PRAKSIS Development Forum (PDF) is a monthly peer-discussion group for creative people. It offers a friendly, informal hub for practitioners to meet, share and discuss works in progress. Each meeting has space for around eight participants, three of whom will have the opportunity to present work in progress and invite feedback from the group.
Participation in PDF is free. The event will be conducted in English.
PDF #63 will take place at NBK and be opened by Billedkunst editor Nicholas Norton, who will present and invite feedback on an unpublished editorial text in development. The meeting’s focus is on the role of case studies and examples in shaping a text. How are they selected and interpreted? How do these decisions position the writing in relation to its subject?
Norton will also invite discussion about broader editorial considerations, including the challenge of navigating a course between one’s own interests and matters of relevance to a given publication’s established readership.
This session is especially relevant for artists, writers, editors, curators and others interested in art criticism, publishing and the conditions shaping contemporary artistic discourse.
Book Your Place
Applications are warmly invited both from those who’d like to present and discuss works in progress, and from those who’d simply like to contribute to the discussion and learn about the PDF format. Booking is essential. To reserve a place please email pdf@praksisoslo.org
PDF Structure
Each presenting participant has about 30 minutes to share and discuss their work in progress. PDF’s focus is on development rather than reviewing outcomes: please do not present finished works or projects. To help us stick to our schedule, please select a single work or self-contained project for presentation.
Content advice: PDF is committed to the encouragement of free, constructive and respectful discussion. However, please let us know in advance if your work contains material or references with potential to upset or offend, so that we can circulate a suitable advance content warning to participants. If in doubt, please consult with us beforehand.
Practicalities
Works in progress may be shared by bringing in physical works, presenting a slideshow, reading or performance, or any other suitable communication strategy. A projector and laptop will be made available. PDF encourages variety and experimentation, so please get in touch if you have special requirements or wish to know more about the format.
More About Nicholas Norton
Nicholas Norton (b. 1989) is an art critic, writer and editor based in Oslo. He holds an MA in Art History from the University of Oslo and has contributed to Billedkunst for over a decade. He writes regularly for Klassekampen, Kunstkritikk and Frieze, and has previously contributed to Artforum, Contemporary Art Stavanger, Norsk Kunstårbok, Neural and Wuxia. Norton is chair of AICA Norway and serves on the executive committee of the art section of the Norwegian Critics’ Association. He is also a board member of Kunstbok Oslo. He recently edited a monograph on Ole John Aandal (Multipress, 2025) and co-edited the Munch Triennale catalogues The Machine is Us and Almost Unreal (MUNCH, 2025).
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 support 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 arts catalyst 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.
