Exhibition Curatorial Statement

Curatorial Statement by Jessica Jabr, Lead Artist - Creative Impact Lab Amman 2023

Welcome to the virtual exhibition stemming from the transformative Creative Impact Lab Amman 2023, a seven-week hybrid exchange focused on collective research, experiential learning, and co-design with local communities.

My practice sits at the intersection of technology, design, and emerging media, with focus on experience design, interaction design, physical computing, and image machine learning. As the lead artist of the lab, my role was to guide 20 participants through a multifaceted exploration of creative technology practices, emerging media, and ethical design principles — empowering them to create impactful, socially engaged, pieces of media and interactive art.

The lab unfolded in four distinct phases. We kickstarted the experience with an artist talk where I introduced participants to my creative practice rooted in: play as a mechanism for social interventions, speculative design and futurism, technology as a facilitation tool, and phygital considerations around human-machine interactions.

Following my talk, I held a series of workshops exploring various aspects of creative applications through frameworks of the arts, sciences, social entrepreneurship, and community engagement. We explored Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), projection mapping, narrative building, and interactive environments. The subsequent project development phase saw participants prototyping artworks that applied the skills acquired during the workshops to address social, cultural, and environmental issues they each cared about.

The lab concluded with a panel review and exhibition, where local and international experts provided feedback on the participants' project prototypes. This exhibition is a representation of their work throughout the Lab;inviting the wider public into the experience of these powerful media projects.

I would like to express my gratitude to Leonardo and Shamsher Virk for this enriching experience; as well as, the U.S. Embassy in Amman for their generous funding, and IDare for their organization and support throughout the program. The exchange seamlessly blended in-person and virtual elements, offering a unique platform for collective research, experiential learning, and co-design, with a focus on local communities.

The participants, hailing from diverse backgrounds and skill levels, have demonstrated exceptional dedication and creativity throughout this journey. From rapid prototyping techniques to human-centered interactive media design, their artworks encapsulate the intersection of art, business, and technology, addressing the complex challenges faced by the creative economy in Jordan.

I invite you to explore this exhibition, a testament to the power of collaboration, transdisciplinary exploration, and the transformative potential of digital and new media art in fostering real change.

– Jessica J.