WE ARE DATA came as a response to a rising responsibility placed on ‘technology’ as a tool that facilitates inclusive development and solutions to many challenges currently facing cities like Cairo in transportation, health, agriculture and education. The increasing reliance on technology, in turn, raises questions about security, privacy, accountability, bias, agency, transparency, and ethics, among many others.

Through the We Are Data fellowship, Cairotonica and IMPAKT wanted to encourage the dialogue on the complexity of Technology and Data in the 21st Century from 6 Egyptian artists’ perspectives. The program started with workshops that extend through the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. Initially, the aim was to display the six fellows’ works during the third round of Cairotronica scheduled for April 2020. After the lockdown and postponement, We Are Data had its Open Studio during November 2020. 

On December 1 and 2, the studio was open for a limited number of visitors who all left with a positive impression looking forward to seeing the completed work on display during the third round of Cairotronica.