Forthcoming Events

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Monday, 8 June 2026 (14:00-14:45)

A Public Lecture on “Outsiderness as a Spectrum” 5th Flloor, 9 Chalkokondili Street, Plateia Kannigos

Speaker: Pierre Leichner, Vice President, Community Art Council of Vancouver, Canada.

Moderator:  Gregory T. Papanikos, President of the Athens Institute.

Outsider art refers to a broad field of practice encompassing artists who may be self-taught or formally trained, but whose work develops outside early institutional, academic, and market validation. Often members of equity-deserving communities, these artists encounter systemic barriers to access, visibility, and recognition. Despite their foundational influence on modern and contemporary art since the early twentieth century, outsider artists and their contributions remain under-referenced within dominant art-historical narratives and institutional frameworks. This presentation traces the evolution of outsider art from its origins in Art Brut to its contemporary emergence as an expanded field of practice. I will examine current outsider-focused festivals in Canada and internationally, and present selected case studies of contemporary artists to illustrate the diversity of practices, contexts, and lived experiences encompassed by outsiderness. The presentation concludes by identifying persistent structural barriers faced by outsider artists and proposes understanding outsiderness not as a fixed category, but as a fluid spectrum shaped by social, cultural, and institutional conditions.