Artdependence interview

Artdependence is a quarterly magazine from Europe which highlights the work of artists and curators around the world. Specialising in detailed, in-depth interviews, Artdependence brings global artistic talent to its readers, wherever they may be.

We had a chat with the magazine’s founder, Anna Savitskaya, about why she created Artdependence, and and how the team considers content for a discerning audience.

What was the main drive when creating Artdependence?

First we wanted it cover contemporary art but also classical and modern art. We wanted it to have a healthy mix of short news, auction results, an event calendar and long, in-depth interviews.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Europe’s long art history is a great source of inspiration for us, but we also draw from our own personal histories. Dirk (Vanduffel, head of marketing) comes from Antwerp, which remains one of the cultural European centres, whereas I come from Moscow. Russia has been an isolated country for a long time now, and re-discovering its culture and art is one of the most interesting directions of our magazine. We also have a great team of writes from all over the world, so our magazine is truly international.

Artdependence has a well maintained website, how important is it for you to carry on printing a physical edition?

It is very important, print is not dead, but it is going through enormous changes. A printed issue gives visibility and credibility. It is always nice to touch and look through a printed magazine like Artdependence. And as said it has different goals. Try both!

You place a lot of focus on longform interviews, what is the thought process behind that move in an age of short content?

After a day full of bright screens, news articles and short content pieces, we wanted to give our readers an opportunity to step into a richer world full of art, creativity and inspiration. We give readers the chance to meet artists, curators, collectors, and gallery directors and hear them speak. We prefer interviews because this way you can actually hear what the interviewee is talking about, how he or she reacts and even how they think. In terms of the length of our articles, we always try to avoid that bitter feeling readers can get when an interview has been done in a rush and reduced to 3 minutes of reading time consisting of quick questions and shallow replies.

What is the criteria for an interview or event to be included in the magazine?

Quality, originality and diversity. A good example is an early interview we published with two Hirst fans who travelled around the world to attend the Gagosian Gallery openings, which took place simultaneously in eleven galleries (London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and New York) in order to win a prize from Mr. Hirst. We were interested how and why they did it, if it was difficult and how it was all organised etc. We were a bit nervous of the reactions to this piece, however it was very well read and from then on we’ve tried to look for less obvious themes to feature in the magazine.

What are your hopes/plans for the future of the magazine?

Maintaining the quality of our content is our main goal. We’re also constantly thinking about all of the possible ways to provide unique and interesting material, get in touch with outstanding personalities working in art, and make Artdependence magazine even better. We have several projects planned, but for the moment we take it issue by issue, working on quality and credibility.

Unfortunately we no longer stock Artdependence, however you can find out more about the magazine at ArtDependence.com