Goethe-Institut, Gray Area, Fotomuseum Winterthur, and Artivive are launching an open call for artists, designers, and the general public to submit creative representations on the subject of bias. These should articulate our ongoing concerns with technology’s growing ability to alter people’s visual perception of reality.

Submissions may explore discriminatory, misrepresentational, and biased apparatuses or express thought-provoking ideas on how to deal with the perpetuation of bias by technology. Participants can focus on the interlocking operations of technology-driven systems within – but not limited to – the following domains:

● Advertising
● Journalism & Misinformation

● Robotics
● Medical Applications

● Surveillance Systems
● Cosmetics

Technology is never neutral but a reflection of the biases in our society. Images play an important role in that context: fake photos and videos created with deep neural networks threaten privacy, democracy, and national security. Vision recognition systems skew gender, race, and class differences and become vehicles of discrimination. Underdeveloped AI models misrepresent the health disparities faced by minority populations.

The open call is part of the project “Image + Bias” that critically engages with the cultural realities being increasingly determined by imperceptible technologies that show no sign of reducing their propagation of digitally twisted, fictional, and discriminatory representations. The project addresses the following questions: How is bias coded into our technology? How can we infiltrate these systems and find other approaches that counter the perpetuation of bias? What could positive actions look like that create public awareness and access to the opaque mechanisms upon which these complex systems are based?

● An independent international jury nominated by the participating project partners will select 3 finalists.
● The 3 finalists will each receive $1000 as well as the opportunity to present their work to the public internationally via a live online event organized by the Goethe-Institut and the participating project partners.

● In addition to the 3 finalists, 7 other submissions will be selected and displayed in an interactive online gallery and at the Goethe-Institut, Gray Area, and the Fotomuseum Winterthur.
● Final projects will receive an Artivive account that comes with five free artworks.