This interdisciplinary symposium addresses urgent concerns regarding control of digital space within and beyond the art and creative communities in Canadian and international contexts. It explores how artists and creators can contribute to a more ethical web.
Some of the key topics of the symposium include:
- examples of activism against censorship and surveillance in the arts in the Canadian and international context
- examples of the current artist- and tech-involved initiatives of “taking back the web” and
- potential empowering alternatives in the digital sphere
The symposium will explore three approaches as examples of artist- and tech-involved activism against two main and interconnected systems of oppression: artists as developers/co-developers of the Web’s Infrastructure; artistic “gestures” as activism against online censorship and surveillance; and storytelling—changing narratives through technology and science fiction.
Featured Speakers and Co-facilitators:
- Jillian C. York [Berlin] (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
- Skawennati [Montreal] (Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace)
- Mathias Jud [Berlin] (Can you hear me?)
- Sarah Friend [Toronto/Berlin] (Our Networks)
- Jonathan Penney [Halifax] (Citizen Lab, Dalhousie U)
- Garry Ing [Toronto] (OCAD U, Our Networks)
- Dante Sanchez [Toronto] (Toronto Mesh)
- Connor Turland [Toronto] (Holochain)
- Dawn Walker [Toronto] (U of T)