Moogfest 2018 has finally revealed their first talent announcement that confirms the forward-thinking values they strive for. The return of Moogfest will be held on May 17-20, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. It has a history of pushing political buttons, and this year they unveil a festival lineup led by female, non-binary, and transgender artists. Therefore, at Moogfest 2018, there will even be a keynote conversation with privacy rights and political transparency activist Chelsea Manning on The Future of Creativity.
Furthermore, these under-appreciated artists were celebrated with Always On, a 50-hour live stream that introduces the theme for Moogfest 2018. The live stream was played through Dec. 6th to the 8th and included hours of music from 50 international performers. All of whom were female, non-binary or transgender. Thus, the live stream is meant to highlight the abundance of female, transgender, and non-binary artists all around the world. Many of the artists from the live stream will be participating at the festival.
Moogfest Keynote Conversation
Chelsea Manning’s keynote conversation will explore how technology enables radical disruption in the personal and political spheres. She will frame the technological futures as a new creative landscape. Since Moogfest’s keynote introduction in 2014, it has unearthed new viewpoints on the future of creativity. It tackles questions about how creativity and expression will evolve and shape in the future.
Dr. Bob Moog, like the festival’s namesake, was an innovator in the world of electronic music. The lineup will include world-renowned thinkers and futurists that bring to life the tools and ideas that deepen our existence. Hence, Manning follows in the footsteps of groundbreaking thinkers from previous Moogfest keynote speakers. Some of those past keynote speakers include: transhumanist Dr. Martine Rothblatt, VR pioneer Jaron Lanier, Dr. Kate Shaw from the CERN Large Hadron Collider, Harvard’s Dr. Joe Davis, and philosopher Nick Bostrum.
Moogfest 2018 First Talent Lineup
Besides Chelsea Manning, Moogfest reveals some of the other artists who will be participating in 2018. The festival’s nighttime program will include the LCD Soundsystem synth experimentalist Gavin Rayna Russom; gender ambiguous theremin virtuoso Armen Ra; Kuwaiti conceptual artist Fatima Al Qadiri; Afrofuturist DJ Maliibu Miitch; hyperkinetic pop maven SOPHIE; and the US debut of revered Japanese multi-intrumentalist Midori Takada. The artists will participate in Future Sound performances by night complemented by the same artists leading Future Thought workshops, and conversations by day.
All things considered, Moogfest is the synthesis of music, art and technology. Starting in 2004, Moogfest has brought together artists, futurist thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists and musicians. By day, Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation. By night, it presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city of Durham, North Carolina.
With this in mind, all ticket type descriptions and prices for tickets for this 4 day event are available for purchase now here.
All in all, for more information on Moogfest 2018, follow their socials:
Website. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. SoundCloud. YouTube.
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FestPop Staff Writer, Katherine Bennett