Conferences

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Conferences, Lectures

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Conferences

The conference program of the Ars Electronica Festival brings together artists, scientists and creators from all over the world. Current issues relating to art, technology, and society are discussed in exciting talks, panels, and keynotes—above all (but not only), in POSTCITY. It is not just about listening, it is about exchange, reflection and new perspectives.

  • Ars Electronica Theme Symposium

    This year’s Theme Symposium focuses on mitigation strategies for panic in challenging times.

  • EXPANDED 2025 – Conference on Animation and Interactive Art

    In the Sky Loft of the Ars Electronica Center international experts will meet at the EXPANDED conference from September 3–5 to discuss current trends in animation art. The program of presentations and panels is organized together with the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria – Campus Hagenberg.

  • Critical ChangeLab Symposia

    Inspired by the propositions of the Critical ChangeLab project, the symposia present bold visions of learning as disruption—and of democracy as something we must actively co-create.

  • New Pathways: AI, Art, and Collaboration in Citizen Science—#Education

    This session will explore both the exciting opportunities and the real-world challenges of integrating citizen science into education, including time and resource limitations, balancing scientific and educational goals, and navigating curricular and institutional pressures.

  • New Pathways: AI, Art, and Collaboration in Citizen Science—#AI, Art, Policy

    This conference explores the diverse potential of citizen science to drive education, innovation, creativity, and policy impact—while also addressing the challenges that come with it.

  • Earth Is a Sensorium

    How does what we know about the world influence how we act in it? Earth Is a Sensorium responds to this question by examining a crucial example: the Great Acceleration.

  • New Media Art Trajectories

    Christa Sommerer (AT), Laurent Mignonneau (FR/AT), Claudia Hart (US), Jill Scott (AU/CH), Kurt Hentschläger (AT/US), Olga Kisseleva (RU), Paul Thomas (AU), Victoria Vesna (US)

    On the occasion of the publication of the Encyclopedia of New Media Art (ENMA) by Bloomsbury Press London (2025), we will run a non-traditional roundtable event at Ars Electronica—featuring groundbreaking artists to assist and stimulate a broader discussion on new media art practice.

  • Digitality and Vulnerability

    Erich Prem (AT), Franziska Nori (DE), Christopher Frauenberger (AT), Noemi Iglesias (ES), Silke Grabinger (AT)

    Vulnerability as the source of care and community—an option for a digital future worth living?

  • Echt jetzt! Wirklichkeiten unserer Gegenwart

    Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour (AT), University of Education Upper Austria (AT), Ars Electronica (AT)

    At the Symposium on Political Education, we will engage with different layers of reality and explore how they influence one another—as well as the opportunities and risks that arise from the simultaneous existence of multiple realities.

  • STAGED REALITIES

    Technology has always been both at the core of stagecraft and fueling the imagination for playwrights. Today, AI enters the stage, bringing new possibilities. The conference brings to stage leading practitioners, technologists, and researchers of AI in theater and performative art.

  • Praxistage eEducation 2025

    eEducation Austria (AT)

    The Praxistage eEducation are taking on a new and inspiring format this year: Embedded within the Ars Electronica Festival, they will take place in Linz from September 4 to 5, 2025.