The DUT Arts and Design DigiFest celebrated its 3rd anniversary this year (2016), DUT Communications’ Noxolo Memela had a chat with Dr Rene Smith, Faculty of Arts and Design Executive Dean to further enlighten the public about the exciting festival.
Noxolo: How did the concept of the DigiFest come about?
Dr Smith: In 2013 during discussions with one of our partners at the Faculty (of Arts and Design), the suggestion that the Faculty should have a festival came up. Most arts faculties have festivals and we decided on a digital media festival. I brought this idea back to the Faculty and that is how the DigiFest was born.
Noxolo: What was the theme for 2016?
Dr Smith: The 2016 theme is inspired by Shakespeare and celebrating the 400th year anniversary of his death, which is that we are such stuff as dreams are made of. The theme was ready for students to interpret, rethink, change, interrogate and critique. It was really exciting.
Noxolo: How was the theme chosen?
Dr Smith: For each year, we think through what are the relevant areas. In the first year (2014), we were celebrating the 20th anniversary of our young democracy and we thought it was significant to get students to celebrate or contest it. In the second year (2015), we thought it was very important given the events that were recurring in the country that we got students to start thinking about themselves in relation to others so we had the theme “My story, your story, our story”, which was really about how we can come together in our diversity, this year as an arts faculty, we had to acknowledge the 400th year anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. It’s a global movement and it was really important to us, how students have interpreted it, was entirely up to them. What is important for the festival is that we did not say if you don’t adhere to the theme of the festival we will not select you. We just said for those who would like a theme, this is the theme for 2016 which is why in some stalls you didn’t find anything that related to the theme but many were in line with it.
Noxolo: Who is the target market of the DigiFest?
Dr Smith: Current staff and students but most importantly we seek through this festival to promote the faculty so as part of our recruitment strategy it is our alumnus, future employers, industry partners, government and because we really believe in public/private partnerships. It is really just a range of partners and fundamentally the general public.
Noxolo: Can other institutions outside of DUT contribute to the DigiFest?
Dr Smith: Absolutely! We are not exclusive; we believe strongly that inclusivity is important for us to do our very best. As a country, we need to work together. One of the key objectives of the Festival is to promote collaboration and partnership so we welcome contributions from other departments, other festivals and partners. Our job as the DigiFest team is to make sure that it is balanced so that at least we get to see the work of the Faculty grow. So, anyone who wants to contribute to the Digifest or ISEA 2018 does not necessarily have to be from the Faculty.
Noxolo: Tell us more about ISEA 2018?
Dr Smith: ISEA 2018 is the International Symposium on Electronic Art. It was founded probably about two decades ago in the Netherlands. It is the biggest electronic arts festival and this year (2016) it was held in Hong Kong. In 2017, it will be held in Columbia and in 2018 for the first time in its 24-year existence, it will be held in Durban and DUT will be part of it. It’s a massive undertaking and we cannot do it alone. We cannot be exclusive, it requires inclusivity across faculties, departments and disciplines. It is about bringing science, technology and arts together. For example, at a typical ISEA festival you could have a neuro surgeon and an artist speaking on an issue so it is really a wonderful opportunity not just for DUT, but for Durban, South Africa, the continent; actually, everyone in the global South.
Noxolo: Is there anything you would like to add about the DigiFest or ISEA 2018?
Dr Smith: We must never lose sight of the fact that we are a public institution and our students are getting a public education. We are trying to give them the best public education and that is education that is relevant, takes into consideration not just the local context but global dynamics. Part of what we are trying to do with the DigiFest is to say let’s start making ourselves more relevant so that we can compete not just on the regional level, but on the national and international level. That is why we do the work we do. That is why our students have over many years been discussing, challenging and taking on real issues about their lived experiences. That is why during the DigiFest we agreed to launch the “Missing Middle” campaign. We really encourage individual giving by SMSing “Give” to 33000.
Pictured: Dr Rene Smith, DUT Arts and Design Faculty Executive Dean.
