Fak'ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival: 19 August - 3 September 2016
We’re bringing a range of fresh, innovative events to this year’s Festival with an opportunity to witness and participate in stunning visual installations, virtual reality performances, digital master classes, live debates and dynamic immersive video installations all set to inspire, empower, engage and wow you!
We are delighted to welcome a diverse range of artists, designers, makers, tech gurus and thinkers into the mix from SA and the UK, fusing an eclectic range of creative styles and practice. And everything is FREE.
This year's Fak'ugesi Africa Digital Innovation Festival will be based at Tshimologong Precinct, 47 Juta Street in Braamfontein.
CONNECT ZA EVENTS
SATURDAY 20 AUGUST - 10:00 – 13:30
MAKER LIBRARY WORKSHOP: THE 3D AGE GAMING Geekulcha (activity led by Kim Mukenge, resident game designer)
Get hands-on with 3D scanning and 3D gaming. You can build your own games, print your characters and create animations, working with Intel RealSense 3D cameras, 3D Printers, Holograms, and Animation.
Free. Open to All. Booking Required.
SUNDAY 21 AUGUST 10:00 – 16:00
MAKER LIBRARY WORKSHOP: AFRICAN EMOJI HOLOGRAMS
Designers and creatives are invited to imagine and design a new series of African emojis and then bring them to life by building holograms.
Free. Open to Artists, Graphic Designers, Game Designers.
WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST
Drop-in Sessions. On the hour, every hour from 10:00 – 16:00
MAKER LIBRARY WORKSHOP: OPEN DATA QUEST
The Geekulcha Maker Librarians in collaboration with Code4SA and CSIR will challenge the workshop to come up with story angles from online data about Women and Human Settlement online. The workshop seeks to explore and address social dynamics in South Africa and visualise the data creatively in order to contribute to a dynamic, collaborative storyboard. This workshop will appeal to Students and practitioners in Sociology and Human Sciences; Marketers, Designers, Journalists, Historians, Storytellers. (Participants should bring along their laptops to use during the workshop.)
Free. Open to all. No Booking required.
WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST - 5PM
DIGITAL HUSTLE
In collaboration with Livity Africa, an interactive session led by industry professionals will form part of the Festival Talks. After the success of last year’s Reverse Hustle, this first session will feature the Fak’ugesi Digital Africa Residents who will work with participants to explore the continents digital and tech landscape.
Thursday 25 – SUNDAY 28 AUGUST
MAKER LIBRARY WORKSHOP: Making Time Capsules of Space with Thingking,The MakerSpace, Geekulcha
Maker Librarians will collaborate to capture site-specific sounds, from the streets of Jozi, and interpret these in physical formats that will enable the public to interact, listen and interpret these moments. Poetic sound clips will document moments in different spaces around the city, and these will be translated into physical forms, using different technologies.
This project will be led by Maker Librarians, Thingking and The MakerSpace as well as guest librarians Robyn Farah (KAT-O) and Tom van den Bon (Binary Space) who will mentor a group of young female engineers (electronic and mechanical) and programmers.
Free. Open to Electronic and mechanical engineers, and programmers.
Booking required. Participants to be available for project duration
SATURDAY 27 AUGUST – 10:00 – 17:00
Having grown in popularity, this festival favourite is a collaboration between the South African Maker Collective, Fak’ugesi and British Council Connect ZA. Hosted by The Grove at Southpoint, this open ‘tech’ market will showcase unusual cutting edge creative technology made accessible to passersby of all ages. It will also feature Maker Library Network, Multi-Disciplinary Immersive Filmmaker Karen Palmer (UK) who presents dynamic interactive video installation mixing; neurogaming, film, technology and parkour, Syncself 2: Focus or Fail and Oculus Rift Virtual Reality immersive theatre performance The Cube presented by Simon Wilkinson from Circa69 (UK).
https://fakugesi.co.za/stories/
SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 11:00 – 15:00
FAK'UGESI SOWETO POP UP
Taking technology to audiences outside of the city, this will be an interactive day of creative technology and live digital installations, offering an opportunity to get up close with a range of cutting-edge activities, from Oculus Rift Virtual Reality immersive theatre performance The Cube presented by Circa69 (UK) to dynamic interactive video installation mixing Neurogaming, film, technology and parkour, Syncself 2: Focus or Fail presented by Karen Palmer (UK).
