In his closing keynote of the IAWIS conference, where over 170 delegates from around the globe are gathering to debate questions of intermediality under the theme of “Word, Image, and Social Dynamics”, Geert Lovink will reflect on the radical changes the digital landscape has undergone in recent decades. From the rise of online communities, websites and blogs to the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the growing dependence on Silicon Valley infrastructures. Against this backdrop, he poses a fundamental question: are social media actually media? And how can we create space for experimentation, independence and new forms of public communication?  

Through his work, among others as a Professor at the UvA (Modern and Contemporary Art History, ASCA) and Lector at the HvA (founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures), Geert Lovink has helped shape the debate on digital culture, networks and media both nationally and internationally.

The keynote will mark the closing of the IAWIS conference by the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, UvA, Prof.Dr. Sven Dupré. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to raise a glass to Geert (on his retirement), to the future of the Institute of Network Cultures, which will become an independent cultural organization, and to bid IAWIS conference delegates goodbye.