Cairotronica: The Festival Exploring the Collision of Art and Technology

In what ways do data and narrative interact? Are we driven by the data, or by the stories that the data lets us tell?

These questions, amongst others, are what Cairotronica’s upcoming festival aims to address. Through a series of online and in-person events, such as videos, installations, performances and workshops, the festival “aims to start a critical reflection on the urgent topics around data and spotlight how new technologies affect our society.”

“Data Fiction” is set to take place between April 26 and May 1 in Downtown Khedival Cairo between the AUC Tahrir Culture Center and The Factory and other Downtown venues. Visitors can expect to find artwork displayed by more than 40 artists from over 22 countries, which explore how art, science, technology and society overlap.

Cairotronica defines themselves as a “Cairo-based platform for new media arts that supports and enables practices out of Egypt and the region that operate at the intersection of art, science, and technology in the context of society and the environment.” Established in 2016, one of their main aims is supporting emerging practitioners and young artists through workshops and fellowships.

This year’s festival will showcase creators such as Nehal Ezz, founder of the Sounds of Cairo initiative which aims to preserve and document the culturally significant sounds of Cairo.

 

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Another of the festival’s notable installations is Austrian designer Emanuel Gollob’s “Doing Nothing with AI 1.0”, a robotic display that uses electroencephalography (EEG) and generative machine learning (GAN) to optimize its choreography, with the goal of making the observer watch and ‘Do Nothing’.

 

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For more information on how to attend virtually or in person, visit Cairotronica’s website here.