16-17 January 2016
NRW-Forum Düsseldorf
Ehrenhof 2, 40479 Düsseldorf, Germany
http://www.nrw-forum.de/
blog.goethe.de/streamingegos

One of humanity’s most ancient quests, “who am I?”, has now been replaced by the more modern question "who do I want to be on the net?”. Indeed, anyone can create a virtual online image of themselves ‒ although, at the same time, users feel the need to speak of themselves and be authentic in their digital world.
The European project ‘Streaming Egos’, based on an idea by the Goethe-Instituts of south-west Europe (Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain), curated by the Slow Media Institut and in cooperation with the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, explores the risks, limits and advantages of having a digital identity which is often too far from real life.

Coordinated by the Goethe-Institut of Paris, a group of curators and experts of the digital media sector work with a selected group of thinkers, artists and writers ‒ from each of the participating countries. One aim is achieving works that further explore themes associated with digital media. Another goal is reflecting upon how these identities come into being, change and develop under the influence of social media but also depending on the socio-political status quo of each country.

The works will be exhibited and presented on 16th and 17th January 2016 at the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, at the so-called Identity Convention ‒ two days of meetings and debates connected to the exhibition Ego Update. The Future of the Digital Identity - www.nrw-forum.de - during which relevant projects for the future will be identified so that they can later be treated in a transnational and digital manner.

During the next few months and throughout the whole of 2016, each country will also contribute to the transnational debate by using the online platform of the Streaming Egos project, which can be found at: blog.goethe.de/streamingegos.Through this platform all participants will be able to get to know the work of each country and theme group and play an active role in giving form to narrative and artistic processes.

Indeed, while on the one hand the thinkers and artists are called upon to provide a series of insights characterising their productive process, on the other every national curator will have the task of involving a heterogeneous group of contributors, including critics, journalists, writers, curators and experts who will periodically publish a series of essays and articles on the blog.

Through the Streaming Egos project, the Goethe-Institut encourages citizens, cultural sector workers and online experts of Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain to react to questions and thoughts expressed by the contributors and to document such a process through a collective work.

A project by: Goethe-Institut, Slow Media Institut, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf
Head Curator: Sabria David (Slow Media Institut, Germany)
National Curators: Bram Crevits (Ghent University College, Belgium) - Marie Lechner (Preservation & Art - Media Archaelogy Lab, France) - Sabria David (Slow Media Institut, Germany), Marco Mancuso, Filippo Lorenzin (Digicult, Italy) - Sandra Vieira Jürgens (Wrong Wrong and RAUM: online artist residencies, Portugal), Mateo Feijóo (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain) 
Participants:
• Belgium: Marthe Van Dessel (bolwerK), Lucille Calmel, Marijke De Roover, Wim Lambrecht
• France: RYBN, Nicolas Maigret, Gwenola Wagon, Jeff Guess
• Germany: Dirk von Gehlen, Enno Park, Martina Pickhardt
• Italy: IOCOSE, Salvatore Iaconesi / Oriana Persico, Alterazioni Video (Video Alterations), Silvio Lorusso
• Portugal: André Alves, Claudia Fischer, Paulo Mendes, Pedro Portugal
• Spain: Monoperro, Sonia Gómez, Gichi Gichi Do, Carlos Rod (Editor: La Uña Rota)

About the Goethe-Institut
www.goethe.de
The Goethe-Institut is the Federal Republic of Germany’s cultural institute. It promotes knowledge of the German language and fosters international cultural cooperation. Through cultural and educational programmes, it encourages intercultural dialogue and enables cultural involvement. For over 60 years, it has been acting as a learning centre, meeting point and cultural platform in more than 140 cities worldwide.

About the Slow Media Institut
www.slow-media-institut.net

The Slow Media Institut is an interdisciplinary research and consulting centre, researching and consulting on digital change and its impact on society, working environment and the world of media. The Slow Media approach relates to a phase of transition and fundamental change in societies that are linked to technological progress. Based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and recently backed by the representative Slow Types Study, the Slow Media Institut focusses on concepts and models to constructively deal with disruptive changes and offers new perspectives for a resilient digital society.

Press: for more information, please contact:

Ulla Wester
Goethe-Institut Paris
wester@paris.goethe.org
Tel. +33-1-44439239
www.goethe.de/paris

Sabria David
Slow Media Institut
sabria.david@slow-media.net
Tel. +49-228-90 85 750
www.slow-media-institut.net
www.slow-media.net