Ars Electronica, in collaboration with ZERO1, U.S. Embassy Vienna, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is pleased to announce the American Arts Incubator — Austria with the lead artist Rashin Fahandej.
American Arts Incubator (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 addresses a relevant social or environmental challenge such as economic equity, youth empowerment, gender equality, and environmental sustainability.
Rashin Fahandej is an Iranian-American multimedia artist and filmmaker. Her projects center on marginalized voices, and the role of media, technology, and public collaboration in generating social change. A proponent of “Art as Ecosystem,” she defines her projects as “Poetic Cyber Movement for Social Justice,” where art mobilizes a plethora of voices by creating connections between public places and virtual spaces. She is an Assistant Professor of Interactive and Emerging Media at Emerson College.
Rashin Fahandej’s “Future of Inclusion Lab” is a series of co-creation workshops with the American Arts Incubator and Ars Electronica that provides technology and resource access to a mixed group of Austrian-based creatives, including women and local immigrants. Fahandej’s methods take on the lens of “Art as Ecosystem,” creating a network of collaborations with a multiplicity of narratives that investigate social systems and occupy public sites as a critical discourse. The workshops explore social inclusion by investigating new media literacy and by providing access to cutting edge tools and technology to co-create prototypes for immersive and poetic reflections and experiences.
