September 30th – October 1st 2013 Athens, Greece
“Creativity: Innovative, Open and Economically Sustainable Models of Creative Production”
Τhe two-day “Creativity: Innovative, Open and Economically Sustainable Models of Creative Production” international conference, organized by the National Documentation Centre was successfully completed. The conference took place in Athens, on 30/9 and 01/10/2013 as part of the European project “Creativity: Innovative Models of Production and Access”, in collaboration with the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens.
During the conference, speakers from Greece and abroad, academicians, artists and active young entrepreneurs gave their mark at a conference that managed to combine the latest technological advances with the current artistic production, seen through the prism of innovative, open creative models and the conditions they require.
The first day of the “Creativity” Conference focused on the emergence of the productive dynamics of creative industries, such as digital applications and software development, architecture, design, production of cultural content, advertising etc. The participants’ positions clearly evidenced that the creative industries are no longer viewed with skepticism, as their contribution to the economic and social reconstruction can be of great importance. Their significance as an example of production is even greater if we take into account that they are primarily based on collaborative models and open structures with self-productive yet mass character.
Strengthening the “open”, meaning open access, open data, open information, openness to new funding models, is, according to what has been said at the conference, an indisputable tool in the effort to create a new scientific, business and cultural reality. Trending topics such as 3D printing, the adoption of new educational practices have been practically analyzed through 3 workshops that attracted public attention, leaving the best impressions.
During the second day of the conference, the interest was mainly focused on the practical application of “openness” to both art and entrepreneurship. The presentation of the new group exhibition organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art named “Afresh”, launched on October 24th, and of six works implemented with the support of the National Documentation Centre, highlighted the current role of the “commons”, of “openness” and new sources of creation.
The AKTINA* installation by City Index Lab and Energize, hosted in the courtyard of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, impressed the audience. This project is a standalone charging station for devices and bicycles, capable to meet daily needs of ‘public space’s’ users, as it collects solar energy and converts it into electricity. During the conference, AKTINA * was transformed into an outdoor laboratory, charging 3d open hardware printers, in order to build the largest digitally manufactured “hat”, named Parasol. Parasol, and all works presented at the conference, can be visited until the end of December, at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens.
The discussions that followed, on the occasion of two documentaries filmed by Ilias Marmaras and Matthias Fritsch about the limits of openness, demonstrated the need for the evolution of the existing institutional framework in Greece and internationally, in order to create the conditions for an effective transition to a new era of creativity. The very same need was confirmed during the discussion on new models of entrepreneurship and the difficulties faced by start-ups in Greece, as they were described by a multitude of successful, persistent Greek entrepreneurs.
The National Documentation Centre, as the national institution for the collection, organization and dissemination of scientific, technological and cultural information, organized the conference “Creativity” under the project “Creativity: Innovative Models of Production and Access” and its actions for the emergence and re-use of authoritative knowledge. The broad participation of the public who honored the conference provides the impetus for its continuation through next corresponding actions, in order to highlight the role of creative industries and enhance their development.
All speakers’ presentations, as well as videos from the conference, per session and speaker, are available under Presentations – Videos, and selected photographs under Photos. In addition, brief interviews with conference speakers on open data, creative industries and new creative models are available under Interviews.
The project “Creativity: Innovative Models of Production and Access” is funded via the Culture Programme (2007-2013) by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
Organizer
National Hellenic Research Foundation, L. Zervas Auditorium 48 Vassileos Constantinou Av., GR-11635 Athens
More info: http://creativity.ekt.gr/en/project
