2025-09-08

Artistic research takes centre stage at the world's largest basic income congress

Erik Gandini, professor of documentary film and researcher at Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH), demonstrates through his participation in BIEN 25 – the world's largest congress on basic income and social innovation – how artistic research plays an increasingly important role in social and future issues.

Congress hall at BIEN 2025 — Photo: Erik Gandini

At the congress in Rio de Janeiro, Gandini presented his film AFTER WORK together with his research project The Future Through the Present. The film was shown to an engaged audience and followed by in-depth discussions, which clearly underlined how artistic expression can contribute unique and necessary perspectives to the debate on the future of working life and economic systems.

BIEN 25 brought together hundreds of researchers, decision-makers, activists and artists from around the world under the theme “Basic Income & Solidarity Economy: New Horizons for Social Protection”. Among the participants was economist Guy Standing, who coined the term “precariat”. Gandini's participation reflects how artistic research is gaining ground in conversations traditionally dominated by economics and politics. It also marks a growing interest in artistic methods as tools for engaging audiences in issues of social justice – especially when projects are designed from the outset with impact in mind.

“What inspired me most at BIEN in Rio was the visionary energy of a younger generation. In a setting usually dominated by data and analysis, art was welcomed as vital. Showing AFTER WORK twice became a way to ignite collective imagination – exploring future scenarios not as distant possibilities, but as something we can actively shape together”, says Erik Gandini.

Erik Gandini

Gandini and Costanza Julia Bani's project Work Free Future, which explores the role of artistic practices in imagining and preparing for possible futures, has also been awarded one million Swedish kronor in VR funding to spread artistic research beyond the walls of academia.

Erik Gandini's film AFTER WORK explores changes in working life at a time when automation, digitalisation and economic transitions are affecting how we live and work. The film highlights alternative ways of thinking about work and economic systems, particularly in relation to basic income and the solidarity economy. Using artistic methods and storytelling, the film creates a space for reflection and discussion beyond traditional economic and political perspectives. It challenges established norms and opens up new ideas about what the society and work of the future might look like – with a focus on human dignity, community and sustainability.