28 October–1 November 2015
www.impakt.nl
We live in a time when more information has been stored in the past decade than in all of human history that preceded it. 2014 saw the making of one trillion photographs—a quarter of all pictures ever in existence. Consciously and unconsciously, our lives are captured in pixels and bytes, but what actually happens with this data? What does this ongoing data collection mean for ideas of individual and collective memory? Will it help us remember, or will it make us forget? The Impakt Festival 2015 in Utrecht (Netherlands) is an experimental symposium unfolding over five days, with debates, art, films and lectures by international theorists, artists and experts.
With keynotes by: Daan Roosegaarde, Evgeny Morozov, Evan Roth, Cécile B. Evans and Jason Scott.
Presentations and contributions by: Ramon Amaro, Jeremy Bailey, Kristen Gwinn Becker, Annie Berman, Stéphane Degoutin, Digital Death Drive (Stëfan Schäfer + Emily West), Gemma Galdon Clavell, Kristoffer Gansing, Bregtje van der Haak, Anne Helmond, Charles van den Heuvel, Patty Jansen, Olia Lialina, Geert Lovink, Boris Meister, Egge van der Poel, Tobias Revell, Rutger Rienks, Frank Rieger, Richard Vijgen.
Find the full programme and ticket information here.
Further announcements
Impakt is thrilled to announce the year theme of 2016:
“The Value of Authenticity in the Post-Digital Age”
Does authenticity still matter? In a hyperlinked network culture, it seems that the valuation of characteristics like hybridity and reproducibility have shifted. At the same time, omnipresent marketing and self-representation strategies more than ever emphasize sincerity as both a life goal and an experience. How may we understand this paradox? Throughout 2016 Impakt, appointed curators Barbara Cueto & Bas Hendrikx will map the compelling new notions of authenticity from the perspectives of arts, technology and society, culminating in the Impakt Festival from 26–30 October 2016.
Read more about the theme of “The Value of Authenticity in the Post-Digital Age” and the curators of 2016 here.
Open call for curatorial proposals: Impakt 2018
A new open call for curatorial proposals is opened. The Impakt Festival is the annual culmination of Impakt’s activities as an organisation that focuses on critical media culture: a five-day, multimedia festival with conferences, talks, performances, screenings, exhibitions and presentations. Founded in 1988, the Impakt Festival takes place every autumn in the city of Utrecht (Netherlands).
Curatorial proposals can be submitted by curators individually or collectively and should present a main, newly conceived theme that deals with fresh and urgent questions around shifting paradigms in transglobal society, technology and the visual arts as seen through media culture’s lens.
Impakt strongly calls for proposals that display an affinity with media culture, an interdisciplinary approach and a wide spectrum of views—avoiding an all-too-singular stance on the politics of the issues raised. The nature of proposed programmes and subjects can range from cultural archives, speculative futurist ideas, popular culture, and new ideas about our digital landscape to the Internet, off-stream culture in visual arts, technology and thought-provoking academics.
Submission deadline: 17 December 2015
Continue reading on our website for the complete call and submission guidelines.
Past Impakt Festival themes have included: “Your Space” (2008), “Accelerated Living” (2009), “Matrix City” (2010), “The Right To Know” (2011), “No More Westerns” (2012), “Capitalism Catch-22” (2013) and “Soft Machines” (2014). Upcoming Impakt Festival themes: “The Future of the Past” (2015) and ”The Value of Authenticity in the Post-Digital Age” (2016).
We look forward to receiving your proposal.