Digital Labs

How can cultural institutions react to and take advantage of diverse technological innovations? What forms of artistic production, education and communication could they help advance? What methods and steps could be taken to achieve digital transformation? The Digital Fund inthe Digital Culture programme helps cultural institutions implement pioneering digital projects and experiment with digital aesthetics and formats. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is organising several academies – Digital Labs – to accompany and promote dialogue between the funded institutions.

Digital Lab #3

How do cultural organisations develop a digital mindset, and what does it involve? What role can cultural institutions play in dismantling barriers and strengthening participation? How can they create spaces that are free of discrimination? And how does this affect their collaboration with communities and artists? Digital Lab #3, entitled Prototyping Futures, addresses these and other important issues in the field of digital cultural practice with the aim of developing strategies and visions for cultural institutions of the future. And we would like you to join us in an intensive and lively discussion on this topic.

Digital Lab #3 will take place in person and partly online on 11-12 October 2022 in Leipzig. The is the third Digital Fund Academy and will be the first to convene in person – a special moment for all the participants following two editions which took place entirely in digital form. Our Lab #3 will bring artists, researchers, designers and web activists together with the teams involved in joint projects funded by the Digital Fund. The aim is to envision a form of digital “complicity” which enables us to create the inclusive (post-)digital cultural spaces of tomorrow. At the same time, the Academy will offer numerous opportunities for exchanging expertise, coaching and reflecting on the past accomplishments of the Digital Fund.

We cordially invite all interested members of the public to attend the Digital Lab #3! We will be posting the link to the livestream event on this page shortly.

For more information, see our detailed programme flyer (opens in a new window) (opens new window).

Digital Lab #2

In view of shifting attitudes on artistic production and authorship, communication and reception, one thing has become very clear: co-creation – whether as a method, format, artistic strategy or experiment – is now a multifaceted, highly topical issue as important to cultural institutions and their visitors as it is to artists and artists’ collectives worldwide. Many of our funding recipients in the Digital Fund are also exploring the benefits of co-creation and collaboration in teams, focus groups, artistic participation and education. The Digital Lab #2 on 14-15 June 2021 therefore addressed the theme of Co-Creation in Digital Projects.

Ruangrupa, the artistic team of the documenta 15, kicked off our second academy with an impulse talk on collaboration and co-creation, demonstrating that they are “literally only a few clicks away”. This had been followed by a two-day event featuring international experts, game designers, curators, theatre producers and artists who discussed approaches to and examples of co-creation. The Digital Lab promised a wealth of new ideas in the form of Lightning Talks, discussion forums and workshops.

View the programme (PDF, 455 KB) (opens in a new window) 

Some of the talks are available on our YouTube channel (external link, opens in a new window).

Digital Lab #1

The first academy from 30 November to 2 December 2020 featured introductions to and presentations by the 15 joint projects funded by the Digital Fund. With lectures and a workshop on organisational development and digital leadership, the Digital Lab #1 (PDF, 521 KB) generated important impulses for developing collaborative working methods and implementing an open strategy.

Selected presentations from the Digital Lab #1 are available on our YouTube channel.