Curation flips this script. A publisher's greatest asset will always be their content, of course, but the advantage that sets them apart - the ace up their sleeve, so to speak - is their audience data. By putting that data to work in curated marketplaces, publishers can stretch the value of their content well beyond their own properties - bundling data and inventory into highly targeted, privacy-compliant packages that advertisers can buy directly.
Through our collaboration, we hope to open up new ways of thinking about what a triennial like Sharjah can become over time - leaving behind tangible strategies and ideas that respond to the needs and challenges of contemporary urban centers across the Global South and beyond.
Taking back our Internet, and making it useful again, is possible. But it is going to take some work. Similar to how we have to decide what food to put in our body, or how museums decide what to display, each of us needs to become curators of the information and sources we rely upon online.