Intercities: Exporting interactive artworks in public space

May 2015

At the meeting of the Global Cultural District Network in Montreal in February 2015, the group discussed how interactive artworks in public space created and developed in one city could then travel to other cities around the world, taking into account travel logistics, local context, and more.

From this initial conversation, the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and the National Film Board of Canada, in collaboration with the GCDN, launched the Intercities project, which would follow the creation of a new interactive artwork for public space, with a Sounding Board made up of GCDN members to advise through the process.

The costs of adapting, transporting, and activating these projects can be significant, and this limits their diffusion in cities throughout the world. How then can we carry out interactive projects destined for public spaces beyond their original location, and allow them to access a wider audience? These are the concerns that the NFB and QDSP had in mind when they committed in early 2015 to a frame- work for a new interactive project that could tour cities around the world cost effectively. The only way to ensure that artwork can travel is to have that prerequisite in mind at the moment of production. In other words, to include technical, technological, artistic, and editorial parameters that facilitate the touring, and optimize the experience of the artwork, in public spaces other than the ones for which it was created.

A full background document about the project is available here.