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The Brighton Digital Festival is a month-long celebration of the creative talent in the UK’s most concentrated digital community. It pays homage to every element of the creative cluster from those developing computer art through to interactive designers, filmmakers, academics and technologists. Organised by digital development agency Wired Sussex, the festival in 2006 looks to build on the artist, participant and audience base that it established in its first year by offering a programme that reaches every corner of the sector. It will refresh interests by showcasing all that has changed since last year and in an industry that changes with the winds that’s a pretty ambitious claim. |
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Open, Welcoming and Creative – Anna Cook
The Brighton Digital Festival is a month-long celebration of the creative talent in the UK’s most concentrated digital community. It pays homage to every element of the creative cluster from those developing computer art through to interactive designers, filmmakers, academics and technologists.
Organised by digital development agency Wired Sussex, the festival in 2006 looks to build on the artist, participant and audience base that it established in its first year by offering a programme that reaches every corner of the sector. It will refresh interests by showcasing all that has changed since last year and in an industry that changes with the winds that’s a pretty ambitious claim.
Brighton contains over 1,000 digital media companies and 800 registered artists and for a population of only a quarter million, it’s an impressive demographic. What makes this small seaside city on the south coast such a hotbed of creative talent is perhaps owed to the open and accepting attitude that allows artists to receive funding and support for work they create. The festival is part of this support and as well as engendering interest in audiences, it also forges networks between artists and companies to ensure the longevity of Brighton’s creative scene.
Much of the city’s success can also be attributed to its ability to compete in an international market now that much art, business and interaction is conducted through virtual space, thus breaking barriers of distance. The festival honours this theme by looking at the role of internationalism in digital art and the way in which all nations can have a presence in a scene that has previously been dominated by European and American artists. If digital can help us break barriers of inequality then space must be created for the work of nations that allows us to shake the foundations of injustice.
New for 2006, an African animation night gets this concept in motion by showcasing work that challenges the dominance of Western art. It is anticipated that the night will not only increase the exposure of these artists but enable collaboration between artists from the UK and worldwide.
Attracting a cross section of audiences, the varied festival programme allows artists, business owners, students and hobbyists to find their particular passion and revel in the assortment of events. As James Marsden from Brighton company Futurlab commented: “It’s easy to lose sight of creative endeavours when our heads are down working hard each day. A programme like the Digital Festival helps to shake up the creative spirit by presenting evidence of people achieving their goals. There’s nothing more inspiring!”
Of the many highlights of the 2005 festival, the designers’ night was a chance for local creatives to showcase their talents and delve into the work of their peers. For the audience it was an opportunity to see how far the design boundaries can be pushed and the mind-boggling work a creative mind can produce. In 2006 the festival’s international outlook will be a tribute to the reach that Brighton achieves in its notoriety as a centre for digital excellence.
The festival will look back over a year past by showcasing the plethora of work produced since the last festival while enjoying the firm favourite events that refuse to disappear. For audiences it will reignite their interests and remind them of the unlimited possibilities of digital media.
