CULTURAL and digital organisations are being invited to find out what they can achieve together as part of an initiative aimed at North East talent.
Developers, artists, cultural organisations and digital firms in the region all have the opportunity to take part in the CultureCode Initiative. The Arts Council-funded project will attempt to build relationships between artists and venues swimming in creativity, assets and archives, and digital experts used to bringing programmes, apps and websites into the world.
The project is being run by Codeworks on behalf of Newcastle- Gateshead Cultural Venues, and will consist of events in February and March which will allow those who sign up to build relationships and find out what’s possible.
“It’s a good way to collaborate,” said Joeli Brearley, who is organising CultureCode for Codeworks. “The aim is to start conversations between the two communities. It’s not necessarily about getting an amazing prototype straight away. It’s about getting relationships to develop.”
Interested parties need to register to take part in the events, which kick off on February 21 with the CultureCode Encounter. The event is aimed at developers, designers and creative technologists, and will try to get them thinking about potential opportunities to work with cultural and arts players.
The next day will bring the CultureCode Boutique, which will look at the ways participants might be able to make use of the assets they currently have, and how they might reach their audiences in a way they hadn’t previously considered.
The CultureCode Salon takes place on March 15, and is being staged to encourage the arts and developer sectors to mingle over drinks and get to know each other. The initiative closes for now with the CultureCode Hack, which will get the two sectors together to deliver practical examples of what can be done with a few bits of data, some digital nous and a little creativity.
One of the leaders on the project is John Coburn, ICT project coordinator for Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, who said: “The idea came about because we’ve got tonnes of exciting stuff happening in our cultural sector and our digital sector.
“The most lasting legacy we can create is for us to know who is on our doorstep, and to share the ideas and be inspired by one another.”
Anyone interested in taking part should go to www.culturecode.co.uk for more information.
Tyneside Cinema chief executive Mark Dobson said: “It’s not meant to be just for the IT department. It’s really aimed at trying to give everybody – whether they have any aptitude for digital technology or not – the chance to get involved with some very creative people in the technology sector to see if they can further their ideas.”
