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Reflecting cyberfeminism’s constant call for new utopian ideologies to improve conditions, the dgtl fmnsm festival will once more be advocating the joyful destabilisation of existing systems, whether that involves re-imagining the gender binary, the patriarchy or the tail end of capitalism.

The omnipresence of digital media technologies and the influence they exert in every field of life are bringing about social transformations which extend even as far as the most intimate issues. Among other things, the question arises of how social media and the datafication of everyday life are affecting the way we see relationships, sexuality and intimacy. Or what other, new forms of interrelations and community will take root in the cracks of biohacking and dating algorithms. To what extent are the concepts of love, family and gender being given a long-due update?

Today’s tools react to their users’ touch with interactive offers of intimacy. But that is not all: surfaces are advancing to the point where they have emotions to be aroused; the acoustic and emotional structure of our relationships with things is undergoing drastic changes. The ping of a text message releases as many hormones as being touched by another human being. If physical technological surfaces respond to our touch, and socio-electronic means of communication arouse emotional responses, then we have long been submitting to the touch of things and machines: what is needed is to explore the effects and potential of this situation, not to deny its existence.

IRL the main hall of Hellerau Festival Theatre will be turning into a multifunctional in-the-round stage. The installation designed by the Dresden artist duo die blaue Distanz provides the basic setting for a session lasting four days, with transmissions being sent and received.

The look and practice of technology-based forms of emancipation are negotiated by artists, activists, theoreticians and viewers as a collective happening and presented, investigated and bolstered during a four-day session. Residencies, sleepovers, installations, performances, Skype-ins, lectures, screenings, workshops, skill sharing and a live online show will offer queer and feminist questions about modern-day intimacy an inclusive space for negotiation. #techpositive – for a better tomorrow!

Artists:
Lorna Mills
shawné michaelain holloway
Nkisi
BBB
Young boy dancing group
Georges Jacotey
die Blaue Distanz
Shannon Soundquist
Magic Island
KVTV
KRAUSE
Katharina Klappheck
Anika Meier
Ena Lind
For you Katrina
Cuntroaches
Stephanie Comilang & Simon Speiser
Feat. Female Leipzig
Urin
Line Finderup Jensen
Melo Börner
Tabea Venrath & Miriam J. Carranza
Tabita Rezaire
Pussykrew
HK
Paula Kommoss

Funding:
HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts
City of Dresden, Office for Cultural and Heritage Conservation
Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony
Creative Europe
Pro Helvetia
Canada Council of the Arts
transcript publishing
Student Council of the University of Leipzig – Equality and Lifestyle Policy Unit
CYNETART / SHAPE platform
Musikfonds e.V. with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media

Sponsoring:
St. Leonhards Quellen
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Collaborators:
S T O R E
Institut für Zukunft with CRY BABY
böse & gemein Kollektiv
objekt klein a with XXY
Gold + Beton Köln
CYNETART / SHAPE platform