2nd edition of confine: South Asian Digital Arts Festival by the French Network under Novembre Numérique (Digital November)
From 10th November 2021 to 30th November 2021
Hybrid digital arts festival freely accessible on www.deconfine.org
Online Exhibitions, Online Conversations, and Physical Events featuring 20+ international artists and projects from 10+ countries including France, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Festival Directors (Curators): Khayal Trivedi and Proiti Seal Acharya
Theme: Art at the intersection of science, technology and media
About the Festival
After a successful first edition that reached more than 200,000 people in November 2020, confine, the French cultural network’s very own South Asian Digital Arts Festival returns this November, with more artists, projects, partners and conversations than ever before. Conceived under the aegis of November Numerique, a yearly initiative by the French cultural network abroad (French Institutes, Alliances Françaises, cultural services of embassies and consulates) and its partners to facilitate public engagement with digital culture and technology, confine celebrates cross-border collaborations and cooperation in South Asian countries and Europe and garners support from institutions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan.
Conceived and curated by Media Art South Asia, an initiative to document and disseminate the media arts in the Indian subcontinent, confine hopes to draw attention to the rich and dynamic digital art scene in the region. Using video, audio, A.I., image, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and text, the artists and creators featured in the festival represent a diverse body of work reflective of the rapid proliferation of digital culture in South Asia and around the world.
The 2021 edition will feature 5 sections: Online Exhibition: 7 digital artworks by South Asian artists, exploring the theme “Technology as an Institution”; Featured Projects: 8 ongoing digital projects by established and emerging artists and organizations, exploring diverse themes such as women’s agency, colonial art, the digital art market etc.; Conversations: A series of online discussions between artists, creators and members of the French network; French Digital Corner: 7 web-based creations (image, text, sound, video) from France; Offline Events: Physical events in select Alliance Française centres, including an Augmented Reality exhibition in Hyderabad that will be simultaneously presented in numerous Alliance Françaises in South Asia, VR Salons, interactions with AI bots etc.
Participants
Rashid Rana (Pakistan) | Sahej Rahal (India) | Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (Sri Lanka) | Reya Ahmed (India)| Sounak Das (Bangladesh) | Samyukta Bhandari (Nepal) | Morteza Herati (Afghanistan) | Rabeeha Adnan (Pakistan) | Budhaditya Chattopadhyay (India) | Beatrice de Fays (France) | Ashfika Rahman (Bangladesh) | Amol Patil (India)
Projects
Queer Brown Feelings | Waters of Change | Stitching Screens | Victoria Memorial: Museum from Home| CHEF.FE | L’ecran et fumee | We Speak Hip Hop | Phallaina | Panama Al Brown | Ici Tout Va Bien | Escape
Types of Artworks
Video Art, Sound Art, Social Media Art, Glitch, Generative Art (made with Artificial Intelligence), Documentary, Comics, Interactive Websites, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality
Curated by Media Art South Asia
Presented by Institut Francais (Paris), French Embassy in India, French Institute in India, Alliance Francaise in India, and French Embassy in Pakistan, Alliance Francaise in Pakistan, French Embassy in Sri Lanka, Alliance Francaise de Kotte – Sri Lanka, Alliance Francaise in Dhaka, Alliance Francaise in Katmandou, Lahore Digital Arts Festival
Supported by Asia-Europe Foundation, AVAH Collective, Samdani Art Foundation, The Victoria Memorial Museum, Terrain. Art, Fablab Bhutan