Artistic Labor & the Digital Economy
A presentation of research findings and new initiatives around cultural workers in the MENA re-thinking fairer economic models in music and literature. What labor protections can we afford in the current streaming economy and is artificial intelligence rapidly getting better at creative work? What futures can we envision around cooperation, decentralization, ownership, and art itself?
Sarah Kuhail, a digital culture expert and a specialist of cross-cultural communication and international management, is an experienced communications strategist, researcher and development consultant. Her work spans cultural, educational and media fields. She has worked as a consultant in strategic development, communications and resources development for many cultural organizations in the region, including Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Palestine), Culture Resource (Lebanon), AFAC (Lebanon), JAFRA (Palestine), and Kerning Cultures (UAE). Sarah is interested in the intersection of technology, arts and culture and investigates technology’s influence on the way we produce, curate, and consume the self and the other.
Feminist techie researching artificial intelligence and digital economies on a Mozilla Tech & Society fellowship. Part of the grant-making design circle of the Numun Fund (numun.fund) for feminist tech and the Platform Cooperatives Consortium (platform.coop). Fan of the Interledger Protocol and collaborating with Al Mawred Al Thaqafy on Culture 3.0.
A media entrepreneur, journalist, editor and literary translator, who played leading roles in media and culture projects across MENA. Ammar is now the head of operation at Taxir, a research and media initiative focused on facilitating blockchain adoption in MENA.
Cultural actor and researcher. Programs manager at Culture Resource.
I’m a Beirut-based journalist and documentary filmmaker and co-founder of kotobli.com, a book database and platform from and for the SWANA region.
David Habchy is a visual artist, a cultural practitioner and an educator based in Beirut, Lebanon. Habchy is a cofounder of Waraq association and Studio Kawakeb.