Decentralized Futures Hackathon
An event hosted in collaboration with Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab, the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, and Columbia Engineering.
What might creative infrastructure look like if it were designed not by centralized, algorithmic platforms, but by the communities who use it?
The Decentralized Futures Hackathon is part of an art-driven series of experiments to reimagine creative infrastructure. Over the course of one day, participants will prototype new ways of working that expand both self-reliance and community reliance:
Self-reliance → the ability of individuals (artists, technologists, participants) to create, share, and sustain their work without being fully dependent on centralized platforms, institutions, or gatekeepers. It points toward empowerment: learning the skills, building the tools, and developing the practices to stand on your own.
Community reliance → the recognition that creative work is not done in isolation, but thrives through networks of mutual support. It means designing systems where communities can depend on one another - sharing resources, knowledge, and care - rather than relying on opaque algorithms or extractive platforms.
Fields of creative practice are being reshaped by advances in artificial intelligence, specifically – from generative tools that alter how art is produced and distributed, to algorithmic systems that structure visibility and value. The hackathon will be a space to confront these transformations directly.
Artists, technologists, storytellers, designers, and community builders will come together to imagine and build experimental projects that reconfigure how we connect, collaborate, and sustain creative practice.
Decentralized Futures is an ongoing initiative of hackathons, salons, and dinners presented in collaboration with the Solana Foundation. Learn more at https://dfutures.xyz.
All are welcome — no matter your background or skill set. Bring your curiosity, your ideas, and your willingness to co-create.