[Air-L] Sent on behalf of Forecast

[Lina Dencik]

Call for Ideas—Forecast Mentorship with Francesca Bria
Application deadline: February 28, 2021, 11:59pm CET
forecast-platform.com/open-call/<https://forecast-platform.com/open-call/>

Forecast, Mentorships for Audacious Minds
Innovation economist and digital policy expert Francesca Bria is one of six mentors in Forecast’s 2021–22 edition. Bria works at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, economics, and society to make digital innovation more socially responsible. As an international mentorship program, Forecast offers artists and creative thinkers the chance to work with accomplished mentors toward bringing their projects to fruition.

As a mentor, Bria is interested in working with people who seek to articulate a strategic vision of how digital technologies can facilitate the transition from today’s digital economy of surveillance capitalism and data extractivism to an alternative political and economic project based on data democracy, digital sovereignty, and citizen participation. The possible focus of the application can be on rethinking smart cities to meet citizens’ needs, using technology and data at the service of people and the green transition.

“This will kickstart a creative and interdisciplinary movement that develops political, aesthetic, as well as functional standards—in sync with state-of-the-art technology, environment, and climate,” she says.

“I am looking for a candidate with a strong interest in economics and geopolitics of technology, and those with a good grasp of current technological developments, especially big data, AI, industrial automation, decentralized trust protocols, distributed ledgers, and so on,” she explains. “This systemic change needs its own aesthetics, blending design, arts, and sustainability. It’s at the intersection of these worlds that many of the emerging technopolitical issues, from global trade to economic national development to the future of welfare, are to be tackled.”

About the Mentorship Program
For each edition, Forecast selects six different mentors, all accomplished in their respective fields. Thinkers, artistic practitioners and cultural producers working in all creative fields, anywhere in the world, are encouraged to apply with projects that could benefit from the expertise of one of this edition’s mentors and their unique approach to material and knowledge production. There is no age limit and no processing fees.

The other mentors in this editions are: architect Tatiana Bilbao<https://forecast-platform.com/mentor/tatiana-bilbao/> (Mexico); experimental singer and composer Sofia Jernberg<https://forecast-platform.com/mentor/sofia-jernberg/> (Sweden); cartoonist Ulli Lust<https://forecast-platform.com/mentor/ulli-lust/> (Austria); choreographer Mathilde Monnier<https://forecast-platform.com/mentor/mathilde-monnier/> (France); and artist Emeka Ogboh<https://forecast-platform.com/mentor/emeka-ogboh/> (Nigeria).

The selection process is two-tiered. First, the mentors carefully review all proposals and invite three candidates each to workshop with the mentor and present their ideas at the Forecast Forum in Berlin, taking place in July 2021. Nominees receive an artist fee to present at the Forum. Following the Forum, nominees will get several weeks to fine-tune their proposals based on the exchanges with their respective mentor, and submit the revised version by August 27, 2021. On September 1, each mentor will select one mentee.
All six selected mentees will receive a production budget and a licensing and artist fee, and will have several months to produce their projects with the mentor’s support. In addition to ongoing exchanges, this period also includes a one-on-one work-stay with the mentor at an international partner institution.

The final productions will be presented to the public at the Forecast Festival in April 2022. The Forum and the Festival both take place at radialsystem, Berlin.

How to Apply
Forecast can only accept applications submitted in English via the online application form<http://new.forecast-platform.com/open-call/apply/>. Please consult the FAQ<http://new.forecast-platform.com/open-call/faq/> and Guidelines<http://new.forecast-platform.com/open-call/guidelines/> sections on our website for more details before applying.

Forecast is a project by Skills e.V. in cooperation with radialsystem. It is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Forecast is a member of the Future Architecture Platform.