Electronic art symposium for Durban
The 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art is to be held in Durban in 2018.
THE world’s most prominent nomadic international arts and technology event – the International Symposium on Electronic Art – ISEA2018 is coming to Durban in 2018.
This was announced at the opening of the 3rd Annual DUT DigiFest in Durban at the weekend. This is the first time in the 24 years of annual festivals around the world ISEA will be taking place on African soil.
Durban University of Technology’s Faculty of Arts and Design, The Trinity Session, eThekwini Municipality and Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau will be hosting this prestigious symposium in July 2018, and they are collectively looking at how the DUT DigiFest could be used as an important catalyst for the development of creative content, thought and ideas for the event.
Following the international announcement of Durban as the host for ISEA2018 in Hong Kong earlier in 2016, the local announcement on 8 and 9 September of the plans to come were at the DUT DigiFest. This was coupled with a coming together of interested parties from different disciplines, industries, research and government to exchange ideas on what a locally relevant program and direction for ISEA2018 could be.
As partners in ISEA2018, DUT’s deputy vice chancellor Prof Thandi Gwele and Executive Dean of Arts and Design and DigiFest Festival director Dr René Alicia Smith welcomed ISEA2018.
Head of International and Governance Relations of eThekwini Municipality, Eric Apelgren, expressed the municipality’s enthusiasm and support for this prestigious event and how ISEA2018 and DigiFest can manifest new opportunities for Durban and its people.
Marcus Neustetter, co-director of The Trinity Session and executive director of ISEA2018 presented the opportunity of locally relevant, engaged and cross-disciplinary projects for empowerment and affecting change in Durban and South Africa.
“In this sense, the theme ‘Intersections’ for the symposium, events and exhibitions in 2018, positions creative technological innovation as an activist engagement into public space and public practice,” he explained.
He said creative collaboration between artists, artisans, designers, technologists, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and inventors will take place in a context where survival is the most basic instigator for solutions.
“In such a scenario, technological developments follow and support these solutions. In addition, the role of the artist is essential in providing opportunities to build new and exciting interactions between people and place,” said Neustetter.
A formal call for expressions of interest for ISEA2018 will be made in early 2017.
The committee also welcomes engagement from interested parties. For further information contact the committee via Isea2018@onair.co.za
