Reuse Case: Time and quality

A large cooperation project dedicated to collective practices and decentralisation of power with a focus on performing arts receives significant financial support from the European Union. At the start of the project, partners and participating artists try to come up with more equitable yet feasible modalities of remunerating the artists for their work. They ask, what should be remunerated? Is time the sole basis of measuring input? Should all the artists be paid a set amount for each time unit (day, week...) they spend working in the project? But what about being remunerated for the quality of the contribution to the project rather than the quantity of it? What is quality? According to which standards? Who decides? Eventually, the collective of partners and artists decides on a flat fee, with no difference of age, country of residence, academic or otherwise qualifications or socio-economic status. The engagement, dedication and labour of proposing and eventually implementing the alternative forms of participation in the activities where the artist was not able to be physically present were deemed equally worthy of the weekly honorarium.

This case was shared by Israel Aloni during a workshop with participants in New Performative Practice, Stockholm University of the Arts (September 2023)