The International Artists’ Association Europe urges European museums and art institutions to offer professional visual artists free or discounted entry to exhibitions upon presentation of an IAA card.
What is the IAA card?
The IAA card (International Identity Card for Professional Artists) is an internationally recognised membership card that entitles professional visual artists to free or discounted entry to exhibitions. Cardholders are members of a national association of visual artists, which is part of the International Artists Association (IAA).
IAA is a global organisation established in 1951 and operating in over 100 countries and five continents. IAA is an official partner of UNESCO, and the only one representing visual arts. The IAA supports international collaboration and artistic exchange, free from any aesthetic, political, or other bias, and aims to improve the economic and social position of artists at the national and international levels.
Why introduce the IAA card in your museum or art institution?
An artist’s work requires continuous development and active engagement with the art field. Access to art, both contemporary and historical, provides technical understanding, generates new insights, and helps contextualise one’s own art in relation to the historical continuum of art. The language of visual arts is international, and exposure to exhibitions in different countries promotes the mobility of skills and ideas across borders. However, visual artists are often low-income, which can make it difficult for them to afford entry fees to art destinations.
The ever-evolving forms of artistic expression also generate compelling art, which, in turn, attracts audiences to exhibitions. The role of museums and exhibition institutions is not only to preserve but also to actively cultivate and enable the creation of artistic content in the
future. Offering free or discounted entry to IAA cardholders is an important gesture by your museum or art institution to support artists and the future of art. Currently, over 300 museums and exhibition institutions worldwide accept the IAA card. A list of these organisations is maintained on the IAA Europe website.
How to identify the IAA card?
The appearance of the IAA card is uniform in all countries. One side of the card is blue and uniform across all organisations, while the other side features the logo and information of each organisation.
The validity of the card is linked to the membership in a national association and varies from country to country. Artists eligible for the card may include, for example, painters, sculptors, graphic artists, and other visual arts professionals. Both paper and digital cards are available. You can arrange for the implementation of the IAA card through the national umbrella organisation representing visual artists in your country. You can find a list of IAA Europe member organisations on our website.
Thank you for being part of enabling a sustainable future for visual arts!
On behalf of IAA Europe,
Mr. Teemu Mäki, President of IAA Europe