Introduction

Suffolk House will come to life as it sets to host Penang’s most exciting electronic festival - the Digital Art + Culture Festival (DA+C) 2011. Hailed asMalaysia’s first digital art festival, it will showcase of the country’s finest talents in digital architecture, art and design.

Heritage takes center stage as artists-designers interpret the stories from our history into animation, electronic music and virtual reality. The culmination of this festival is the video projection mapping performance where the entire façade of Suffolk House will transformed into an interactive stage with larger-than-life video animation.

There will also be workshops and educational talks for those interested in learning more about digital art. The talks will give participants a chance to see the behind-the-scenes perspective from creative professionals and artists.

Prelude

In order for heritage values to continue its existence, they must be relevant to the modern times. Traditional cultures that fail to adapt to changing trends will inevitably suffer extinction. Something that has no relevance in society will eventually disappear.

The emergence of the digital age has made technology inseparable in our daily lives. Most of us cannot imagine a day without checking our e-mails online or communicating on our cell phones. Technology is now the nucleus of society as it penetrates almost every aspect of modern living.

DA+C festival is a project that seeks to marry these two scenarios and create a cultural synergy. The works under DA+C flagship are commendable efforts by local designers and artists who have a deep respect for local culture and history and seek to extend this into the digital realm to jump-start a cultural renaissance.

DA+C Objectives

1. To use cutting-edge-technology to make history engaging and exciting.

2. Extend the `life’ of intangible heritage through digital documentation and media interpretation.

DA+C and Suffolk House

Suffolk House is historically significant because it is intimately connected to the founding of modern Penang. The garden mansion is built on Captain Francis Light’s vast pepper estate and is a prime example of an Anglo-Indian building inspired by Georgian architecture. Suffolk House once served as home for several of the island’s early British governors under the East India Company and it played host for numerous important social functions in the 19th century.

DA+C celebrates Suffolk House’s rich history by bringing its stories of the past to the present, stories that encompass the people it housed, the events that took place and its relationship with George Town, interpreted in the interactive art works and video mapping projection performances.

Future of heritage

Culture and Heritage

Digital art is a new field in Malaysia. It is now set to impact the local social-cultural scene as it presents the creation of `new culture’ based on historical narratives. The artists and designers participating in this DA+C Festival will bring traditional stories into the digital age by their interpretation of heritage values for a technology-driven society.

These stories which have been interpreted into digital media will be able to reach a wider audience both locally and internationally. More people will get to know Penang and its colourful history as digital data which is made for internet use has the ability to quickly replicated, broadcast and be copied many times over.

This will enable the more fragile oral history of communities to be only stored in the minds’ of its

custodians, but it can now also be stored in computer servers all over the world allowing infinitely greater accessibility.

History and culture will speak the same `language’ as today’s youth and these

heritage values will be found in the youth mediums of the internet and telecommunications.

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Local culture is a source of unique and cutting-edge digital content.

Technology / digital content

DA+C festival will be the first electronic-art exhibition in Malaysia with Suffolk House turning from a 200-year old property into a digital playground and a haven for techno-enthusiasts.

The convergence of telecommunications and media has created an insatiable need for creative content. Society is constantly looking for unique and original ideas and artists and designers are beginning to look at their own culture and history as a resource for creative inspiration.

Culture and history has important heritage values that benefit both heritage and technology, bringing people closer to technology as it increasingly becomes a medium for education.

Cutting edge technology is explored and pushed to its boundaries by the artists, programmers and designers to bring the message of appreciating our history

The festival will host a range of art works that heavily depend on human interaction. Some works are triggered off by sensors while others require direct human participation by means of electronic control panels.

View:

1. Press Kit

2. Co-organizers

3. Press Release (13.06.11) (English)

4. Press Release (13.06.11) (Malay)

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