12th November 2008

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An eclectic programme of exhibitions, performances, workshops and lectures by leading exponents of the creative arts and emerging technologies is taking place at the University of Ulster this week.

Next August, the University of Ulster will host ISEA2009, the 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art. The events this week, which are being organised under the auspices of ISEA2009 pre-symposium, will explore the ISEA2009 theme of ‘Engaged Creativity in Mobile Environments’.

Founded in the Netherlands in 1990, ISEA (Inter Society for the Electronic Arts) is an international non-profit organisation set up to encourage interdisciplinary academic discourse and exchange among culturally diverse organisations and individuals working with art, science and emerging technologies.

Professor Kerstin Mey, Director of Ulster’s Art and Design Research Institute and the Artistic Director of ISEA2009, says she is delighted and honoured to be heading up such a prestigious event.

The ISEA symposium always attracts huge audiences. The most recent in Singapore was attended by around 800 and the one previous to that in the Silicon Valley in California attracted almost 1200.

“We have a very ambitious programme lined up for ISEA2009 next August. It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of the excellent work being done in digital creativity and content production here and I expect it to be one of the largest events ever hosted by the University of Ulster with between 800 and 1,000 delegates from around the world in attendance.

“The Pre Symposium 2008 will give audiences an idea of what to expect next year and offer artists, designers, researchers and organisations an opportunity to network and develop the foundations for a dedicated creative ISEA project in 2009. This week’s series of events and discussions are an important means for the building of partnerships and publics for ISEA2009.”

The Pre Symposium 2008 programme includes the launch of Arkive Cities, an online learning resource on creative interventions into formal and informal archives and exhibitions by staff members Brian Bridges and Paul Moore and students in the School of Creative Arts. 

On Friday the programme includes a presentation by Ulster Academic Fellow Mark Cullen on his recent research carried out with Professor Gunther von Hagen’s Institute of Plastenation. Ccontroversial anatomist Professor von Hagens, who invented the technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination, developed the Body Worlds exhibition of human bodies and body parts. He hit the headlines in 2002 when he performed the first public autopsy in the UK for 170 years. 
 
Also on Friday, internationally renowned artist Mike Stubbs and Director of FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) together with researcher Andy Miah will give a pubic lecture on Post humanism on the Belfast campus. 
 
For information and the full pre-symposium visit:  www.isea2009.org 

All events are free but numbers will be limited so admittance will be on a first come basis.  
 
For further information contact: ISEA2009 Executive Producer Cherie Driver at c.driver@ulster.ac.uk  

For further information, please contact:

Trina Porter
Telephone: 028 71675511
Email: Trina Porter