The IMPAKT Festival 2023 will connect with CODE, a co-creation project on digital agency that IMPAKT initiated in 2021 and has been organising for two years with partners in Germany and Belgium. CODE refers to an ethical code of conduct that we feel needs to be discussed and developed, with basic principles for governments and the industry to adhere to. To give the discussions we have been fostering in CODE an even bigger platform, the IMPAKT Festival 2023 will put our digital agency centre stage.

During the IMPAKT Festival 2023, we will present the results of the CODE programme so far, together with additional talks, panels, debates, performances, films and artworks. In the festival programme, we will discuss the political and economic power of Big Tech and governments’ use of technology. The festival will respond to growing concerns that we are losing agency over the digital tools and platforms we use daily. The programme will include exchanges and dialogues with politicians as part of the aim to support the development of legislation that regulates Big Tech companies, curbs their power, and protects our rights as digital consumers and citizens. 

In the run-up to the IMPAKT Festival 2023 Reclaiming Digital Agency and the next edition of CODE 2023, we are happy to announce two open calls:

• Open call for participants from all disciplines (artists and non-artist) for CODE 2023, a programme in which you work on a project together with other participants. The project could be an artwork, a video, an installation, a plug-in, a website, a campaign, an intervention in the public space, etc. The co-creation process will run from January to June 2023 (deadline to apply is 11 December 2022)
• An open call for curators/programmers for the festival, which will take place in November 2023 (deadline to apply is 27 December 2022)

CODE is a co-creation process that IMPAKT is organising together with our European partners Werktank and Privacy Salon/Privacytopia (Belgium) and transmediale (Germany). The upcoming edition runs from January to June 2023.

How can we make governments understand the urgency to act? What can we, as concerned citizens, researchers and artists do to promote change? CODE supports cross-disciplinary collaboration between artists, designers, activists and public interest groups, and facilitates critical dialogue with policymakers and politicians. The project aims to contribute to public awareness, the development of better legislation and systemic change, in order to help digital consumers regain the agency over their data.

This open call invites creative professionals, non-professional artists and all other concerned citizens from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to embark with us on a five-month journey of dialogue, critical discussion and co-creation about our digital rights. From January to June 2023, participants in this programme will work in small groups on a project: an artwork, a video, an installation, a plug-in, a website, a campaign, an intervention in the public space, etc. These projects to be presented at the Ars Electronica Festival 2023 in Linz (Austria), the IMPAKT Festival 2023 and other festivals and events.

The deadline to apply to the open call for participants is Sunday 11 December, 23:59 CET

Open call for participants

Are you a curator, programmer or organiser working at the interface of digital rights, art and technology? Do you believe in the importance of a dialogue with politicians? Do you have ideas for a programme that resonates with the theme of the IMPAKT Festival 2023? We are open to proposals for panels, presentations, screenings, performances, exhibitions and other curated programmes.

You do not need to be an experienced curator but it is important that you are open to developing your programme in relation to the themes of the festival and the dialogue that we aim to establish with politicians, policymakers and the general public. 

The deadline to apply to the call for curators / programmers is 27 December, 23:59 CET. 

Applications can be submitted through the form below in Dutch or English.
For questions about the call, please contact katerina@impakt.nl
Your application should include among others:

• Your resume
• A summary of your proposal (between 100 and 200 words)
• A full concept (between 1000 and 3000 words, if possible with pictures)
• You can download here the full list of questions to prepare your application

Open call for curators and programmers