Dundee shows its character - in NEoN

Following the success of last year, international digital arts festival North East of North, NEoN, returns to Dundee this November with over a month of various exciting and inspiring events and exhibitions, all focused on this year's theme of 'character'.

The new programme is set to showcase each element of digital art innovation; everything from design and art exhibitions, sound and moving image installations, digital animation to music performances. In addition to the displays of digital art, festival goers will be able to attend and take part in the extensive programme of salons, workshops, design competitions, and debates. The festival week will culminate in an entertaining digital music and arts event taking place in a multi-story car park in Dundee city centre.

Donna Holford-Lovell, Chair of the NEoN organising group, said, "It's incredibly exciting to be involved with this year's North East of North festival. Last year's event set the bar very high, with some inspirational speakers and guests. This year we have moved up several gears, to create something wholly new which incorporates even more content and a much wider variety of topics. The theme for 2010 is 'character' – exploring the abstracted or physical agent in a work of art; investigation of the fictional or psychological systems; observation of the unit of information, symbol, sound or written language. Within that remit we have some truly captivating speakers and events we hope to tell the world about very shortly."

In the run up to and during the festival, a series of public debates, salons and workshops have been planned. The discussions will explore aspects of the digital world and the topical issues faced by creators and indeed consumers of the new generation of digital content. From digital Dundee to technology and the museum, the debates will take place in various venues across the city.

The University of Abertay will host a series of debates and sessions in its new Centre of Excellence on November 11 and 12. Experts from every corner of the digital world will present and chair discussions covering a range of diverse issues currently affecting the digital community. In addition, a range of workshops and hands-on sessions will give participants the chance to find out more about the latest software and technologies from many of the world's leading digital companies.

Dundee will be the home of a brand new conference and 'AppJam' during November 8 - 10. Focusing on the creation of Applications (Apps) for mass-market platforms such as the iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Facebook, the AppCon will bring together speakers from many of the world's largest mobile and online companies for three days. The AppJam, a 48 hour development competition is set to produce some exciting innovations in App design and production, challenging teams to create a new and original App in only two days.

In addition to the exhibitions, debates and workshops, both the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre and Hannah Maclure Centre are planning themed movie-screenings to run across the week of NEoN to compliment the concept of the festival.

Many of the NEoN events including the salons, debates and AppJam are free of charge. Tickets for the NEoN conference, App Conference and AppJam are available for purchase now. Visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/tickets/ https://reg.istrations.com/delegate/events/DNDNEON2010 for an events programme in brief, and ticket information and purchasing.

The full line-up of speakers, participants, sponsors, events, movies, parties and venues will all be announced over the next several weeks.

For all of the latest news and updates to the programme, visit www.northeastofnorth.com To get involved with the NEoN community, join www.northeastofnorth.ning.com or follow us on Twitter: @weareneon.

ENDS


Contact

Brian Baglow
Revolver PR
E: brian@revolver-pr.co.uk
M: +44 (0) 7747 792247

Helen Reid
Revolver PR
E: helen@revolver-pr.co.uk
T: 0845 130 8992



Notes to editors:

North East Of North (NEoN) is an international digital arts festival featuring moving image, performance, music and technology driven arts. The over arching curatorial theme for 2010 is Character: evaluating the abstracted or physical agent in a work of art; investigation of the fictional or psychological systems; observation of the unit of information, symbol, sound or written language. Through this focused dimension NEoN intends to explore the notion of collaboration between visual art, information communication, media production and gaming that will expand digital development and knowledge. (www.northeastofnorth.com)

NEoN was created by Interactive Tayside (www.interactivetayside.com).
Interactive Tayside is a partnership between public, private and academic sectors to develop and promote Tayside's digital media industry.

NEoN is sponsored by: Angus & Dundee City Council, Event Scotland, National Lottery Awards for All, The Japan Foundation, Creative City Challenge, Scottish Enterprise & the North Sea Screen Partnership

Partners include: Interactive Tayside, Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre (DCA), Dundee City Council, The University of Abertay, Dundee College, Hungy Boy, Realtime Worlds, Revolver PR, Red Pepper Events & Insight Innovations

The International App Conference & AppJam (www.appjam.eu) are funded by the Interreg Creative City Challenge (www.creative-city-challenge.net). The AppCon has been created by Dundee College and is supported by partners including: Cobra Mobile, Denki, Digital Goldfish, Dynamo Games, Electric Tophat, Lynda.com, One Thumb Mobile, Realtime Worlds, Revolver PR, Sooper Double D, Tag Games, Waracle & YoYo Games.