Innovation, revolution and the future of entertainment
In Manchester. 20 July 2019.
Tech. Music. Creativity. Summit & Showcase.

The future isn’t what it used to be.

Technology changes everything. Where and what we listen to. Who and when we watch. How we create, play and consume. Online, offline, all day, and keeping us up at night – in a world of streaming, sharing and augmented realities, our entertainment experiences are almost entirely shaped by technology. But in this brave new world of recreational tech, who is in control? Makers or players? Artists or consumers? Platforms or publishers? And in this world – are we too digitally distracted to care?

Distractions is a three-day summit in Manchester that debates the future of entertainment – a long weekend of debates, talks, panels, content and new music showcases with some of the world’s leading tech companies, artists and producers.

Presented by Manchester International Festival, Sound City and FutureEverything, developed by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, with the support of Peter Saville, Rose Marley and Modern Designers. The recreational future starts here.

Manchester International Festival’s Distractions day is the third of our Interdependence series, Life Hacked, where we will explore how science and technology enable us to reconfigure our minds, bodies and relationships with each other and the world around us.

Taking inspiration from key commissions and events at this year’s Manchester International Festival (MIF19, 4-21 July) productions, we’ll hear from world-class artists and futurists visualising new worlds and the thinkers tackling the big ideas. Featuring demos alongside debate, this event forms part of Interdependence, MIF19’s ideas programme.

Contributors include, games director and animator Paloma Dawkins; Claire L Evans, writer, musician and the author of Broad Band: The Untold History of the Women Who Made the Internet; pioneering computer scientist  Dame Wendy Hall; Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, artist and creator of Atmospheric Memory; media artist Refik Anadol; experience design studio Marshmallow Laser Feast; Ash Sarkar, Senior Editor at Novara Media; and TEM, creative studio for Skepta’s DYSTOPIA987, which has its world premiere at MIF19.

Find out what else is on during Distractions and book tickets here.