For Digital Arts & Culture Professionals

Educating an A(ctivist) Intelligence

This session centers on radical AI education as civic armor, aligned with the festival’s call for a “digital immune system” rather than alarmism. Educational activists, youth organizers, and techno-critics will spotlight initiatives that transcend basic digital literacy.

Find the Tick: Recipes for Times of Radical Change

Zane Cerpina (LV), Stahl Stenslie (NO)

Enter a world of heat, scent, and touch. CIFRA serves tick-inspired dishes to give you a taste of the future. Dare to feast like a parasite? Panic and empathy—your favorite spices? Then our experimental kitchen awaits your order.

Human-Machine Teamwork

Adrian Rudershausen (DE), Hanke Homburg (DE), Florian Ullrich (DE), Benjamin Buck (DE), Nils Penner (DE), Sylvia Amman (AT)

Can AI become a productive member of teams within educational and cultural organizations? We examine the opportunities and challenges involved in designing AI systems that authentically emulate human roles, personalities, and behaviors, enabling meaningful and effective participation in otganizational processes.

NEB Junction Town Hall: Shaping Impact Together

NEB Junction Consortium (EU)

How can creativity drive real change? This open Town Hall Meeting invites artists, designers, cultural workers, and curious minds to explore how local projects across Europe—funded and inspired by the New European Bauhaus—are reimagining spaces, communities, and ways of living in order to foster hope instead of panic.

Speed Dating Recipes – Eat the Simulation

Philippe Mistakopulo (AE), Alisa Verbina (RU/AT)

Taste the Connection. CIFRA has prepared ten dates for one night. Networking? Game night? That’s up to you. On our menu: exquisite tastings of fakes with AI-infused edible propaganda, and a drizzle of visual truth. Either way, it’s going to be a blast.

Speed Dating Recipes—Cooking the History

Philippe Mistakopulo (AE), Anastasiya Dzhioeva (GB)

Taste the Connection. CIFRA has prepared ten dates for one night. On our menu: narrative sabotage, with a flambéed falsification covered with a crust of archive fiction.

Speed Dating Recipes—Common Feasts

Philippe Mistakopulo (AE), Elena Rumyantseva (IL/GR)

Taste the Connection. CIFRA has prepared dates for one night. On our menus: memory and care, flavored with a sense of community and comforting rituals on the side.

Supporting your Research with the ERC

Aneta Krzemień Barkley (PL)

The European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent frontier research across all fields of scholarship. The session will provide an overview of ERC funding opportunities, the evaluation procedure and general advice on preparing a proposal.

Town Hall Meeting: Citizen Science

Vanessa Hannesschläger (EU), Fermín Serrano Sanz (ES), IMPETUS Consortium (EU)

Citizen Science is a game changer. At this Town Hall Meeting, we invite our partner institutions in current EU-funded projects on Citizen Science, professionals from a wide range of institutions, as well as representatives of grassroots, bottom-up, and community-driven research to mingle and meet.

Town Hall Meeting: How to partner with the Ars Electronica Festival?

Veronika Liebl (AT), Christl Baur (DE/AT)

Curious about what it takes to become part of Ars Electronica? This session opens the door to new ideas, unexpected encounters, and the start of future collaborations.

Town Hall Meeting: Theater & Digital Media

Vanessa Hannesschläger (EU), ACuTe Consortium (EU)

Since the beginnings of media arts, artists have been integrating technology into performative settings, but also theater makers have always been keen on experimenting with new technologies. This Town Hall Meeting invites culture professionals, technologists, and technology providers to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and build new connections.