On March 13, Barcelona’s Canòdrom and the DigitalFems organization will hold the sixth edition of their 8M conference. Under the slogan “Music and Technology in the Open Stands,” the event proposes using creativity as a tool for self-defense against digital control and surveillance in the streets.
The main activity will be an anti-AI fashion show, where garments designed specifically to confuse facial recognition systems will be exhibited. These pieces seek to protect citizens’ privacy from the constant mapping of security cameras operating in public spaces.
The designs were the result of a collaboration with Roquetes Fashion Week and were made in community workshops in the city. Science fiction writer Sandra Miralles will host this fashion show, which fusescyberpunk aesthetics with the real need for personal data protection and the right to one’s own image.
Workshops to hack AI bias
Before the fashion show, the Canòdrom facilities will host the workshop “Reprogramming the Canon.” This session will allow activists and artists to intervene in digital archives and metadata, which are the elements used to train artificial intelligence.
The aim is to correct the gender, racist, or class patterns that technology often invisibly perpetuates. Participants will create a collective fanzine that will propose new visual narratives to bring a more diverse and fair view to the present.
The day will conclude with the performance “Hacking the System” by the HALAL collective. This proposal will combine music and performing arts to demand a safe space for queer Arab identities, far from prejudice or colonial views.
The celebration, which will feature DJ sets by Zubia and Kleo La Faraona, will turn the dance floor into a territory of political expression. Admission to these activities will be free until the terraces of the Canòdromare full.