Marshall McLuhan Centennial Weekend, Berlin

Conference |  Screening  |  Exhibition  |  Performance

Friday May 27 – Sunday May 29, 2011

Embassy of Canada / Marshall McLuhan Salon
> http://mcluhan2011.eu/berlin

As transmediale gears up for its 25th edition in February 2012, join us in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed Canadian media philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan. Honouring the man who coined the 'global village and the 'medium is the message', ubiquitous yet oft maligned expressions in our digital and networked age, transmediale in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada Berlin and Marshall McLuhan Salon presents a special Centennial Weekend of events May 27 - 29th.

The international Re-Touching McLuhan: The Medium is the Massage conference chaired by Dieter Daniels and moderated by Christopher Salter, sees leading international media and digital culture researchers explore McLuhan’s unique take on tactile and multi-sensory media ... expressed by the media philosopher's unintentionally published blurring of the words 'message' and 'massage'. Legendary McLuhanist Derrick de Kerckhove elaborates on rare material from the Berlin-based Marshall McLuhan Salon's unique archives in the first session of the McLuminations screening series.

With a keynote introduction to McLuhan's 'massaging of the aural senses' by U.B.C. Prof. Richard Cavell the opening of the Centennial Weekend also features the worldwide (re-)launch of Marshall McLuhan's 1968 audio art classic The Medium is the Massage, digitally remastered for the first time, produced and presented by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky. The Centennial Weekend will open the European première of Through the Vanishing Point, a major new multi-media installation by leading Canadian digital artists David Rokeby and Lewis Kaye. Other projects include Play_McLuhan, an exhibition by media art students from the Hochschule Darmstadt and the 2nd German-Canadian Professionals Conference.

All events are free and open to the public but spaces are limited so please RSVP at rsvp@mcluhan2011.eu.

For more information on the Centennial Weekend and other 'McLuhan in Europe 2011' events visit http://mcluhan2011.eu

Download the RE-TOUCHING McLUHAN Berlin Centennial Weekend Flyer by transmediale's award winning design agency  ® ruddigkeit.

On February 6th, 2011 transmediale.11, Berlin's festival for art and digital culture, came to a close with a resounding performance by transmediale Award 2011 winners HONF from Indonesia. The entire festival team would like to thank all participants for their inspiring contributions, our guests and audience for their input, experiential, and interactive participation, as well as all our partners, supporters and collaborators for making the festival a great success!

Over 200 participants from 30 countries, among them artists, media activists, philosophers, coders and researchers devoted themselves in 300 projects to the challenges of an inherently connected society “going live” in the digital age. We focussed on creating an equally 'live' and participatory festival where the culture(s) of the internet and open systems explored the complex processes of digital social interactions themselves. Including new initiatives such as the Open Web Award, the festival explored those real and active zones of radical artistic, cultural and political activity that we, as a global community of individuals and independent initiatives, need to protect in order to guarantee the unhindered freedom to create new forms of communication, social interaction and cultural development.

We were especially happy to welcome to transmediale.11 the many new and young international visitors, who helped the festival become an even stronger platform for the interdisciplinary, exploratory and critical discussion on the Zeitgeist of digital art, culture and contemporary networked society it aims to be. From its principle venue, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt to the transmediale.11 satellites and partners across Berlin (many of which continue with programs into April 2011), the festival attracted well over 30.000 visitors, a record number!

Cheers, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2012, transmediale's 25th edition ...