FutureEverything and Futuresonic

FutureEverything and Futuresonic

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Looking back on 2008, and forward to 2009 and 2010.

Beginning in 2010 there will be a major new adventure, and the artistic programme for the 2009 festival looks to be the strongest yet.

http://www.futuresonic.com


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2010

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In 2010 Futuresonic will return as FutureEverything.

Futuresonic 2009 will be the 10th edition and 14th calendar year of the festival. Over these fourteen years the festival has been creatively led, with the focus of the festival not only sound, but also visual arts, digital culture and social themes. From 2010, as a sign of the open and mobile character of its artistic vision, Futuresonic Urban Festival of Art, Music and Ideas will return as FutureEverything Urban Festival of Art, Music and Ideas – making 2009 the last chance to experience a “Futuresonic” festival.

“FutureEverything is a new name that captures a lot about the character of the festival. It has been the name of the organisation for several years, reflecting the fact that, while our roots in music and digital culture are still very important to us, the visual arts and ideas strands are equally as significant. From 2010, we look forward to all the festival’s international participants and partners joining us on a new journey as a part of the first FutureEverything festival.” – Drew Hemment, founder and Artistic Director

The dates and themes of FutureEverything 2010 will be announced on 16 May 2009.

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2009

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Futuresonic 2009 takes place 13-16 May, Manchester UK

The programme for the next edition of the festival is currently in development, and will feature 250 artists across 100 events at 30 venues. The open call for submissions for the festival has received the best response yet, and the full festival programme will be announced in February 2009.

Every year the festival explores the themes of the social, technology and the city. In 2009, the festival will also include a focus on Environment 2.0, decoding the relationship between people, the environment and digital culture. This will be the culmination of 3 years of activities by Futuresonic and FutureEverything that have influenced the international debate on environmental sustainability in urban settings and its relation to digital culture.

The theme will be presented and discussed in an invited event at Transmediale09 in Berlin during January and in an accompanying catalogue text on the Environment 2.0 theme by Drew Hemment, the Artistic Director of FutureEverything and Futuresonic 2009.

Visit www.futuresonic.com for regular updates on all areas of the festival.

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2008

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This has been an exciting year for the organisation and the festival.

Latest FutureEverything News:

FutureEverything has been shortlisted for the 2009 Lever Prize. The highly acclaimed prize is awarded on the basis of a range of factors including regional individuality, high standard of existing work and exciting future developments.

Futuresonic’s Artistic Director, Drew Hemment, has been awarded an Honorary Mention by Prix Ars Electronica 2009. The Prix Ars Electronica award is the equivalent of the Oscars for digital arts.

Seven fantastic new people have joined the team at FutureEverything to help realise the ambition of the festival and other year-round projects, including three programme managers for the Art, Music and Ideas strands, plus new key people in marketing, production, research and administration.

Futuresonic 2008 featured 5 days and nights of live music, art premieres, exhibitions, club nights and events with a world-class programme of over 350 artists attended by 50,000 people in 30 venues and spaces across the city centre.

The “highly respected” Futuresonic festival was invited to participate in international events, from the prestigious International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Singapore to the Numusic festival in Norway.

A highlight of the 2008 festival was the Social Technologies Summit with over 900 attendees. Launched in 2006, the summit has been made a regular annual event alongside the Futuresonic festival and 2009 themes build on the successes of 2008.

FuturesFamily is a new Artists In Residence initiative from FutureEverything, established to nurture artists at the very cutting edge of art, music and ideas. Our family have been hand selected for their innovation and experimentation, driving forward our ethos to challenge and inspire.

FutureEverything / Futuresonic have led in the establishment of an international network of music festivals called ECAS. Fifteen Festival Directors have attended Futuresonic, and FutureEverything / Futuresonic have participated in other international festivals in Europe and North America.

FutureEverything / Futuresonic have received strong support from partners and funders in 2008: Awarded ‘Pillar Event’ status by Manchester City Council, ‘Regularly Funded Organisation’ (RFO) status by Arts Council England, and a 3 year funding award by Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

ImaginationLancaster, where FutureEverything’s and Futuresonic’s Drew Hemment is Associate Director, has been awarded £5million by the EPSRC Digital Economies programme to establish a Doctoral Training Centre, one of only five in the Digital Economies programme awarded nationally.

FutureEverything has been awarded funding from the CREATOR cluster of the EPSRC Digital Economies programme to undertake a pioneering research project on creative interdisciplinary practice on the Environment. This research will culminate in a comprehensive report on the successes of such practices by a range of leading international artists, designers, makers and thinkers.

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Futuresonic 2009

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13-16 May, Manchester UK

Transforming the city into a space of experimentation, making it come alive

Futuresonic has 4 strands: Art, Music, Ideas and EVNTS. Currently in its 14th year, the festival occupies the orbits of both music and digital culture.

Futuresonic is presented by FutureEverything CIC. It is a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) of Arts Council England North West and is supported by Manchester City Council.

Futuresonic is presented in partnership with ImaginationLancaster http://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk, a major new research lab at Lancaster University.

Futuresonic is presented by FutureEverything CIC.

http://www.futuresonic.com