Presenting the future of creativity
Posted by:
At the Arts Council, we believe that England’s cultural sector is world leading in its ambition, imagination, and expertise, and that it has enormous potential to benefit other areas of the economy and society. One of these areas is the commercial creative industries; as well as developing brilliant artistic work, the cultural sector supports industries such as film, TV, advertising, fashion and gaming by spotting and nurturing talent, and developing of new forms of content.
Part of this work involves helping artists to explore the creative potential of new technologies. This helps to uncover new forms of artistic work, which can be the basis for innovations across the creative industries. That experimentation is a natural part of what many artists do – they are naturally driven to find creative uses for new technology, and their work has helped unlock the potential of new tools throughout history.
The Arts Council wants to nurture that innovation, which is why we invest in several initiatives that help artists to work with the newest technology. We are proud to have funded programmes like CreativeXR, New Creatives, and a brand new programme Immersive Arts, a partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the other UK Arts Councils. All of these programmes help artists to create work that tests the boundaries of culture and technology.
Future Art and Culture, which the Arts Council funds British Underground to deliver at SXSW, provides a high-profile opportunity for artists to show the fruits of these experiments on the international stage. Since 2018, it has enabled some of England’s most innovative artists to showcase their work on one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious platforms for leading-edge creative work.
The works featured in Future Art and Culture over the years have been incredibly diverse, and very well received. For example, Naho Matsuda’s public art work Every Thing Every Time, produced by Future Everything, used real-time data to create poetry that was displayed in downtown Austin. Meanwhile, Karen Palmer’s mobile-phone based interactive story Consensus Gentium explored concerns about the harmful use of AI in surveillance, and won the XR Experience Competition at SXSW 2023.
There is enormous public and artistic value in presenting these kinds of work at SXSW through Future Art and Culture. Artists gain the opportunity to meet peers from around the world, giving them more opportunities to share knowledge and experience, develop new artistic relationships, and reach new audiences with their work. Our cultural sector benefits from increased international interest in UK artistic work, and the creative and commercial opportunities this can generate. And the public can enjoy the new work that results from international collaboration.
In the six years since it began, Future Art and Culture has gone from strength to strength. Part of the reason for its success has been its role in bringing together partners from across the UK’s creative industries. As well as being funded by the Arts Council and delivered by British Underground, Future Art and Culture is also supported by the British Council, British Film Institute, and the Immersive Future Lab, supported by UK Research and Innovation. Such collaboration helps to make UK artists and creatives far more visible on the international stage than if artists and organisations were working alone.
Artists have a huge role to play in unlocking the creative potential of new technology, and helping our country’s creative industries to flourish. International collaboration is essential in encouraging that innovation, and bringing the best creative work to UK audiences. For all of these reasons, we are delighted to support Future Art and Culture again in 2024.
Want to find out more about how Future Art and Culture is encouraging innovation? Why not listen to British Underground’s three-part podcast series featuring this year’s participants, exploring creative uses of immersive technology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, available now on Spotify.
