Since the early beginnings of Lift we have been exploring the impact of technology on society and digital culture has always been a key topic. We strongly believe that "Technology is Culture" as Basile Zimmermann stated it so convincingly in his speech on "Tech in China: Methodolgy".
Yesterday Sylvie was invited to take part in a preparation meeting for the 2014 edition of "Forum Kultur und Ökonomie". This yearly meeting brings together the most important cultural funding institutions in Switzerland, including the likes of Migros Cultural Percentage, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, but also the Nestlé Fondation pour les Arts, Cultural Sponsorships of Crédit Suisse and cantonal culture departments. Together these institutions have quite an impact on the cultural agenda of Switzerland and can "make or break" careers to put it really bluntly.
Lift Talks exploring Digital Culture
We were delighted to hear that their 9th annual event would be about digital culture - and honored to have the opportunity to share Lift's take on this. Sylvie started her presentation by highlighting the importance of joining forces to nurture platforms (like Lift;), which give artists and projects the opportunity to engage a wider audience and get international visibility. After that she shared some Lift talks recommendations, exploring digital culture in a larger sense:
They didn't have time to go through more talks, but surely the following ones would be very insightful for the Forum, too:
Thinking more about it, actually a large majority of all Lift talks have connections to the topic and should be featured, in a world where time would be less limited!!
Building Bridges between Traditional Institutions and Digital Practitioners
To engage a discussion around concrete examples of Swiss digital culture projects, Sylvie mentioned "Ville Vivante" and the "3-City Urban Data Challenge" between Geneva, Zurich and San Francisco. Two projects at the intersection of data visualization, open data and urban planning, which both have generated quite some international attention.
Sylvie was happy to see that these concrete showcases - mixed with more traditional cultural references like MoMA curator Paola Antonelli sending her compliments for Ville Vivante through Twitter :) - helped to reduce potential reservations among attendees towards digital culture and highlighted the potential for Swiss projects to play on an international level. We sincerely welcome this digital culture initiative by "Forum Kultur Ökonomie" and hope that our inputs will help path the way for digital culture projects in Switzerland to get more support by traditional funding institutions. Many thanks for the invitation!
Lunch break! In the picture, from left to right: Yours truly, followed by Lisa Humbert-Droz Humbert Partner AG, Basil Rogger ZHDK, Yves Fischer Bundesamt für Kultur, Hedy Graber Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, Andrew Holland Pro Helvetia, Dominik Landwehr Migros Kulturprozent, Michael Fehr Radio RABE/Norient.com.
