About

The E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 will be showcasing innovative projects in the crossover fields of creative industry, research, education and media art from August 23 – 25 on the second floor of the Dortmunder U – Centre for Art and Creativity. It is the first step of an envisaged long-term cooperation between three partners, namely Virtueel Platform of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, BAM of Ghent, Flanders, Belgium, and medienwerk.nrw of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in affiliation with ecce – european centre for creative economy, organised by Hartware MedienKunstVerein (Dortmund, DE).

In line with previous events held in the Netherlands since 2000, the E-CULTURE FAIR is being presented for the first time in Germany as a cooperation project of ISEA2010 RUHR, 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art.

For many years now, digitization and networking have been changing our social interactions, the working environment, cultural exchanges and ways of making and engaging with art. By now the possibilities of digital media are integrated as a matter of course into daily life.

Topical examples of this common electronic culture are social networks like YouTube or Facebook, the widespread use of platforms like Twitter and the ubiquity of smartphones. Based on these examples, the E-CULTURE FAIR can be envisioned as a communicative laboratory, a workshop in which in an experiental manner new ideas are presented, which may soon become well-known concepts for many people. The E-CULTURE FAIR is aimed at professionals in the field of new media, as well as to anyone who is curious about what electronic culture will look like tomorrow.

During the E-CULTURE FAIR 2010, in an exhibition and trade fair environment – in workshops and through live presentations – international creatives and artists are presented with an opportunity to showcase their latest works and to anticipate future collaborations in the context of electronic culture. The intention is to display the various creative applications in the digital field, and to debate social as well as cultural transformations and the current state of their artistic reflection. The E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 can be experienced in a playful manner while also fostering an in-depth exchange in discussion forums between creative industry, research and media art.

We conceive E-Culture as...
a notion, first introduced in the Netherlands in the late 1990s, indicating the impact of digital technology on the production, distribution and presentation of culture. The Internet and digital media have an influence on, for instance, the way in which artists express themselves, the manner in which libraries provide the public with their information, the mass media's interaction with information, public debate and cultural content, and on the individual use of media. E-Culture refers to all forms of expression, reflection and participation in the digital realm. The main theme of the E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 is: “For more than one.” This encompasses projects for multiple users, that deploy an interesting combination of the possibilities of (networked) media technology and physical space. We present projects that allow for interesting social interaction (indoor or outdoor), tangible interfaces, new ways of playing and learning, and that propose good ways to apply (complex) information in practical contexts.

As the first event of its kind in the Dortmunder U, the E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 shows what the concept of creativity can mean in the 21st century for the regions of North Rhine-Westphalia, Flanders and the Netherlands. Besides the presentation and communication of art, the fostering of creativity is one of the integral elements of the new Centre for Art and Creativity in Dortmund, encompassing creative industry, media art institutions, universities with creative departments and media artists. The E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 is developed in cooperation with ecce – european centre for creative economy, one of the partners in the Dortmunder U, which is being founded in the framework of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010. The long-term goal of ecce is to make the Ruhr Metropolis Europe's leading creative region.

The E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 is supported by the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Dortmund, the Culture Office of the City of Dortmund, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, the Flemish Authorities, Flanders DC and IBBT.

Programme

Over three days the fair will be open from 10:00 - 20:00 h at the Dortmunder U. On each day, from 10:30 to 17:30 h, various developers and laboratories will introduce their latest applications, tools or work methods in live presentations, while a wide range of cultural projects will be shown in the exhibition area. There will be possibilities in the evenings for more in-depth discussions.

The multimedia festival Prototypen: // from the Labor für sensorische Annehmlichkeiten (the Sensory Amenities Lab) is being held on the Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse at the main entrance. In front of the Dortmunder U, those in possession of an iPhone or Android enabled phone can play with huge Augmented Reality toy blocks. Likewise in an outdoor area right next to the U, a truck trailer with an oversized, interactive video screen conceived by the Dropstuff team is parked – ideal for playful manipulation and public interactive engagement. And if you ever wonder what it would be like to look out from another person's head, in W(Double U) users can experience this walking around in the Dortmunder U linked to someone else using the newest immersive technology developed by Crew in collaboration with the Expertise Centre for Digital Media, University of Hasselt, Belgium. The closing party of the E-CULTURE FAIR 2010 on 25th August, starting at 21:00 h, opens with large interactive video projections on the facade of the office building adjacent to the Dortmunder U. The projections can be played by the audience from small stages in front of the facade. The project is developed by MediaLAB (Hogeschool van Amsterdam). From 23:00 h the vaulted cellar under the Dortmunder U opens and provides an opportunity to get to know each other enjoying electronic music. The final party is jointly organized with ISEA2010 RUHR.