Tuesday 25th June, 6:30 – 8pm: DACS presents Art & Tech: Protecting artists and enabling creativity
DACS was founded with the mission to stand up for artists, ensure fair pay, and safeguard their copyright, supporting the livelihoods of the UK’s visual artists. From commissions and contracts, to ensuring artists can access and receive royalties, today’s landscape of artist rights demands attention and action.
How are artists and rightsholders navigating the challenges presented by AI, and how is AI informing artists’ practices? What models can we draw on to help us navigate these challenges, and what principles should be upheld?
The rapid evolution of AI technologies has brought artists’ rights into sharp focus, and raised existential questions about creativity and ownership. Exploring how artists and creative practitioners are engaging with AI through their work, and what the wider implications of AI on artists’ rights may be, this panel will examine how we can maintain artists’ rights as new technologies develop.
Panellists: Alasdair Milne, Serpentine Gallery Creative AI Lab; Rodrigo Esmala, Chief Commercial and Product Officer, Arcual; Reema Selhi, Head of Policy and International, DACS.
Chaired by Fi Churchman, Editor, ArtReview
Speakers
Alasdair Milne is a PhD researcher with Serpentine’s Creative AI Lab and King’s College London, working across the philosophy of technology and curatorial R&D. He is a co-author of Serpentine's most recent strategic briefing, Future Art Ecosystems 4: Art x Public AI. The Serpentine Creative AI lab is a research programme for cultural institutions, artists, engineers, and researchers with an interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). It is a partnership with the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College.
A prominent thought leader in the art and tech community, Bernadine Bröcker Wieder is the CEO of Arcual, a technology company building the next generation of digital infrastructure for the art world. Bernadine has a track record of successful entrepreneurial ventures, including Vastari, a cloud-based platform to connect museums, producers and collectors for international exhibition collaborations, and Vastari Labs, a museum NFT consultancy. Bernadine co-organised the first Christie’s Art+Tech Summit in 2018 and has facilitated blockchain proof of concepts with Everledger since 2016. She is a member of PAIAM, AWITA, and the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, and is regularly featured in media outlets including Apollo, BBC, Rolling Stone, and more for her expertise.
Reema Selhi is the Head of Policy and International at DACS. She advocates on behalf of visual artists to champion their vital contribution to the UK’s creative industries, and on the importance of their intellectual property rights. She supports DACS’ policy and public affairs work including the establishment of the APPG for visual arts and the Smart Fund. She has worked on international implementation of the Artist’s Resale Right, including its introduction into New Zealand. Reema regularly speaks on sustainable policies for artists in the UK and internationally. Reema is a UK-qualified lawyer and sits on the Board of a-n, the Artist’s Information Company; is a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA); and holds the role of Vice Chair at the Alliance for Intellectual Property. She holds a BA (Hons) from UCL and studied at Central St Martins, University of the Arts London.
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