Goethe Institut Lisboa | Jan-Dec 2024
What it means to step into unchartered territory, by combining education, art & new technologies for a new audience, within institutional structures.
18 workshops, 3 side events, over 500 participants – and a whole lot of creative tech.
MISSION
Lisbon is being an active tech hub and many creatives want to learn more about practical ways of using new technologies and want to enter the closed circle of tech. The direction of the Goethe Institute in Lisbon has acknowledged this development and I have been invited to create an educational program for artists to learn about new creative technologies and to put the institute on the map as a forward thinking institution that is open for new technologies.
Combining this with my personal values of accessibility & gender equality, wanting to highlight local talent and seeing knowledge as the most important factor to be able to form educated opinions, I kickstarted the program WEB3EXPRESSÃO.
I’ve led the project from its conception to the final report, including audience research and sustainability development, curation of the facilitators, budgeting, social media asset creation, community building and engagement as well as partnership outreach and representing the project abroad.
CHALLENGES
Working with an institution that is being led by a forward thinking direction but which had not been exposed to the concepts of new technologies (neither had their current audience) before, showed the necessity of experimenting with a new approach – both in the actual program as well as in the marketing aspect of it.
This includes choosing the right language to communicate the program, finding internal structures to improve onboarding flow, finding a new visual way to market the events and considering topics that work both for the old as well as the new audience that had to be built.
OUTCOME
I wanted the program to be accessible, with an equal representation of female and local talents, content that would spark interest to learn more in very practical terms as well as showcasing the up-and downsides of technology.
As a result, the program included 18 workshops (16 of them in-person) and 3 side events which showcased local and international talent, with a speaker gender distribution of 50/50 and overall more than 500 participants.
It also offered a local NFT showcase throughout the year with digital artworks from participants, a talk about AI and it’s ethical and political impact on the creative process as well as an immersive concert for which a new audio-visual collaboration of two local artists had been brought to life.
After the first run of the project and through the thorough work done, the institute is now able to continue the program under the new name Art meets Tech in an online format, with plenty of new connections in the creative tech world and a good base to continue the programming in house.
It was a great pleasure to create this project, with all its details and challenges as I’ve seen the positive impact that this kind of programs can have for artists. I also met amazing people throughout the year, from recurring participants to speakers and new partners, and it has definitely confirmed to not easily give up if there is a bigger vision on one’s head.
In order to disrupt an unjust system (which in this scenario in my opinion is the unbalanced representation of women in the tech space and a closed circle that does now share knowledge, being focussed on a rather individualistic development), one needs to invest time, continuity and patience – as well as some creative problem solving at times.
Forward is the way, off to the next adventure!
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