Join FACT for a conversation with artists and activists as we consider how we might use these technologies such as instant messaging and social media to bring about meaningful change.
Ten years on from the nationwide uprisings sparked by the police killing of a Black man in London, many of the issues those protests highlighted remain unchanged.
The widespread use of messaging services such as Blackberry Messenger to coordinate and organise many of the protests in 2011 was part of a new era of social media used for activism, bringing together large groups of disparate people into social movements.
But along with these uprisings, came a new era of digital surveillance and deepening social divisions as we fell into echo chambers. While making injustices visible to a broader public has become easier, social media has perhaps replaced committed protest with virtue signaling and clicktivism.
This conversation invites artists and activists to consider how we might use these technologies to bring about meaningful change.
This event is part of UP:RISE, a nationwide augmented reality art exhibition by Baff Akoto exploring the pathology, history, and underlying drivers of English civil unrest in the digital age.
This event will take place at FACT, 28 August, 2pm and have live BSL interpretation. It will also be streamed online here.