Belfast-based multi-media production company Bounce Culture drew on Future Screens NI R&D funding to develop the creation of a digital space specifically defined by Black culture, history prototype exploring the functionality of a portal prototype exploring the functionality of a portal enabling artists from Africa and the diaspora to Connect, Create and Collaborate through an online platform Solab Access. The project is user testing to inform how they enable artists to Connect, Create and Collaborate. Feedback will further develop Solab Access as a doorway to the full Solab offer.
Solab Access researched and developed the creation of a digital space specifically defined by Black culture, history, and the lived experience is viable. The result, a prototype exploring the functionality of a portal enabling artists from Africa and the diaspora to Connect, Create and Collaborate through an online platform.
User testing will inform how we enable artists to Connect, Create and Collaborate. We have asked Artists/Producers across the continent to create audio loop packages with the aim of building a bank of resources for future activity. Feedback will further develop Solab Access as a doorway to the full Solab offer.
The unique product development will evolve through the exploration of interface design and functionality, resulting in a new digital environment, enabling artists to Connect, Create and Collaborate and audience access to that space, informed and shaped by Black cultures.
Existing creative platforms focus on a single output and use templates or pre-programmed content (e.g., Garage Band) geared towards pop or rock music compositions. There are attempts to include Audio/Midi presets via loops or instrumentation to reflect ‘urban culture,’ but Solab Access would consult and work with Black musicians and producers based on the continent of Africa, working out into the diaspora, to create a varied and authentic palette of sounds and imagery truly reflecting black cultures.