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Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy I ACLU MN I Native Youth Arts Center I North Central Univ I POST ME Coalition I Councilman Fletcher

DIGITAL RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS:

DIGITAL RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS:

INTERNATIONAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION,
CIVIC FORUM, and LIVE BROADCAST EVENT

Minneapolis, MN and Online
February 2021

In partnership with:

The Institute for Digital Humanity 
The Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy
ACLU Minnesota
Native Youth Arts Collective
North Central University
Post ME Coalition
Councilman Steve Fletcher
(Minneapolis, MN)

View full details

THE LIVING TEXTBOOK PROJECT

THIS EXHIBITION IS AN EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION TO THE TRICKY ANGLES ON WHEN TECHNOLOGY, AI, ARTISTS' RIGHTS, CURATORS' ETHICAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATIONS, AND RACE COLLIDE. IT AIN'T PRETTY.

BUT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE -- FROM AROUND THE WORLD -- COMING TOGEHTER TO TALK ABOUT THIS STUFF (WITH CITY COUCILMAN AND THE LOCAL ACLU) MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT THE WORLD.

THE ORGANIC CONTROVERSIES AND CONVERSATIONS ARE EXCELLENT TEACHING RESOURCES

Thank you to our artists

  • Gallery One: ​Image Gallery

    Calim Stamper

    Trevor Coopersmith

    Lance Johnson

    Savior Allen-Knight

    Hagen Klennert

    Elieso Ortiz

    Alondra M Garza

    Gallery Two: Video Work

    ​Avital Meshi

    Xavier McFarlin

    Eyal Guss

    Anlan Huang

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    Shadowban Video:

    Pierre Chaumont

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    App Store:

    "Facework" by Kyle MacDonald

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    Native Your Art Collective:

    Hedi Haferman

    Harrell Mathieu 

    NYAC Members

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  • Salon:

    Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy Members

    Keynote Speakers:

    Munira Mohamed (ACLU) 

    Councilman Steve Fletcher

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note: this exhibition was strategically curated

  • to create legally actionable claims for our artists (vis a vis encoded/ai censorship)

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    and catalyze genuine cross-cultural dialogue on the (actually) unifying issue of technology and surveillance.

    a week earlier, we helped pass the facial recognition ban in Minneapolis, along with the ACLU MN, Safety Not Surveillance Coalition, Councilman Steve Fletcher, Restore the 4th, and others.

  • This footage is strategically curated

    to provide future educational materials for attorneys, citizen, students, artists, and programmers to work together as we deal with the challenges of AI and our civil rights.

The Call to Action:

A juried art exhibition and community conversation —
“Digital Rights are Civil Rights” — that focused on the intersection of race and technology, and was curated to catalyze local and national community conversations on digital ethics. 

It took place virtually and physically on February 19th, 2021. One week after our bipartisan coalition passed the historic ban on facial recognition technology in Minneapolis.

THANK YOU TO:
The hundreds of artists from around the world who contributed and participated in this powerful event.

IDH AI LAW and POLICY INITIATIVES

The Context

Digital Rights Are Civil Rights debuted the same week​ Minneapolis banned facial recognition.  (The IDH and other participants were part of that coalition)

Here's Minneapolis City Councilman Steve Fletcher's thoughts on next steps.

The Conversation / Controversy

The irony of one of our artists (Xavier McFarlin) being censored/flagged by social media companies (for an installation ABOUT artistic censorship/digital racism) just proves the necessity of these conversations.

See that discussion and others below. You won't be bored.

WATCH THE WHOLE EVENT AT IDH TV

INTERVIEW WITH IAA CRITIC IN RESIDENCE STEVEN PEDERSEN

The IAA's Critic-in-Residence discusses why art is an essential weapon in the fight against algorithmic discrimination and censorship.

Interview with artist Eyal Gruss:
We get to the bottom of cancel culture in the AI era.

The Curation

The IDH partners with the Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy on cutting-edge curation strategies:

Training our docents to spark and navigate allegedly 'impossible' conversations, capturing our audiences' real time reactions, and amplifying community voices through strategic messaging.

VISIT THE INSTITUTE FOR AESTHETIC ADVOCACY

Gallery 1: 2D/Visual Art

Community Conversation: What do we want our digital future to look like?

Gallery 2: Video Art

(hang tight for a second; we had to migrate everything.)

"FACEWORK" by Kyle McDonald / "SHADOWBAN" by Pierre Chaumont

is where we had the live patrons start

Interview with artist Avital Meshi

who made the piece above you

Gallery 3: Native Youth Art Collective

(hang tight for a second; we had to migrate everything.)

Interview with Munira Mohammed (ACU MN)

ART EXHIBITIONS

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