Sustaining Art programme - NEoN Digital Arts & The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest.

Trans*Feminist Counter Cloud Action Plan. How could a digital arts practice become more
ethical?

Sustaining Art: People, Practice, Planet in Contemporary Art Conservation, was an in-person and streamed international conference taking place 9-11th November 2022 in Dundee, Scotland. During the conference we seeked to address sustainability in its widest sense in relation to contemporary art conservation. In partnership with DJCAD University of Dundee, and in affiliation with The Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBMK) and the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (INCCA), it was a forum to challenge assumptions, examine practices, and pursue equity and sustainability in conservation networks of care.

The conference took place over three days. Day 1 focused on ‘People’, Day 2 on ‘Practice’, which involved workshops, and Day 3 on ‘Planet’ which opened up wider conversations. A drinks reception and a gallery tour was held at Dundee Contemporary Arts on the first evening, an optional conference dinner took place at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath on the second evening and the Cooper Gallery at DJCAD (University of Dundee) hosted a drinks reception for their Lucy Skaer and Rosalind Nashashibi exhibition on Day 3. On the Saturday, a free tour of the Plastic: Remaking Our World exhibition at V&A Dundee took place followed by an introduction to the public artworks, specially commissioned for the conference at the Sharing not Hoarding billboards by NEoN Digital Arts.

Conservation is a practice and profession of people and relationships in creation, presentation, and preservation of artistic, curatorial, preservationist, and archival practices directly affecting and reflecting the Planet. This conference asked questions of sustainability in relation to contemporary art and seeked to shift focus onto practices and performative qualities of contemporary networks and infrastructures in art by welcoming open and transdisciplinary conversations. This may involve highlighting issues and concerns, oversights and misunderstandings, as well as achievements and innovative practices, in order to find generative ways forward.

The conference itself seeked to operate as an example of event organisation and delivery prioritising decision making and processes that work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

NEoN Digital Arts & The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest have led an in person workshop - Trans*Feminist Counter Cloud Action Plan. How could a digital arts practice become
more ethical?

You can read more on the event here