American Arts Incubator (AAI) is a creative exchange program that utilizes community-driven digital and new media art projects to instigate dialogue, build communities, bolster local economies, and further social innovation. Each incubator addresses a relevant social or environmental challenge such as economic equity, youth empowerment, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. Since its inception in 2015, incubators have been held in 27 countries on five continents.
American Arts Incubator in Austria is hosted by Ars Electronica and led by U.S. artist Rashin Fahandej. Fahandej runs the "Future of Inclusion Lab," a series of co-creation workshops that consist of listening/witnessing sessions, field research, and story and data collection activities. Fahandej initiated this website to create an inclusive process of art making where participants use new technology and an open platform for co-creation, community outreach, and field research. The workshop participants will produce artistic experiences to create creative reflections on the state of social inclusion from a diverse array of perspectives.
Rashin Fahandej is an Iranian-American multimedia artist, filmmaker, and educator. Her projects center on marginalized voices, and the role of media, technology, and public collaboration in generating social change. Her methods take on the lens of “Art as Ecosystem,” creating a network of collaborations with a multiplicity of narratives that investigate social systems and occupy public sites as a critical discourse. The workshops explored social inclusion by investigating new media literacy and by providing access to cutting edge tools and technology to co-create prototypes for immersive and poetic reflections and experiences. She is an Assistant Professor of Interactive and Emerging Media at Emerson College.
Asma Aiad, Parisa Ayati, Esma Bosnjakovic, Patricia Cadavid, Neo Christopher Chung, Rebekka Grüner, Max Haarich, Barbora Horská, Robbie Ierubino, Maria Kallionpää, Ines Mahmoud, Rebecca Merlic, Florian Nitsch, Nika Pfeifer, Mateja Rot, Clara Roth, Peter Sauleda, Nicole Schanzmeyer, Kathi Schulz, Monica Vlad
Special thanks to Shamsher Virk, Maya Holm, Veronika Krenn, Veronika Liebl, Amanda Augustin, Open Austria | XR Vienna | vrisch | Muslimische Jugend Österreich | Advantage Austria | St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences.