Ballina, Co. Mayo

19 – 20 May

Given the major controversy surrounding Facebook misusing personal data from over 50 million users and allowing it to be harvested and exploited by Cambridge Analytica, it is not far fetched to say that our relationship with digital technology has recently fallen under scrutiny. Trusting digital technology and the giant multinational corporations behind it all to cater to nuanced characteristics of human nature may prove a more difficult issue than we could have possibly imagined but there in itself lies the assumption that we take for granted: We expect that technology may change to meet our needs, but what if technology is changing us to meet the demands of technology?

Memory, authorship, productivity, privacy, consumption and other key facets of our human identity are changing. Digital society is transforming our traditional relationship to these concepts, enhancing some and alienating others. The arts, at its core, can be summed up as an attempt to process and translate the human experience. So what role does the arts play in this new digital landscape?

The Digital Transformations conference, held in Ballina attempts to answer just that. The conference, which will take place over the 19 – 20., May will explore a range of issues intertwined with this uniquely modern problem. By inviting leaders from business and technology, education and journalism to share their views on the digital society and the meaning and value of the arts in such a society, the conference will offer some insights into how artists navigate the impact of this society on their work. With key speakers like Steve Woodhall, Paula Kehoe, Cate Field and Sinead Mc Donald, Digital Transformations boosts an array of interesting speakers and food for thought.