Digital is Calligraffiti is a neighbourhood project, that wishes to transform the urban screens into communication/expression platforms for citizens with migration background. The projects puts under the scope fundamental questions: Where/How is the future that we dreamed of yesterday? What cultural values do people from migration background want to preserve from decaying and integrate to the way they live today? What contents do we wish to ‚write beautifully‘ and pass on, and what forms are at our disposal in exchange with calligraffiti – and new media artists in this period, where our language is almost exclusively digital.
In the time-lapse of three workshops Public Art Lab is gathering citizens with migration background, traditional calligraphers, new media and calligraffiti artists to examine the core of those questions and answer them, exchanging knowledge and experience in order to create ‚Calligraffiti’ artistic campaigns. The Digital Calligraffiti artworks will be generated through the process-oriented workshops.
Under the guiding principle ‚Urban Screens are our Walls’ digital advertising environments will be opened up as community platforms and interrupt the commercial flux of high-lustre campaigns with the memorable aesthetics of Digital Calligraffiti artworks, created during the workshops, in places with strong visibility such as junctions, subway stations and public squares.
During the Digital Calligraffiti performances the city’s inhabitants are invited to live-produce Digital Calligraffitis using the interactive projection table Infle3tor, developed by the New Media artist and engineer Michael Ang and the Calligraffiti artist Hamza Abu Ayyash. Through networked scenarios the messages of the participants can be instantly shared with other cities.
A project by Public Art Lab – curated by Susa Pop, Don Karl aka Stone and Hamza Abu Ayyash.
In the framework of Future DiverCities, funded by the European Union (Creative Europe).
Image @ Iva Arandjelović / Public Art Lab