Open Labs@ LJMU have engaged Liverpool Biennial, Bluecoat, Everyman Playhouse, FACT, Liverpool Philharmonic, Tate Liverpool and Unity Theatre to bring Hack for Culture concept to Liverpool.

Hack for Culture weekend will bring together staff from a range of Arts & Cultural organisations together with Merseyside's digital and creative industries to explore the possibilities offered by joint experimentation with a wide variety of hidden cultural data sets.  

Teams made up of designers and developers and staff from arts organisations will design and prototype innovative products and services that utilise a variety of data sets that answer cultural challenges and propose new ways to work together in the future. Teams will pitch their projects on the Sunday to a specialist panel with a range of prizes provided by the arts organisations above.

The event will feature several speakers including Bill Thompson (BBC technology critic).

We'll be providing updates on who's participating, new data sets and challenges issued by both communities and so keep checking back over the coming weeks.

When is Hack for Culture?

Hack for Culture is a 2-day event which starts at 9.30am til 5.30pm (building open 'til 7pm for die hard hackers) & on Saturday 3^rd March with day 2 kicking off at 10.00am on Sunday 4th March and wrapping up around 3.00pm.

Where is Hack for Culture?

The main auditorium in LJMU’s Art and Design Academy, Duckinfield Street, Liverpool, L3 5YD

Getting there

BY TRAIN
The nearest rail station is Liverpool Central.Liverpool Lime Street is a 12 mins walk away.

BY BUS
For information on access friendly bus routes please see the Merseytravel’s Easy Access publication attached as a PDF on the left-hand side of this page.

PARKING
There is no car parking at ADA, but there are car parks at Mount Pleasant & Paradise Street (24hrs) as well as others.

How do I take Part?

If you're from a Arts/Cultural Organisation then there's a great opportunity to meet local developers and designers and further explore the opportunities afforded by the digital whether engaging new audiences or working more effectively within your own and other arts organisations.

If you're a Developer or Designer you'll have the opportunity to meet staff from many of the area's major arts organisations and have the chance to influence the way they work with you and their audiences.

Whatever you're background you'll have the opportunity to make something interesting with specialists from two of Merseyside's key creative communities.

What sort of data sets are we talking about?

A variety of data sets will be made available over the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted everytime another one is added but keep checking back here for more.

Cultural organisations will provide datasets around areas of concern within their organisation which programmers and developers can use to help produce various projects, in whatever form you think fits the purpose.

Developers and programmers will be able to manipulate the data either producing websites or mobile apps or just programming applications which will help you get the most from your data.

Competition

There will be an element of competition among the projects to inject enthusiasm and to enforce deadline to work within.  There will also be prizes to motivate you.

Kit

Bring along your laptop, phones, memory sticks and any other equipment you might find useful.