MONDAY 29TH AUGUST - 10- 5PM
CIRCA69 - ENTRY POINT TO VR WORKSHOP
This day-long workshop aims to give participants a starting point from which to begin creating their own VR (virtual reality) experiences, covering both current thinkings in VR storytelling techniques through to hands-on practical experience of using the Unity games engine to create interactive, real-time VR content. The course will get participants through the initial learning curve necessary for making VR content so that they can move forward with their own projects and continue developing in their own time. It involves a 21 point hands on session with Unity Games Engine covering an entry point to just about everything you can achieve with this software without the use of code
CiRCA69 is the company of transmedia artist Simon Wilkinson. His work has featured at Tate Modern and tours regularly on the international circuit. Simon is a guest lecturer at various London universities, at the Netherlands Film Academy, Bilkent University Ankara and is the facilitator of British Council's Transmedia ThiNKTANK in Venezuela.
Participants should have a desire to explore the practical use of virtual reality as a new experimental medium and must come with their own laptop preinstalled with the latest version of UNITY from the unity3d.com website (this is free to install)
FREE but limited capacity: Book your place at connectZa@britishcouncil.org
MONDAY 29 & WEDNESDAY 31AUGUST –12: 00 - 15:00 (sessions last approx. 20 minutes)
STORY TELLING WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, POP UP SURGERIES
WITH KAREN PALMER (UK)
Whether you are a film maker, emerging technologist or simply have an idea that you want to turn into something digitally amazing, this 121 session is for you. UK Multi-Disciplinary Immersive Filmmaker Karen Palmer is on hand to chat through your idea and help you move it to the next stage, come prepared with your concept.
FREE but limited capacity, book your place at connectZa@britishcouncil.org
TUEsady 30 AUGUST – Thursday 1 September (various times, must be available for duration)
SDNA CREATIVE WORKSHOP
Digital artists SDNA are looking to gather a group of aspiring digital artists/ techies to help create an installation as part of ALIGHT festival through practical based workshop techniques, learning how to animate public space through digital projection mapping and innovative use of surface and structures.
If you would like to join the workshop and be part of the installation project team, email ConnectZA@britishcouncil.org for further details, with SDNA in the subject line.
TUESDAY 30 AUGUST 2016 - 5PM
CREATIVE HUSTLE FEATURING KAREN PALMER AND VALENTINA FLORES (SDNA)
This all-female powerhouse panel featuring Multi-Disciplinary Immersive Filmmaker Karen Palmer and Valentina Flores from SDNA, will not only share how they are breaking boundaries in their mediums but explore the intersections between technology, creativity, and innovation.
WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST - 10:00 – 12:30 AND 14:00 – 16:30
MAKER LIBRARY WORKSHOP: Make a Radio Satellite
Make your own amateur radio satellite and explore methods for space observation, such as accessing data to build a mini weather station or an observatory. Hosted in collaboration with South African National Space Agency (SANSA); SA AMSAT (South African Amateur Radio Satellites) and Binary Space.
Free. Open to All. Booking required.
WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST - 9:00 – 21:00
MAKER LIBRARY TALK: Let’s Talk about Space
This will be a good opportunity to see where South Africa is as far as Space Technology is concerned. Hosted by SANSA, the South African National Space Agency, Mandla Maseko will share his experience as the first black African who has gone to space and SANSA will answer questions about space technology and South Africa’s experience in exploring other realms….
Follow @Geekulcha #SpaceTalk
THURSDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 10:00 – 17:00
Maker Library: 3D Age Fashion Experience
Pop in to experience a virtual reality fashion show and meet local fashion designers from the Tshwane Fashion Project who are collaborating with Geekulcha Maker Librarians to explore ways in which the world of 3D technology will shake up the fashion industry.
Free. Open to All. Drop-in
FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER - 10:00 – 17:00
Maker Library: Make a ‘Junk’ Robot: with Geekulcha
Create a robot by hacking together everyday objects such as old toys and found materials to create a creature of your imagination. Bring your toy to life with Arduino technology, jumping wires, sensors and motors.
You should bring along old electronic toys, and interesting household items with which to construct robots.
THURSDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER
SDNA DIGITAL TRAIL AS PART OF ALIGHT FESTIVAL
A digital installation trail, encouraging you to explore and discover the newly pedestrianized precinct, with stunning projections and intimate digital imagery animating the hidden corners, surfaces and random objects en route, a glimpse into the area with new eyes.
SDNA is a creative studio based in London producing distinctive digital artwork. Their objective is to explore techniques of interaction within public spaces, using emerging technologies and unusual presentation media. In the past eight years, they have collaborated with a range of artists and received many commissions for video design and multiple projection installations. Previous projects have taken place internationally from Russia to Polynesia, London venues have included the V & A Museum, the Roundhouse, the ICA, and the Whitechapel Gallery and recently as part of London International Festival of Theatre.