Hacking the Barbican
by Startacus Admin
Feature: Hack the Barbican
At Startacus we love it when ambitious and innovative folk get together to create something new and exciting!
Last week we featured the Stendhal Festival of Music and Art and so inspired were we that we set off in search of other equally original arts 
events and found something very interesting indeed which is taking place for the whole of August at The Barbican in London.
For those of you who don't know, the Barbican is Europe's largest multi-arts venue and is home to a mind dazzling variety of music, art, theatre, dance, film and pretty much anything else you can think of! During the month of August the venue is going into overdrive as its public spaces are being gradually invaded by 100 popup installations, performances, workshops and discussions - a process which has been given the fitting name of Hack the Barbican. All sounds very nice, but what makes this more than just another exhibition? Lots as it happens...
It has been described as a playground for the arts, technology and entrepreneurship as well as the largest collaboration between artists and technologists the UK has ever seen - and that pretty much sums it up. Over the past six months people from all walks of life including performers, scientists, sculptors, teachers, graphic designers and musicians have been meeting weekly to create the various elements of the event. 
Each project has been treated as an entirely independent venture with no central curation or commissioning, meaning that those involved have had to undertake all aspects of bringing their vision to life - in short each has become something of a mini startup. Such an approach to exhibition is a huge deviation from the norm and we think it’s great that so many people are being given a low risk opportunity to discover their entrepreneurial side in a way that is fun, collaborative and creative!
True to the ethos of the emerging hacker culture, many of the projects involve stretching the uses of technology and people’s perception of it in a clever and often playful way. Using exhibition and art to help encourage people to think differently about technology is a very worthwhile activity, as it's this kind of thinking which has helped spawn some of the most successful startups in recent times.
The month is featuring such innovative events as a laptop orchestra performance, a digital archaeological dig and an interactive 'cave of sounds' as well as a week-long neurological experiment tracking the brain's reaction to all these experiences via a electroencephalogram cap - now try saying that three times fast! Appreciated that there's only 11 days to go...but....
Whether or not you have much interest in art, technology or starting up a business, Hack the Barbican is shaping up to be an exciting and original collaborative month! Why not check out their website for more details of what you can still catch and where...
If you like what you see here on Startacus and want to get involved yourself, why not become a member of our growing community by joining for free here!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Seedrs’ AutoInvest will allow investors to customise investment criteria from industry sector, stage of business and tax relief eligibility to automatically invest in equity crowdfunding campaigns.
Local SEO can become, one of, if not the most effective method of marketing your local business. Here's some handy tips care of Digital Next.
Enhance convenience and efficiency by giving your home a brain, care of Manchester-based startup Wondrwall, a smart home intelligence system that learns from your behaviour.
How do you make sure your employer brand knocks your competitors out of the park to attract talent to your startup? Dee Murphy, Organisational Psychologist & Head of Employer Branding at Jobbio has this to offer...
The innovative platform which is on a mission to “teach kids how to code, bot by bot.”
These things matter - the most essential security advice for small business owners...
Into running? This startup offering SMART insoles & real-time coaching is for you...
Innovation in farming with this cloud based ecosystem which has been designed to unify agricultural data
The startup that's building on tradition to create an entirely innovative range of beverages...
A look at a few of the attributes that are helpful as an entrepreneur and what to do if you know that you’re coming up short with some of them.
Published on: 20th August 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Trezeo looks to the crowd to target full UK launch 27th Jun 2018 Trezeo, a fintech startup focused on delivering financial stability to the self-employed, targets fully launching its income smoothing business account product in the UK.
- CliniShift awarded upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA 2018 21st Jun 2018 CliniShift wins the upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA for 2018, battling off against 24 other disruptive UK, NI and Irish startups.
- Launchpad, the award-winning incubator/accelerator building high tech startups in Cornwall 21st Jun 2018 Launchpad, an innovative, post-graduate incubation & acceleration programme developed by Falmouth University that aims to create new digital businesses to meet identified market demand in just 12 months.
- Lloyd's Lab begins global search for tech talent 21st Jun 2018 Over ten weeks, tech startups will be given the unique opportunity to work with Lloyd’s market experts to shape the next big innovation.
