Despite challenging wintry conditions, around 300 participants from across the country were present on Day 1 of the Canada Council’s Summit on the Arts in a Digital World. They absorbed rich content and shared their views and insights in workshops facilitated by Jonathan Braunstein.

In the morning, four speakers convincingly set the tone for the day.

• Simon Brault issued a powerful and inspiring manifesto to the arts community, calling on it to seize the tremendous opportunities offered by digital.
• Sylvie Gilbert briefly described the principles, goals, components, parameters and other features of the Canada Council’s new Digital Fund to an attentive audience.
• In a wide-ranging talk, Anna Serrano of the Summit’s advisory committee spoke about digital “human” rights and how virtual reality creates an “attention economy” in which emerging technologies fight for our attention, and also provided fresh perspectives on what it means to be human.
• Jackson 2Bears approached digital from the standpoint of Indigenous arts and culture, and highlighted the dangers of reproducing colonial spaces and codes and the importance of envisaging a just future.

You can hear these presentations on the Canada Council's Facebook feed. Videos of each presentation, subtitled in English or French, will be posted online in the coming weeks. 

http://canadacouncil.ca/spotlight/2017/03/arts-in-a-digital-world-summit-day-1