Bright Festival 2024 : Digital Technology & the Arts

 

The 2024 Bright Festival is for those who would like to learn about or expand their skills in digital production.  This year’s edition offers 40 hours of learning to choose from over the course of 12 conferences, talks, masterclasses, and orientations. Four intensive workshops are being offered with 24 speakers, teachers, experts and certified trainers. The opportunities for prospective learners are bountiful, whether you’re a student, a professional, or just an enthusiast. The festival will take place from April 19 to 21 at the Stazione Leopolda and The Social Hub in Florence.

The Bright Festival, founded in 2019, is a festival created in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation inspired by the future. Since its creation, the festival has held six separate editions, two of which were in Florence, and four in Germany. A host of similar events have sprung up in these years in Madrid, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Leipzig, Barcelona, ​​Edinburgh, Athens, Brussels and Lyon. The diversity in location is a testament to the festival’s popularity. The last edition in Germany even sold out with incredible numbers. 

One presenter at this upcoming festival is TEDx speaker Filippo Lubran, who comes from the School of Management of Turin and founded the company Metaphora, a company based on the recent developments of virtual and augmented reality. Lubran will present a project about poetry in the Metaverse called “Meta Poetry.”

Francesco D’Isa, another special guest, is a writer from Florence that specializes in the links between humans and technology, especially with artificial intelligence and digital art. A recent project of his that is sure to inspire controversy is “The Last Code,” which is co-created by AI. Francesco d’Isa will present an exclusive reading regarding Generative Art at this year’s festival. In this reading, Francesco d’Isa will demonstrate how to maximize the benefits of artificial intelligence while mitigating the problems it creates. Some may be drawn to this due to the heated controversy in recent years surrounding new AI technology and the ethical ramifications of its usage.

Organizers also outlined times in which the festival will focus on art at the Leopolda Station: 3 pm to 3 am on April 20 and from 12 noon to 10 pm. This art section will include over 20 hours of a plethora of content, most notably shows, conferences, events, and live performances. There will be 24 digital designers and creative studios, 18 interactive installations, and 10 tech companies focused on innovation. Over 350 interested companies from all around the world applied to participate.

The Bright Festival is also dedicating a section to music. Three artists from around the world will give on-stage performances of electronic music, digital art, and lighting design stylized after the Leopolda Station. This event opens at 10:30 pm and has an entry fee of €16. One of the special guests, Jimi Jules, is a Swiss musician and DJ renowned for the style of his sought-after electronic music. Biesmans, who is based in Germany, is another artist who focuses on synthesizers, the object of his passion since childhood. The event will close with Italian-born artist WEG.

Additionally, the BrightPro event will be held on April 19 from 10 am to 6 pm switching between both The Social Hub and Stazione Leopolda. This event sets out to be an opportunity for visitors to learn and find useful contacts to better their traversal through the digital job space. Private conferences and networking events will be accessible to those with proper accreditation. A large variety of fields will be represented at the event, including creative studios, cultural institutions, museum directors, architects and designers, venue managers, event organizers, technology suppliers, technical directors, and professional profiles.  (Daniel Capobianco)

Many events will have free entry, but others will not. More information regarding specific events, times, and prices may be found at www.brightfestival.com.