DRHA 2016

Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts
University of Brighton, September 4th – 7th 2016.

Place, Ecology and the Digital

DRHA will gather in Brighton for the 20th anniversary of the network and conference. DRHA has become one of the foremost conferences in the world in facilitating dialogue between academics and practitioners from:
•       Digital Arts and Humanities,
•       Creative Industries,
•       Digital Libraries and Archives

The University of Brighton is proud to be hosting DRHA2016 and invites you to contribute.

DRHA2016 Theme: Place, Ecology and the Digital
The ‘digital’ can imply a sense of everywhere and at the same time nowhere in particular. The combination with place and ecology invites reflection on what it is to be: situated; embedded in complex nested systems; to be in relationship to place and, further, how the digital may challenge or facilitate this. Place could refer to ideas of localism; to community and to geographical base, or equally it may refer to more abstract, distributed or virtual realms or networks.

DRHA 2016 continues where the conference in 2015 left off in asking how we can engage with some of the ‘wicked problems’ and grand challenges of our time. There will be a number of high profile keynotes as well as a focus on interdisciplinary and intercultural ‘labs’. The conference will offer a platform to ‘labs’ that offer insights into approaches and methods for facilitating interdisciplinarity. Complex contemporary issues resist single-disciplinary enquiry and require hybrid or emergent methods. The conference will bring together lab curators and facilitators so that the network can collaboratively reflect upon, evaluate and refine methods for resolving grand challenges.

CALL FOR PAPERS
DRHA2016: Place, Ecology and the Digital. This announcement is to alert you to the forthcoming event and to invite you to consider developing a proposal. DRHA is a peer-reviewed conference. The call for papers will be released later this month.

COMMISSIONS
DRHA comprises and academic conference and a curated programme. Along with the call for papers we will also be issuing a call for proposals for creative responses to the theme. The curatorial panel will be comprised of representatives of DRHA and cultural partners in the city of Brighton. There will be opportunities to create/install work thought the city in partnership with Brighton Digital Festival, Fabrica Gallery, ONCA Gallery and the University of Brighton Gallery.

PARTNERS
DRHA2016 has established partnerships with:
Brighton Digital Festival (BDF)
Fabrica Gallery
ONCA Gallery
Brighton Photo Biennial
(Leonardo Education and Art Forum tbc.)

THE CITY
Brighton is one of the UK’s most exciting cities with a remarkable number of creative individuals and enterprises. The city was selected to be the focus of internationally significant research looking at creative clusters because of the concentration of creatives engaged with the digital economy: a growing and important part of the local economy comprising more than 15% of employment. College of Arts and Humanities is highly ranked for its world-leading research and impact. The city boasts a great social scene, a historic palace, the North Laine and the Lanes  for great independent stores, cafes, bars and restaurants.  It is a dynamic and creative city which hosts the largest arts festival in England each May with the Brighton Festival, its Fringe and associated festivals such as House/ Artist Open Houses (visual arts), The Great Escape (music) and B:Fest (young people) .  Each autumn the city holds an internationally renowned film festival, Cine City and every two years, the Brighton Photo Biennial; all hosted by the College of Arts.
It is also a place of beautiful natural landscapes, with a vibrant seafront along one edge and surrounded on the others by the South Downs National Park. This unique mix of coastal, downs and urban areas has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere. Brighton is 45 minutes by train from London and 20 minutes from Gatwick airport.

You are invited to consider submitting a paper, lab or to propose a contribution to the co-curated digital festival. Please check the website: 
for forthcoming deadlines and do get in touch for further information at: 

The conference and wider programme is likely to be of particular interest to those involved with:
•       Big data
•       Interdisciplinary labs
•       Digital economy
•       Open access and open source
•       Playable cities
•       Climate change mitigation
•       Smart cities
•       Digital museums, archives and engagement programmes
•       Community led planning
•       Social media and active citizenship
•       Urban agriculture
•       Placemaking
•       Performance and embodied experience of place
•       Rapid urbanisation and mass migration
•       Conflict and climate change