Migration

The COVID-19 crisis put enormous pressure on arts organizations to adapt to a world of physical distancing. The default response was digital transformation. Unfortunately, most of the tools and approaches being developed assumed art practices that were commercially-oriented, Western European in derivation, or both.

Migration supported 11 participating organizations to migrate to digital production and workflows in ways that celebrated the specific and contemporary nature of their practices. Outcomes included:

• Prototypes of digital solutions that honor the artistic intentions behind the work
• Evolved business models, governance, and workflows
• Recipes and documentation for other arts organizations around the world to learn from

Eleven organizations participated in a 3-part (May 18 – Aug 31, 2020) facilitated, virtual residency where, with the support of advisors, facilitators, and a small dedicated prototyping team, they worked to develop and implement projects. A member-led follow up session in November 2020 allowed the participants to reconnect and share progress on the projects accelerated during the residency.

Each organization left with a generated prototype, an increased comfort with digital transformation through prototyping processes, and new collaborators (both creative technologists and other arts organizations) to collectively address and share work.

Some of the prototypes can still be seen:

Nova Dance: https://nova-dance-movement-room.glitch.me/

Nagata Shachu Taiko Ensemble: https://camcollective.tumblr.com/archive

Tamil Archive Project: https://nicbt.github.io/Ukai-TAP-Quiz/

187 Augusta: https://info187augusta.wixsite.com/187augusta/balikbayan-project