Radical Friends is a DAO Summit for decentralisation of power and resources in the art world taking place on Saturday, January 22*, 2022 as a livestream via the Haus der Kunstin Munich in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. The gathering brings together artists, thinkers and technologists to explore how power and resources in the arts and culture sector can be distributed differently with the help of digital technologies, focusing on blockchain.
Curated by Ruth Catlow (Furtherfield) and Penny Rafferty in dialogue with Sarah Johanna Theurer (Haus Der Kunst) the event addresses key questions around how blockchain can transform the art world, such as “How can blockchain technologies enable decentralised digital communities for the art world?,” “What are the possibilities of DAO’s (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations) for the Arts, Culture and Society?,” “What are the new financial and organisational ecosystems which will support these communities?”.
The eight-hour online programme includes lectures, panel discussions, presentations and concerts. Participants are invited to explore, discuss and analyse the obstacles, opportunities, and implications of progressive, decentralised organisations and their future role in the Arts. Lightning talks by Kei Kreutler, and Rhea Myers and others will offer space for dialogue and reflection. Also the event invites four prototypes of DAO projects to be presented and the live audience will collectively award a development grant to one of the teams funded by the Goethe-Institut using quadratic voting. Other participants include James Whipple (eea, M.E.S.H.), OMSK Social Club, Jaya Klara Brekke, Harm Van Den Dorpel, Cem Dagdelen, Aude Launay, Sarah Friend, Laura Lotti and Calum Bowden (Black Swan), Bhavisha Panchia and Carly Whitaker (Covalence Studios), Nicolay Spesivtsev and Dzina Zhuk (eeefff) and Massimiliano Mollona (Ensembl).
The summit is part of the Goethe-Institut project “Lockdown Lessons.” It searches for answers on what can be learned from the COVID-19 crisis on a global scale concerning social, technological, postcolonial and civil society concerns.
