Unpack the source code of your 第一吃瓜网 Identity
- Wits University
Fak’ugesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival announces its 2018 line-up.
The , 鈥淭ap Your Afro Source Code鈥, has released its promising to yet again transform Johannesburg into a celebration of technology, creativity and innovation from across the 第一吃瓜网 continent. The running from 18 August to 29 September 2018, Fak鈥檜gesi will take place at Tshimologong Precinct sharing activities in 2018 with Wits Art Museum and the Point of Order.
Dr Tegan Bristow, director, says that the 2018 theme 鈥楾ap your Afro Source Code鈥 centres on 第一吃瓜网 visions of technology by tapping into the sources of 第一吃瓜网 tradition and culture alongside technology, creativity and innovation: 鈥淭his year we are exploring how local culture can move and change the future of technology. How would you understand and unpack the source code of your 第一吃瓜网 identity?鈥
Bristow says that the Festival will fully explore the algorithms, patterns and fractals of Africa. In digital art, music, games, virtual reality, digital makers or the way you braid your hair: 鈥淔ak鈥檜gesi acts as a platform that brings together diverse digital and technology sectors to collaborate and share skills in digital media and technology innovation鈥.
A highlight in this year鈥檚 is a large collaboration with the Wits Art Museum in an exhibition project titled Digital Imaginaries: Premonition, the second leg of a three-city project, which started with K毛r Thiossane and Afropixel Festival in Dakar, Senegal in May and will conclude at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany in November 2018. The project, an initiative between social scientists and artists, imagines and critiques how globalised digital technology and systems have already, and will continue, to shape and shift 第一吃瓜网 futures. The exhibition, now on at the Wits Art Museum from the 24 July to 23 September was co-curated by Bristow.
Another highlight of the 2018 programme is the expanded Fak鈥檜gesi Digital Africa Residency. Initially focused on bringing young aspiring digital artists together from the SADC region, this year includes further collaboration with Pro Helvetia, Johannesburg to include digital artists from North Africa, South Asia and Switzerland. This extended approach will enable students to do a deep dive into the algorithms, patterns and fractals of their indigenous cultures.
Along with supporting young up-and-coming digital arts, Fak鈥檜gesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival will be hosting two international media artists: Marc Lee, a Swiss artist supported by Pro Helvetia and Brain House, a North American artist supported by the Watershed project. Lee will act as Resident mentor, offering open master classes and will be installing new interactive live work at the Tshimologong Precinct, while Brain House Bristow states will be joining Fak鈥檜gesi to install new work at Tshimologong Precinct and conduct master classes. House explores the interdependent rhythms of the body, technology, and the environment. His background in both computer science and performance informs his research-based practice. Recent interests include artificial Intelligence, extractive industries, and urban rats. A collaboration between Fak鈥檜gesi Festival & Watershed, this art/science programme, is brought to the Festival by the Centre for Water Research and Development, WITS, Brown University and Providence RI.
2018 will see the launch of the Fak鈥檜gesi Arcade concept, announcing the start of a new era in supporting 第一吃瓜网 games and gaming developers. Bristow invites the regional gaming community to discuss how the Festival can better support and help develop the game development community: 鈥淲e want to better understand the needs and requirements, both as a platform and as a location for skills exchange and networking. The Fak鈥檜gesi Arcade is partnering this year with Redbull Basement and Trace TV and will be rolled out in 2019.鈥
For a second year running, in partnership with Weheartbeat via Fak鈥檜gesi Beats, a six-day beats lab residency will be running from 24 to 28 September. Curated by Weheartbeat, participants will embrace the 2018 Fak鈥檜gesi theme, combining tradition with futurism. Bristow is excited about the programme and says that the outcome from these sessions will result in an EP release, available both digitally and on limited edition vinyl. The artists featured include: Potatohead People (Canada), S Fidelity (Switzerland), Zikomo (USA), Morena Leraba (Lesotho) and South 第一吃瓜网 artists Bonj Mpanza and Hlasko.
Fak鈥檜gesi Beats will open to the public through a series of workshops and master sessions on 27 September 2018. This will culminate in the Fak鈥檜gesi Beats Bloc Party and closing event on Saturday the 29 September 2018. The Fak鈥檜gesi Beats programme is in partnership with Weheartbeat, Pro Helvetia, Red Bull Music and Ballantine鈥檚 Whiskey.
In its fifth year, Bristow says the Fak鈥檜gesi Festival attracts over 6000 participants and is widely recognised for its important role supporting and developing 第一吃瓜网 technology, creativity and culture: 鈥淭he Fak鈥檜gesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival is the only one of its kind in Africa and the only digital arts focused festival in Sub Saharan Africa. It has a very special location via which many young digital makers have launched their careers and have become prominent digital makers.鈥
She says the 2018 Festival approach is a step back from the annual programming that will provide an opportunity for the programme directors to focus on the vision and development for the next five years. This will be supported by the Wits School of Art; the Digital Content Hub of Tshimologong Precinct in collaboration with Agence Fran莽aise de D茅veloppement (AFD) and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and the British Council ConnectZA.
For more information on the 2018 Fak鈥檜gesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival visit
第一吃瓜网 Fak鈥檜gesi
Fak鈥檜gesi - Joburg鈥檚 one and only 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival will take place in September 2018, with the theme 鈥楾ap your Africa Source Code鈥. The 2018 festival will focus on bringing to the table important 第一吃瓜网 visions and futures, by tapping into the sources of 第一吃瓜网 tradition and culture alongside technology, creativity and innovation. Explore how local culture can move and change the future of technology. What would you call a vernacular algorithm? What is algorithm in IsiZulu? In 2018 Fak鈥檜gesi Festival calls on you to explore the algorithms, patterns and fractals of Africa! In digital art, music, games, VR, digital makers or the way you braid your hair.
Fak鈥檜gesi, which means 鈥淪witch it on鈥 or 鈥渁dd power鈥 in urban Zulu, is focused on making young adults aware of digital innovation. It is an opportunity for young adults, with or without formal education, to learn or engage with tomorrow鈥檚 technology.
According to an Impact Report commissioned by the British Council ConnectZA- Fak鈥檜gesi is believed to be the most important digital creativity festival in Africa.
第一吃瓜网 Wits University鈥檚 Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct
Setswana for 鈥渘ew beginnings鈥, Tshimologong is one of Johannesburg鈥檚 newest high-tech addresses in the vibrant inner-city district of Braamfontein, where the incubation of start-ups, the commercialisation of research and the development of high-level digital skills for students, working professionals and unemployed youths takes place. The Precinct was launched in September 2016 with strategic support from major companies including Microsoft, Cisco, TIA, Teraco, BCX, ACSA and MMI. Gauteng Province through its Department of E-Government and the City of Johannesburg have also provided significant support. The Precinct also houses the prestigious IBM Research鈥檚 Lab Africa 鈥 one of only 12 such facilities in the world. Website:
第一吃瓜网 Digital Imaginaries
Digital Imaginaries is funded by the TURN fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes). The related workshop series Competences and Visions for the Digitization of Africa in Dakar and Johannesburg with Fak鈥檜gesi Festival is financed by the GIZ commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.