De Structura 2022 Forum, Image Courtesy of De Structura
- Could you share some of your ongoing or upcoming projects with us?
At the first forum, we began exploring the opportunities that Augmented Reality (AR) platforms offer to young art professionals. We had a large pool of talented individuals whose work we wanted to showcase, and AR provided a way to do so. Over the past three years, we have presented five AR exhibitions, which proved to be a valuable learning experience, revealing the medium's potential for displaying contemporary art. With one of our upcoming projects, we aim to optimise a platform specifically for contemporary art exhibitions and create an interactive guide for art professionals on utilising it.
Unveiling Structures, De Structura 2022 Forum, AR Exhibition, Image Courtesy of De Structura
Another of our projects aims to create collaborations between the arts and other sectors by creating opportunities for knowledge exchange and creative problem-solving. The goal is to empower professionals from the arts and other industries to work together and explore new approaches to cross-innovation. This is a collaborative effort with our partner from Belgium, who have 22 years of experience in bringing to life such cross-innovation initiatives. Additionally, we have something quite ambitious works with our partners from over the gulf in Finland, however, it's in early stages and I hope we can reveal everything in the upcoming months.
- Many De Structura projects focus on the intersection of art and other industries. In your opinion, which industries benefit the most from collaborating with the arts, and why? What challenges have you faced in building cross-sector collaborations, and how have you overcome them?
The research on cross-sectoral collaboration, regrettably, isn’t as ample as the field deserves, and nonetheless, there are some reports to turn to on the topic. For instance, the 2013 Creative Clash report looked at data from 205 organisations from various sectors, revealing the significant impact of cross-innovation efforts involving the arts. The findings, drawn from academic, practitioner, and policy sources, and highlight numerous successful projects across industries including manufacturing, automotive, biotech, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, education, and municipal institutions. Art ideation and art-based interventions can be beneficial to a myriad of endeavours, provided that forward-thinking, curious and competent leaders are involved. One major obstacle to innovation, in my view, is outdated management practices and a reluctance to explore seemingly new and non-standardised approaches.
- How do you see the role of young professionals in shaping the future of contemporary art? What advice would you give to young professionals in the creative industry?
The role of our sector in economies, societies, individual well-being and empowerment has been increasingly recognised in the EU. However, financial cuts to culture, driven by various crises, will persist. We need to move away from outdated models and adopt new, strategic approaches to using our potential. For example, as young art professionals, rather than seeking sponsorship for projects unrelated to the sponsor's activities, we should pursue partnerships that create value for both parties, making them mutually beneficial. Does your work explore ways to nurture the environment and accelerate the green transition? Excellent—seek partners from other sectors with similar goals but different perspectives, present the potential of your work, and build meaningful connections.
Image Courtesy of De Structura
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