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On October 13, 2011, the sixth edition of LOKO, the national convention of commissioned art professionals, takes place at the Royal Theatre in Heerlen.

This annual symposium brings together commissioners, commissioned artists and intermediaries. They will discuss topical issues, taking as a common viewpoint the fact that expertise in the arts field is of abiding importance in spatial and urban development.

Each year, lectures, debates and presentations of best practices will take a variety of subjects as their departure points. LOKO11 relates to the international (particularly European) state of art in the public space, and the role of art and artists in fostering urban development and a healthy living environment in regions that are subject to demographic shrinkage. With contributions from, amongst others, Wolfgang Kil (architecture critic closely involved with the IBA Bauhaus project Shrinking Cities), Brigitte Franzen (director of the Ludwig Forum in Aachen and author of an article on 40 years of art in the public domain in Germany), Jan Boelen (director of Z33 in Hasselt, Belgium). Several participants of the study trip What's up, what's down also contribute. The study trip was organised by Fonds BKVB (Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture), visiting Bilbao, Liverpool, Skopje and other European cities in 2010.

LOKO11 is organised by SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain in collaboration with Huis voor de Kunsten Limburg (Limburg House of the Arts), a cultural institute for art and culture in the Dutch province of Limburg. LOKO11 is made possible by the Province of Limburg, the Municipality of Heerlen and Fonds BKVB (Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture).