Screenshot from work in progress by İz Öztat
Free to join. Held in English.
PRAKSIS Development Forum (PDF) is a monthly peer-discussion group for creative people, offering a friendly, informal hub for practitioners to meet, share and discuss works in progress.
PDF 55 will be held online and begin with a presentation and discussion of work in progress by artist and researcher İz Öztat. Not yet titled, her video work repurposes hand puppets, most of them made in Germany during the 20th century, to reflect on artistic agency and the complexities of confronting state violence and official narratives while remaining accountable as an artist.
The session is of particular relevance to anyone concerned with creative practices’ engagement with politicised histories, and the ways that form, material and narrative can serve as tools for critical reflection. There are places for two other participants to share their own works in progress. You may also simply join the discussion.
Book Your Place
There are eight places for this session and booking is essential. Alongside Öztat, there are up to two additional places for those presenting work in progress, and five places for those wishing to join the group conversation. If you're curious about PDF but not ready to share work, you're warmly welcome to join and see what it’s all about.
To reserve a spot please email: pdf@praksisoslo.org
PDF Structure
Each presenting participant has around 40 minutes to share their current artistic activity. PDF’s focus is on works and ideas in progress, so please do not present finished works or projects. Projects in development can be shared in a number of ways: for example by bringing in physical works, presenting a slideshow, reading, performance, or other suitable communication strategy. A projector and laptop is available for the group to use throughout the session. PDF encourages variety and experimentation, so please get in touch if you have questions or special requirements.
More About İz Öztat
İz Öztat’s individual and collective artistic practice spans diverse media and is shaped by research. Her work explores the persistence of violent histories through forms, materials, space, and language. Öztat is a current fellow of the Berlin Artistic Research Programme (2024–25), and her writing—including academic articles, essays, and fictional texts—has appeared in a range of publications. She has been active in the field of art and education across self-organised, institutional, and academic contexts. Recent exhibitions include Self-determination: A Global Perspective, IMMA, Dublin (2023); The Colony, Schwules Museum, Berlin (2018); Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); Land without Land, Heidelberger Kunstverein (2016); and Salt Water: A Theory on Thought Forms, 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015).
More About PDF
PDF’s monthly events offer a constructive space for artists, curators and writers to share and discuss their current practice. Its goal is to enable cultural practitioners to learn what other creatives are up to, speak about their own work and share their perspectives. It is open to individuals at all career stages and every participant’s contribution to the group is valued.
Support PDF
PDF is only partly-funded by the Norwegian Arts Council. As with all of PRAKSIS’s activity, we intend to keep it free and open to all. If you’ve enjoyed taking part in PDF, or have benefitted from some other feature of PRAKSIS’s programmes, please consider supporting us via www.patreon.com/praksisoslo. Every small contribution – for instance, the cost of a cup of coffee a month – helps us keep our programmes going.
About PRAKSIS
PRAKSIS is a non-profit centre for art and learning that fosters creative practice and knowledge production through collective activity and the exchange of ideas, skills and information. PRAKSIS seeks to establish dialogue between artists, thinkers and organisations locally and internationally, at all career stages, and across diverse cultures and disciplines.
