11. February 2023 Löwenbräukunst Limmatstrasse 268 8005 Zurich

ICT4Peace is a proud supporter of the exhibition CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? curated by iMedienGruppe Bitnik and Martina Huber, Founder and Director of AIA Awareness in Art at Löwebräukunst in Zurich, Switzerland:

“Surveillance technologies used to be a specialized part of urban public space mostly aimed at crime prevention and investigation, but today surveillance in the form of automated data collection and analysis has become an essential part of contemporary infrastructure, from smart phones to social media, smart home devices, and beyond.

Currently, surveillance is both hidden and pervasi- ve in its structure and operation. It surrounds us as an “invisible infrastructure” that allows our devices to show us content tailored to “our” interests and respond to “our” desires.

But to what extent is mass observation and data access acceptable? Where is the fine line between new technological advances making our lives ea- sier whether it is physical or virtual and becoming manipulative? The exhibition Can You See Me Now? consists of seven works that critically examine life in a data-driven society and consider how tracking has become a pervasive part of nearly all the tech- nologies we use every day.

Can You See Me Now? illuminates a variety of artistic and social tactics that address these questions and explores the shift from surveillance as technology to surveillance as infrastructure. The artists focus on making surveillance infrastruc- tures visible by “performing” the technologies in unintentional, experimental ways. Visitors are able to discover new modes of interaction with the technology as well as ways to intervene in the systems beyond an aesthetic experience.

The exhibition opens a debate about the use of data collection in defining citizens’ rights and liberties, while illuminating a new dimension of its creative potential.”

ICT4Peace supports this exhibition on the occasion of its publication of the study for the Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs on private cyber security services companies: “From Boots on the Ground to Bytes in Cyberspace: A Mapping Study on the use of ICTs in Security Services by Commercial Actors.” https://lnkd.in/enGxz9Ue

ICT4Peace also supported the Data Privacy Art Days organised by AIA Awareness in Art.