Gendai
© Credits: Gendai, 2025.
CBA: Collective Bargaining Agency / Workshop — Gendai
Workshop on Thursday, October 30 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at articule.
Doors open starting at 5PM. Limited seats, tickets available on Eventbrite.
Join Gendai for a contracts workshop on Thursday, October 30 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Gendai is a collective based in Tkaronto/Toronto dedicated to building a more equitable art sector through collective research with BIPOC artists and arts workers. Together, we will look at institutional contracts from the contemporary art sector to discuss how they could be more supportive for freelance artists, curators, and/or arts workers. Bring your own contract to contribute, or come ready with your gossip!
The workshop aims to reform contract language by starting with the material needs of freelance artists, curators, and arts workers. We will look at samples of employment or exhibition contracts issued by cultural institutions and collectively critique them. Which terms are supportive, which are punitive, and how can we demand better? We encourage participants to bring a contract that they are currently struggling with and use our discussion as a leveraging tactic. Participants can also bring an older contract, as an example of what worked and what didn't. Please note that we will not have lawyers present at the workshop.
With your consent, discussions in the workshop will contribute towards materials for Gendai CBA, an online, crowd-sourced database of contracts commonly encountered by contemporary art practitioners. The project informally and anonymously utilizes collective bargaining power to encourage sector transparency and demand more equitable standards for labour conditions in the arts. A beta version of Gendai CBA is available here.
For more information on Gendai’s work on contracts, check out their interview in the podcast The Transparency that Helps All of Us by Geneviève Wallen. Gendai has also published their research in the Gossip issue of C Magazine, titled “We Should Talk: Obvious Truths About Working in the Arts.”
If you have any questions/concerns, please email gendaiclub@gmail.com.
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Accessibility Needs/Questions + Can't Make it?
Do you have any accessibility requirements? Please email outreach@articule.org and we will do our best to accommodate you if you let us know in advance. This could cover dietary restrictions, workshop timing, translation/ASL…
There are limited spots total to participate in this event, if you sign up and realize later that you can't make it, please be mindful and cancel or email outreach@articule.org to give your spot up + meal to someone else who may want to participate!
FAQ
What kind of contracts can I bring?
Exhibiting artist contracts, Independent curator contracts, Arts writer contracts, Short term arts employment (internships, technicians etc.), and Long term arts employment.
*** Tip: highlight any particular clauses that you wish you discuss
How do I submit a contract?
Bring a hard copy to the workshop or email a pdf: gendaiclub@gmail.com.
Can I share a contract and remain anonymous?
There are several ways to protect your identity:
Redact any sensitive information that you may not be comfortable sharing with a public audience
Have a friend submit your contract on your behalf
Gendai
Gendai (Marsya Maharani and Petrina Ng) is an art collective based in Tkaronto/Toronto dedicated to racialized artists as the next generation of cultural leaders, radical thinkers, and visionaries.
Throughout its twenty-year history, Gendai has supported experimental curatorial and organizational practices, whilst creating space for East Asian artists and artists of colour. As Gendai’s newest stewards, Marsya and Petrina are investing in the future of racialized arts leadership through collective research and practice. We began with Gendai MA MBA: Mastering the Art of Misguided Business Administration: a year-long capacity-development & network-building think tank between nine majority-BIPOC art collectives to critique and re-imagine institutional practices by centering values of collectivity, equity, and access. This developed into Gendai CO-OP: an ongoing research that responds to toxic labour conditions especially experienced by BIPOC arts workers at museums and art galleries.
Using gossip as a methodology to trace the contours of institutional power, Gendai builds relationships with emerging and mid-career arts practitioners of colour to learn about current workplace dynamics in the sector. By offering peer mentorship and access to Gendai’s platform, resources, and network, they invite collaborators to support each other in pursuing non-institutional futures and imagine “off-ramps” from the linear expressway of traditional, capitalist, and institutional career progression in the arts. Gendai also participates in Guidance Council, a bi-monthly casual drop-in organized by Alexandra Hong and Peter Rahul for racialized arts workers to share stories and solicit advice from each other. Gendai has published their research in the Gossip issue of C Magazine, titled “We Should Talk: Obvious Truths About Working in the Arts.”
Calendar of Events
This event is a collaboration between Gendai: Marsya Maharani and Petrina Ng, and artist Snack Witch Joni Cheung 張文懿 in the context of the H Art Department performance at the artist-run centre articule.
Performance H Art Department
— October 29th to Oct. 31st, 2025. Open from 12 to 6 PM.
Gendai CBA: Collective Bargaining Agency / Workshop
— Thursday October 30th, 2025. Doors open at 5 PM. Catch the tail end of H ART Department performance from 5 to 5:30 PM!! CBA workshop from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Free and open to all.
💋xoxo: gossiping as + on wayfinding in the arts 💋
— Conference-brunch on Saturday, November 1st. Doors open at 10:30, Event starts at 11 AM.
For any questions or requests concerning accessibility to the event or our gallery space, please contact James Goddard via email or by phone at 514-842-9686. For general accessibility information, please visit our dedicated page. We are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming space for all.
Considering ongoing COVID-19 and flu transmissions, please note that mask wearing is strongly recommended during events.