I know I've been away from Newcastle for a while, but am amazed I  
hadn't heard about this, taking place this weekend:

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Symposium - Friday 6 March 2009, Tyneside Cinema

Clicks Or Mortar? Designing a Future for Cultural Venues in the  
Digital Age

Clicks Or Mortar? takes over the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle upon  
Tyne to explore the potential of digital media in a cultural  
building. Across three days the Tyneside will present a vast range of  
work by artists, gamers and filmmakers and on Friday 6 March will  
host a symposium for cultural creatives, thinkers and planners that  
will debate the role and challenge the relevance of cultural bricks  
and mortar buildings in tomorrow’s digitized and networked artistic  
practice.

Digital technology is already turning some cultural cinemas into  
spaces that can host an ever widening range of cultural product, from  
live opera to the National Theatre and an ever expanding diet of  
participative activity from interactive artists and computer gamers.  
This digital wave is also crashing over theatres, arts centres,  
galleries and all other cultural venues, proposing new forms of  
performance and, most significantly, engaging audiences who may well  
be turning from passive consumers of culture into active participants  
in its creation and distribution.

Who’s attending?

Influential voices in film, theatre, games, television, IT, web and  
the digital arts will gather in NewcastleGateshead to explore what  
this might mean for the future.

Confirmed contributors so far include:

• Tom Fleming, consultant on the creative economy and cultural planning.

• John Knell, one of the UK’s leading thinkers on the changing face  
of work and organisations and co-founder of Intelligence Agency.

• Hannah Rudman, who runs Arts Council England’s Amb:IT:ion programme.

• Broadcaster and new media pioneer Bill Thompson.

• Dick Penny, Director of Watershed Media Centre and Executive Chair,  
Bristol Old Vic.

• Marcus Romer, artistic director of Pilot Theatre.

• Lucy Wurstlin, 4IP.

• Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition at the UK  
Film Council.

• With a special guest lecture by legendary artist and film-maker and  
VJ Peter Greenaway.

• Video contributions from Jonas Woost of LastFM, Lawrence Lessig,  
founder of Creative Commons, author of 'Remix: making art and  
commerce thrive in the hybrid economy' and professor of law at  
Harvard University and Steven Johnson, author and internet  
entrepreneur, founder of the 'outside.in' website.

Clicks or Mortar also features screenings, installations, talks and  
live performances from artists including:

• Amenity Space.

• Chris O’Shea.

• Flat-e.

• Kinoautomat.

• Martin Zeplichal.

• Memo.

• Mira Calix.

• The Sancho Plan.

• Will Schrimshaw.

• Woody Vasulka.

There’s the film Watchmen on its first run release date and there’ll  
even be a special live DJ set happening simultaneously in the (real)  
Tyneside and online at NewcastleGateshead Island in Second Life.

The Timetable

We start at 6pm on Thursday 5 March with the Clicks Or Mortar  
reception followed by a unique performance of Kinoautomat, the  
world’s very first interactive movie, performed only a handful of  
times around the world since its debut in 1968.

The Symposium runs from 9am on Friday 6 March and ends at 6pm.

On Friday evening we have further live events and artist  
presentations and that Second Life DJ set.

For those that make it through to Saturday 7, there’ll be a chance to  
take stock of the previous days’ thinking and discussions with  
informal café sessions with Bill Thompson in the Tyneside Bar.

Tickets

Tickets for this unique event cost just £75 each and include access  
to Thursday reception, Kino Automat ticket, Symposium sessions,  
lunch, Greenaway lecture, and Friday night live events.

Booking is easy

Please call Tyneside Cinema on 0845 217 9909 to secure your place.