Democracy Street is a national interactive digital arts project designed to get broad public engagement and to encourage people to think about the role and importance democracy plays in our lives. Portsmouth based artist Jon Adams has been creating the project in collaboration with Si digital, who have developed a mobile application and accompanying website that everyone in the UK can use to find out about the history of our democracy and how it is hidden all around us in the names of our streets.
Drawing upon data from partners that include the National Portrait Gallery, The National Archives, History of Parliament Trust, and the Houses of Parliament themselves, it’s no coincidence that the project is released during a general election year – and is part of Parliament’s 2015 celebrations, centred on the 800 year anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta.
Democracy Street is a national collaborative arts project commissioned by the Speaker’s Art Fund and Arts Council England. Use the collaborative mobile app to help develop an Interactive Map to highlight the importance democracy plays in our lives.
The app is truly interactive, people can upload photos and go on journeys of discovery that will be validated by the award of Digital Badges representative of different stages of your engagement and learning within the project. The content of the interactive map will then form the basis of further artwork to be generated by Jon, and displayed in a series of exhibitions across the UK running from November 2015.
The mobile app and website go live to the general public at a launch event hosted by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, at the Houses of Parliament on March 26th. However, though the project is national, this is truly a Portsmouth based development drawing upon local talent to make it a reality.
Development Manager Joseph Cavalla has worked with Jon since the project’s inception, and together with Fratton Big Local they have engaged My Dog Sighs to run two Democracy Street themed ‘Free Art Friday’s’ taking place at Make and The Craft Kitchen in Fratton on March 12th and 13th. Head over to the Make website for more details and to book a place on one of the workshops, where you can beta test the app, contribute to the artwork, and get a preview of things to come on this incredible project.
You can find out more about Democracy Street on the website:
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