SEPTEMBER 2021      

CALL FOR PROJECTS

IMMERSIVE AND INSTALLATION ART

Early to mid 2022, the Digital Placemaking Institute (DPI), supported by the Media Architecture Institute (MAI), will be holding our regular annual symposium. Next year’s event is planned to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the lead up to our next Media Architecture Biennale Conference (MAB23) being held in Toronto. In preparation for this we are seeking practitioners to share their ground-breaking project case studies and innovative approaches towards audience engagement and digital placemaking particularly focusing on immersive and installation art projects.

DPI invites proposals to participate in the 6^th Digital Publics Symposium program, which will present immersive and installation projects that employ novel technical and experiential delivery systems. The symposium will dive into the sector, exploring global trends, innovative ideas and strategic technology use, articulated by thought leaders exploring how user-centric experiences are bringing people back into public spaces.

We are calling for curators, artists, researchers, cultural/community leaders, creative technologists and practitioners who would like to showcase recently launched projects (2018/2019 onwards) or have unrealised works in progress and would like to share their knowledge and experiences working in this innovative sector. The symposium program will focus on emerging urban media infrastructures such as screens, digital surfaces and media facades; infrastructure that contributes to the tools for creative community-building, sustainable education and new participatory art forms.

The symposium programme will use a range of session formats to encourage interaction between delegates. As such, we are seeking proposals and ideas for panels, key speakers, project presentations, workshops and exhibition. Currently, the symposia hosts’ plan to hold an in-person, worldwide delegation event in mid-2022, but given the COVID-19 pandemic, the hosts will monitor global developments and adjust these plans as required.

Curatorial Framework

We are looking to present a broad overview of the sector for delegates from traditional professional industries such as placemaking, urban developers and planners, architects, city authority planners and legislators. The intent is to build a collective understanding of what is possible in public and semipublic spaces and inspire imagination and confidence in our attendees.

Through a broad call-out sector-led approach, the curatorial team will better understand what is happening and how to frame the discourse. The team will synthesise your information and examples into relevant symposia streams to support our underlying objects. These being the tenants of community building, mediating culture and place and growing sector awareness and opportunities. What is community in times of the high-speed global mediascape? How can we explore and celebrate the diversity of our communities and how do we bring our communities closer together?

Requirements

• Categories of project submissions can include anything from augmented reality, kinetic light sculptures, interactive projects or generative art. Lead the way, and we will follow. Projects can be either realised, in development or semi-speculative – in concept.
• We require a brief written submission outlining what you would like to present and in what format/s.
• Feel free to include supporting documentation in the form of video or images as part of your submission.
• Please include the following
  • Proposal (500 – 2000 words)
  • Supporting documentation (video/image, or URL links)
  • Links to your work and biographical information
  • Please make submissions in English and keep to under 5 pages

Submission

• Please submit your application to emma@digital-placemaking.org
• The submission deadline is 5 pm AEST – Friday 29 October 2021
• If you have any questions regarding your submission, please contact either contacts below.

Selection Process

• Submission deadline: 29/10/2021
• Notification of shortlist selection: TBA
• Notification of selected projects: TBA

CONTACTS

Emma Shearman

Director – Digital Placemaking Institute

emma@digital-placemaking.org

Glenn Harding

Media Architecture Institute

glenn.harding@mediaarchitecture.org

Proudly brought to you by the Digital Placemaking Institute (www.digital-placemaking.org) and supported by the Media Architecture Institute (www.mediaarchitecture.org) and Urban Screen Productions (www.urbanscreens.tv).