Algorithms have become one of the essential tools of power in surveillance capitalism. The friendly voices of Siri-type assistants, recommendations tailored to our needs and interests, the pleasant illusion of seemingly disinterested help, various forms of facilitation that allow us to better “handle” everyday life. In reality, these are AI algorithms that extract personal behavioural data from us, and consequently serve as a tool of hard control and surveillance.
Is it not a long way from a pleasant female voice based on algorithmic codes and machine learning to monopolising the global web, private-public partnerships between corporations and the state, digital violence, introducing controlled chaos or cyber-terrorism? During the performative lecture, the curators will talk, among other things, about the relationship between technology, politics and authoritarianism.
Bartosz Frąckowiak, curator, director, culture researcher. Deputy Director of the Biennale Warszawa. In 2014-2017 he was the Deputy Director of the Hieronim Konieczka Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz and the curator of the International Festival of New Dramaturgies. Curator of the series of performance lectures organised in cooperation with Fundacja Bęc Zmiana (2012). Theatre director, including “Komornicka. The Ostensible Biography” (2012); “In Desert and Wilderness. After Sienkiewicz and Others” by W. Szczawińska and B. Frąckowiak (2011); performance lecture “The Art of Being a Character” (2012), Agnieszka Jakimiak’s “Africa” (2014), Julia Holewińska’s “Borders” (2016), Natalia Fiedorczuk’s “Workplace” (2017) and documentary-investigative play “Modern Slavery” (2018). He published in various theatre and socio-cultural magazines, including “Autoportret”, “Dialog”, “Didaskalia”, “Political Critique”, and “Teatr”. Lecturer at the SWPS University in Warsaw, co-curator of the 1st and 2nd editions of the Biennale Warszawa.
Anna Galas-Kosil, curator, theatre studies expert, translator. She was involved in the preparation of the first Polish exhibit at the international exhibition of set design – The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space in 2007, 2011 and 2015. She worked with Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz, R@port Festival in Gdynia and Warszawskie Spotkania Teatralne. In 2015–2020 she was President of the international On The Move network involved in issues of mobility in the cultural sector. Until the end of 2017 she managed the department of international cooperation in the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. From 2018 she curates the programme of the international Biennale Warszawa. Co-curator of the 1st and 2nd editions of the Biennale Warszawa.
Paweł Wodziński, director, curator, director of the Biennale Warszawa. Founder and head of Towarzystwo Teatralne, an association formed to promote contemporary dramaturgy and socially engaged theatre. In 2000–2003 he was the Managing and Artistic Director of Teatr Polski in Poznań. In 2010 he became the programming director of the 5th International Festival of Polish Contemporary Drama R@PORT in Gdynia. In 2014-2017 he was the Director of the Hieronim Konieczka Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz and the curator of the International Festival of New Dramaturgies. Author of dozens of performances, including “Solidarity. Re-enactment” (2017), “Solidarity. The New Project” (2017), “Global Civil War” (2018) and texts published in “Dwutygodnik,” “Dialog,” “Teatr” and the Polish edition of “Le Monde diplomatique”. Lecturer at the SWPS University in Warsaw, co-curator of the 1st and 2nd editions of the Biennale Warszawa.