AIAIA, Aesthetic Interventions in Artificial Intelligence in Africa, is an exhibition of creative work from a research project into emerging technologies in healthcare in Africa – it’s based at HUMA, the Institute for Humanities in Africa at University of Cape Town.
Titled Future Hospitals: 4IR and Ethics of Care and funded by the Carnegie Corporation, Future Hospitals draws together a diverse team of researchers working on individual projects to investigate the impact of the ‘4th Industrial Revolution on hospitals and health workers across the continent.
AIAIA is the work of artist-researcher, Ralph Borland, in collaboration with a doctor, a musician, and a film maker.
Emerging digital tech
The exhibition centres on the artwork Bone Flute, produced in collaboration with an orthopaedic surgery laboratory at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town which is pioneering low-cost methods for scanning and 3Dprinting patients’ bones in order to practice complex surgeries.
Their approach utilises the existing hand skills of surgeons while taking advantage of new technologies that allow for simulation before the patient is operated on.
The exhibition explores some of the main themes in emerging digital technologies – concerns about the impact of automation, the use of data, the relationship between individuals and systems, and the possibilities for human-machine collaboration – as well as issues around access to technology in healthcare for patients.
Collaboration
Woven through the exploration of research work is the artist-researcher’s own experience as a patient and user of health services during the period of the research project.
Bone Flute is a 3D-printed replica of Borland’s femur, made into a flute. It is a collaboration with orthopaedic surgeon Rudolph Venter, in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, and flute player, composer and improviser Alessandro Gigli.
The work is accompanied by a short film made by film-maker Dara Kell. Bernard Swart at CranioTech produced the 3D print of the femur.
What: Aesthetic Interventions in Artificial Intelligence in Africa
When: Until Sunday 5 February, 2023, 9am – 5pm
Where: Brutal, 48 Albert Road, Woodstock, 7925
Closing event: Saturday 4 January, 10am – 12pm
Web: Here.
Info: Ralph 076 548 3923, ralph.borland@gmail.com
WS
