Artist Talk: The Right to Abstraction

Why is abstraction treated as a luxury rather than a necessity? For artists whose identities are marked as "other"—particularly women of colour—creative work is frequently expected to be legible, political, autobiographical, and explicitly tied to experiences of oppression. The pressure to explain, represent, or educate can shape not only how art is received, but what kinds of art are considered valuable or relevant in the first place.

This conversation explores what it means to make abstract work in a world that often demands clear narratives and recognisable messages.

Multidisciplinary (film)maker, journalist, writer, community organiser, and former Supervisory Board member Clarice Gargard and interdisciplinary creative, experiential designer, transmedia storyteller, and 2025 Seed Awardee Tala Abdalhadi will consider abstraction as a mode of freedom, experimentation, and complexity. The discussion will examine how artists navigate cultural expectations, audience assumptions, and institutional frameworks while claiming space for work that does not always explain itself.