International Arts Organizations and Artists Form New Alliance Focused on Ethical Digital Technology; Inaugural Artworks Debut Next Week

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Unfinished, an enterprise dedicated to strengthening civic life in the digital age, announced today that nine international arts organizations—including The Shed in New York and the House of Electronic Arts in Basel, Switzerland—are forming Unfinished Camp, a new network dedicated to building a healthy and equitable digital society.

Unfinished Camp was spearheaded by civic entrepreneur Frank McCourt and conceived by curator and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries Hans Ulrich Obrist and author and cultural strategy advisor András Szántó. Unfinished Camp provides a global platform for young contemporary artists to explore the intersection of art and technology, while collectively imagining a thriving and equitable civil society for the digital age. The alliance, which spans five continents and includes twenty-seven young artists from Botswana to Brazil, was developed with the conviction that artists have a valuable role to play in shaping perceptions of our collective digital future, and our modes of public engagement in it.

Unfinished Camp's inaugural exhibit will debut at the House of Electronic Arts on September 23rd and at The Shed on September 24th. The latter exhibit takes place during Unfinished Live, a two-day convening of influential tech, impact, and culture leaders that will focus on the future of digital technology and accelerating solutions for a more ethical and equitable internet.

"I believe strongly that to tackle big societal challenges—like fixing our technology—we need problem-solvers from different backgrounds and disciplines working together," said McCourt, who also founded ethical technology initiative Project Liberty. "I'm thrilled these artists and organizations are joining forces to help shape a digital future that better serves the common good."

Unfinished Camp's founding partners include organizations at the forefront of visual art, digital innovation, and technology across the globe. In addition to the House of Electronic Arts and The Shed, founding partners include: LUMA Arles in Southern France; Pivô in São Paulo; the Serpentine Galleries in London; UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing; The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MoCAA) in Cape Town; The Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne; and The High Line in New York.

To kick off the initiative, each institution invited three young artists to produce a short video exploring the question: What is the future of art in a decentralized world? The resulting twenty-seven digital works will form the presentation debuting next week. Additionally, at Unfinished Live on September 24th, Emma Enderby, Senior Curator of The Shed, will moderate a conversation among some of the artists involved, including Thero Makepe of Botswana, Gabriella Torres-Ferrer of Germany, and Kiyan Williams of the U.S.

"Adding the voices of artists to important conversations about creating more ethical technology has never been more urgent," said Obrist and Szántó. "We see this alliance as an opportunity to demonstrate new ways of working in the arts, with arts organizations collaborating across borders and professional boundaries to promulgate new ideas and action."

Unfinished Live will showcase Unfinished Camp's exhibit as part of a larger hybrid in-person and virtual event September 23-24 at The Shed in New York. Members of the public can purchase tickets online to access the full Unfinished Live in-person event.

For more information about Unfinished Camp, including a full list of participants, visit unfinished.com/camp.

About Unfinished
Unfinished was founded by Frank McCourt in 2020 out of rising concern over our deteriorating social fabric. Unfinished works to strengthen civic life in the digital age, focusing on three challenges: redirecting technology, especially social media, to fuel collaboration over division; renewing and strengthening civic institutions to accelerate inclusive problem-solving; and growing a fairer economy. Learn more about Unfinished here and its flagship event Unfinished Live here.

SOURCE McCourt

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