Bio
Digital strategist Ela Kagel specialises in the intersection of society, technology and economy. Since the 1990s she has produced media art exhibitions, designed spaces for cultural exchange and helped establish digital platforms, networks and communities . She is a long-time collaborator and researcher at the Public Art Lab in Berlin. From 2009 to 2011 she was program curator for the Transmediale Festival for Art and Digital Culture in Berlin. While at Transmediale Ela developed the Free Culture Incubator, a series of workshops and events based on free and open culture. Central to Ela’s practice is supporting bottom-up initiatives deeply rooted in particular communities of practice. From this perspective, she also established and curated Upgrade! Berlin, as well as a number of commons-related research projects. In 2010 Ela co-founded SUPERMARKT, an independent hub for digital culture and collaborative economy. Ela is co-initiator of the #Platformcoop Berlin meetups. Since 2018, Ela is also board member of RChain Europe, a technology cooperative based in Berlin.