New centre will tackle modern media challenges

ARU to launch the Centre of Media, Arts & Creative Technologies in Cambridge

Professor Tanya Horeck

Professor Tanya Horeck

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is launching a new centre dedicated to addressing some of the most urgent cultural and digital challenges of our time.

The Centre of Media, Arts & Creative Technologies (MACT) will bring together ARU media academics, filmmakers and artists to investigate issues such as disinformation, data doubles and digital abuse, with the aim of helping people to better understand and navigate the complexities of modern media.

MACT is led by Tanya Horeck, Professor of Film and Feminist Media Studies at ARU, whose research focuses on the growing threat of intimate deepfakes and their impact on young people.

The changing face of online culture will be a strong focus for MACT, with ARU academics currently examining the rise of “digital slop” – low-quality AI-generated content flooding social media – and the phenomenon of “enshittification”, where online platforms are deliberately downgraded for corporate gain.

MACT will house five specialist “Labs”, each dedicated to a distinct area of creative and critical practice: FilmLab, MediaLab, DesignLab, ArtLab and StoryLab.

“Cambridge is a hub for media, artistic experimentation and digital creativity and through this centre, we’re bringing together academic and local partners to collaborate and drive innovation.

“In a time when people are made to feel divided from one another, whether due to algorithms or the polarised nature of social media, critical media and artistic practice can create a sense of community and forge empathy and understanding. It can remind us of historical injustices, draw links between the past and the present, and ward against disinformation and apathy.

“MACT is the result of 25 years of critical media and communication theory and practice here at ARU. I’m extremely proud of the work we have done over the last couple of decades and I’m looking forward to all that we can achieve in the future as we engage with the big issues of the day. 

“In an age of deepfakes, data doubles, doomscrolling and disinformation, it’s more important than ever that critical media thinkers and artists work together.”

Professor Horeck, Director of the Centre of Media, Arts & Creative Technologies (MACT)

MACT will officially launch on Thursday, 9 October with a special event at the Ruskin Gallery, which will also be hosting an exhibition called Elemental Cinema. The exhibition features a collection of short films produced by ARU FilmLab members Neil Henderson, Jennifer Nightingale and Simon Payne.

The trio have taught on ARU’s Film and Media courses for over 20 years and their work has been shown at prestigious film festivals and art galleries including Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery.

The Elemental Cinema exhibition runs from 7-11 October (10am-5pm). The Ruskin Gallery, on ARU’s Cambridge campus, is open to the public and entry is free.