(Ram Devineni)
The KZNSA offers an invitation to an Artist Talk by the American Arts
Incubator (AAI) on April 11, 2019, at The KZNSA Gallery at 17h30 for 18h00. AAI
officially take over the KZNSA Gallery for several weeks.
The KZNSA Gallery has announced the launch of American Arts Incubator —
South Africa led by artist Ram Devineni. American Arts Incubator (AAI) is an
initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs developed in partnership with ZERO1, a Silicon Valley-based arts and
technology organization. AAI is a creative exchange program that utilizes
community-driven digital and new media art projects to instigate dialogue,
build communities, bolster local economies, and further social innovation. Each
incubator country addresses a relevant social or environmental challenge such
as economic equity, youth empowerment, gender equality, and environmental
sustainability. In spring 2019, AAI exchanges will occur in Mexico, Nepal,
South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. The incubator in South Africa will be
implemented in collaboration with U.S. Consulate General Durban and KZNSA.
AAI sends a U.S. artist abroad to collaborate with local communities in
each exchange country during a month-long incubator. These creative
collaborations transfer skills in art, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Through a digital and new media art workshop, they facilitate dialogue and
explorations of the social challenge. AAI provides small grants to participants
who break into teams to prototype creative projects applying workshop skills to
the challenge. Each exchange culminates in an open house that showcases the
prototypes and solicits public feedback.
In Durban, Ram Devineni’s workshops will focus on youth empowerment.
Participants will learn the process of creating pop-culture artwork such as
comic books, street art, and other formats with added levels of interactivity
using augmented reality. The first part of the workshops will focus on determining
local social challenges that participants would like to address, and sourcing
stories around them using standard documentary methods. Interview stories will
then be used create socially-engaged comic books and street art, which will
then be tied together using augmented reality to create an interactive
experience.
KZNSA will host the program between April 12 and May 6, 2019, and people
interested in art, technology, and youth empowerment are invited to
participate; no prior experience necessary. The artist will also guide
participants through a team-based project development period with funding from
AAI’s small grants program. The exchange will close with a panel review and
open house to the public at KZNSA Gallery, 166 Bulwer Road, Durban on May 3 and
4, 2019.
Devineni shares: “Working with KZNSA Gallery, I will collaborate with
participants from different constituent groups in Durban and map out art
projects using interactive technologies to address social issues such as
economic inequity, gender-based violence, and the opioid crisis. Participants
will design work inspired by stories from local people.”
Devineni is the creator of the augmented reality comic book, Priya’s Shakti and Priya’s Mirror, which received the Tribeca Film Institute New Media
Fund from the Ford Foundation and supported by the World Bank, and showcased at
2016 New York Film Festival. He was named a “gender equality champion” by UN
Women for creating India’s first female superhero who is a rape survivor. He
was named by Fast Company magazine as one of the most creative people in
business in 2017 for his innovative use of augmented reality to address social
issues.
The US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
(ECA) builds relations between the people of the United States and the people
of other countries through academic, cultural, sports, professional and private
exchanges, as well as public-private partnerships and mentoring programs. Visit
eca.state.gov
ZERO1 leverages art, science, and technology to create social change —
addressing complex social challenges utilizing community-driven new media and
digital art projects. We believe that artistic experimentation with emergent
technologies broadens our critical understanding of the world and provokes
novel creative strategies. Through a global network of partners, we bridge
governmental, academic, corporate, and cultural worlds to build engaged and
vibrant communities that drive social action. Visit www.zero1.org
The public is also welcome to attend a Poetry Evening on April 13, 2019,
17h00. Dates to note related to the AAI take-over include: Workshops and
Project Development from April 13 to May 2 and the Open House on May 2 at
17h30.
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