Symposium on electronic art

THE world’s most prominent nomadic international arts and technology event – the International Symposium on Electronic Art ( Isea) – is to be presented in Durban in 2018.

Announced at the opening of the recent third annual DUT DigiFest in Durban, the symposium will mark the first time in the 24 years of annual festivals around the world that it will take 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 host the symposium in July 2018,

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 Isea 2018, in Hong Kong earlier this year, the local announcement was coupled with a coming together of interested parties from different disciplines, industries, research and government to exchange ideas on what a locally relevant programme and direction for Isea 2018 could be.

As partners in Isea 2018, DUT’s deputy vice-chancellor, Prof Thandi Gwele, and executive dean of arts and design and DigiFest Festival director, Dr René Alicia Smith, welcomed Isea 2018.

Head of international and governance relations of eThekwini municipality, Eric Apelgren, expressed the municipality’s enthusiasm for this high profile event and how ISEA 2018 and DigiFest can manifest new opportunities for Durban and its people.

Marcus Neustetter, co-director of The Trinity Session and executive director of Isea 2018, presented the opportunity of locally relevant, engaged and cross-disciplinary projects for empowerment and affecting change in South Africa.

“In this sense, the theme of the symposium, events and exhibitions in 2018 positions creative technological innovation as an activist engagement into public space and public practice,” he said.

“Creative collaboration between artists, artisans, designers, technologists, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and inventors will take place in a context where survival is a basic instigator for solutions.” – Goodlife Reporter

Eric Apelgren, head of international and governance relations of eThekwini municipality, left, with Rene Alicia Smith, executive dean of arts and design at DUT, and Marcus Neustetter, co-director of The Trinity Session and executive director of Isea...