International Encounters on Arts and Multimedia: Art and New Media seminar at R A M I :: October 4 -15, 2007 :: Beirut / Step 5 :: With this seminar given by Ricardo Mbarkho at RAMI, participants will widen their knowledge, experiments and research in art using new media. They will study and think the New Technologies of Information and Communication (Internet / Cyberspace, mobiles, satellites, digital networks, interactive games, etc.) with their impact on the artist’s social and political environment, and how this impact is or could be shaped in their projects. So what are the new possibilities to experiment with? How to collaborate with electronic engineers and scientists for this purpose? What are the new aesthetics that were never possible before the invention of the virtual / cyberspace, of the interactivity, and of the digital network with the Internet?

This seminar is theory and aesthetic oriented; a research laboratory in new media art is thus implemented in class. The aim is to cover a quick overview on the history of new media art in order to analyze art works and understand the judgment criterion for this new aesthetic. The participants will be constantly oriented to define and locate their positioning as artists operating in the new media field, within the global today’s art practices.

RAMI: The RAMI project is an international platform for experimentation, exchange and circulation dedicated to contemporary creation, digital tools and multimedia in the Mediterranean. (Lebanon, Egypt, France - 2006/2007)

Developed by SHAMS-Beirut, ZINC/ECM-Marseilles, l’ATELIER of Alexandria and ASTAR-Milan between September 2006 and December 2007, the RAMI project is hold in 7 steps in Marseille, Aix, Beirut and Alexandria. In this step, three workshops, two research seminars, one technical unit and several “cartes blanches” will be animated by French, Italian, Lebanese and Egyptian artists.Info:
Site: http://rami.lafriche.org
Contact: ramiproject[at]lafriche.org

Rami is financed by Anna Lindh Foundation, Al Mawred Al Sakafi Al Arabi, Dramastica Institute, Open Society Institute, Ford Foundation, French Cultural Centre in Beirut, Region Provence-Alpes-CYte d’Azur, MinistKre des affaires HtrangKres franAais. Rami is endorsed by the Goethe Institut, la BibliothHca Alexandrina, the Yasmin network, and the CCF dmAlexandrie…