Digital Storytelling on the 2023 BL Labs Symposium

One half of the 2023 British Library Labs Symposium will probably be devoted to digital storytelling. This has been a major a part of BL Labs work over time; we’ve got collaborated with experimental artists from David Regular’s artistic reuse of British Library Flickr photos for his big lightbox collage Crossroads of Curiosity set up on the 2014 Burning Man competition, to working with first runner up within the BL Labs 2016 competitors Michael Takeo Magruder on his 2019 exhibition Imaginary Cities.

In the previous few years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, digital tales and engagement have grow to be mainstream throughout the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector. New forms of digital storytelling mixing social media, on-line exhibitions embedding narratives and digital objects, and interactive on-line occasions reaching totally new audiences, delighted us all. Nonetheless, we additionally found that there generally is a saturation level with on-line engagement, and that many digital developments have some option to go to achieve their full potential.

As we’re hopefully getting into more healthy instances, new alternatives to combine digital and bodily worlds are beginning to open up. With this in thoughts, we felt that that is the proper second to discover a brand new age of digital storytelling on the 2023 BL Labs Symposium.

The concept is to discover what’s altering on this planet of technological potentialities and the way they’re persevering with to develop. We’ve envisaged a journey that can take us from the large image of the arising digital potentialities to extra particular examples from the British Library’s work. In true BL Labs spirit we may also rejoice initiatives that creatively reuse the Library’s digital collections.

To assist us look into the large traits, we’re delighted to be joined by Zillah Watson, whose extraordinary breath of expertise working with BBC, Meta, BFI and Royal Shakespeare Firm amongst many others, will assist us to get a deeper sense of the alternatives of digital actuality (VR). Zillah will look into what it means, not simply to be dazzled with technological potentialities, but additionally to enter the magic of storytelling.

Speaking of magic, we’re fortunate to welcome award successful Director, Anrick Bregman, and award successful Producer, Grace Baird. Anrick and Grace will take us deeper into the potential of utilizing VR to uncover hidden tales. Anrick’s movie A Convict Story is an interactive VR undertaking constructed on British Library knowledge that brings to life a narrative found by the linking of information from centuries in the past, utilizing knowledge analysis powered by machine studying.

Even nearer to house, our personal Stella Knowledge and Ian Cooke, will speak about their present work on curating the British Library’s forthcoming Digital Storytelling exhibition (2 June – 15 October 2023), which can discover the methods know-how offers alternatives to remodel and improve the way in which writers write and readers interact. Drawing on the Library’s assortment of latest digital publications and rising codecs to focus on the work of revolutionary and experimental writers. It can characteristic interactive works that invite and reply to person enter, studying experiences influenced by knowledge feeds, and immersive story worlds created utilizing a number of platforms and viewers participation. That is an thrilling growth, as we are able to see how earlier British Library artistic digital experiments, collaborations and analysis initiatives are constructing into an exhibition in its personal proper.

We hope you may be part of us for dialogue on the BL Labs Symposium on Thursday 30 March 2023. For the total programme, and additional data on all our audio system, please learn our earlier weblog publish.

 You possibly can e-book your home right here.