Von 3. bis 7. September 2025 wird Linz wieder zum Hotspot der internationalen Medienkunstszene. Verteilt über Festivallocations in der ganzen Stadt werden Ausstellungen, Performances, Konzerte und Konferenzen angeboten, die meisten davon in der POSTCITY, dem zentralen Schauplatz des Festivals.
From September 3 to 7, 2025, Linz will once again become a hotspot for the international media art scene. Exhibitions, performances, concerts and conferences will be held at festival locations throughout the city, most of them at POSTCITY, the festival’s central venue.
Credit: Ars Electronica / Domas Schwarz
Experience firsthand how new technologies are changing our lives. Discover for yourself how machine learning, VR, robotics or biotech can contribute to socially and ecologically sustainable progress.
Credit: Ars Electronica / Yazdan Zand
Under no circumstances should you miss this year’s Ars Electronica Festival theme exhibition in the extensive catacombs of POSTCITY! Here, you can experience artworks that visualize and reflect on the power of art, particularly in times of upheaval and uncertainty.
The conference will shed light on the cultural history of dystopian narratives, which have always served as a mirror of social insecurities, and discuss how current threats—from wars to political upheavals—are triggering new forms of panic and shaping our coexistence.
Introduction
Elisabeth Pacher (AT) // A brief introduction to the morning program topics by Elisabeth Pacher from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport.
When Art Reimagines Tech
Paula Gaetano Adi (AR) // The winner of this year’s Golden Nica in the category Artificial Life & Intelligence reveals the process behind the award-winning project Guanaquerx.
Cultural Sensors: Why Creative R&D Matters for the 21st Century
Victoria Ivanova (GB) // The talk examines how creative practitioners function as society’s sensing apparatus—identifying emerging transformations and testing new approaches.
Present and Future Culture Stacks
Natalie Giorgadze (BE), Marina Otero Verzier (ES), Caterina Benincasa (IT), Victoria Ivanova (GB) // A look at how policymaking can support practices at the intersection of art, science, and technology in becoming indispensable innovation partners without compromising their critical and experimental nature.
Irit Rogoff: Knowing Catastrophe
Irit Rogoff (GB) // In this keynote, Irit Rogoff explores the modes of knowing catastrophe and the ways of living with it that are made possible through alternative pathways into knowledge—pathways that eschew resistance in favor of active imaginations and the potential of criticality.
Art in the Age of Panic Politics
Marita Muukkonen (FI), Ivor Stodolsky (FR/US), Simon Weckert (DE), Nancy Bates (AU), Sergio Fontanella (CU/US) // The panel unpacks the possibilities of escaping the logic of viral media that invite panic politics and of creating alternative political narratives through artistic practice.
Introducing NEB Junction
Annemie Bertha Marcella Wyckmans (BE/NO) // A presentation of NEB Junction—the platform that will bring together insights, ideas, and experiences from past and future projects of the New European Bauhaus.
Cross-sectoral Collaborations: The Arts Meet HealthTech
Georg Russegger (AT) // Georg Russegger launches an afternoon dedicated to the intersection between art and healthcare, including topics like health tech, well-being, and policymaking.
Medical Literacy through Art
Špela Petrič (SI), Mary Maggic (US), Patricia Stark (AT), Haley Marks (US) // We invite artists Špela Petrič and Mary Maggic to discuss how their practice contributes to health literacy, not only by telling stories differently but sometimes by telling different stories.
The Dream In Experience: Sleep Culture & Health
Andreas Kaindlstorfer (AT) // Short presentation of The Dream In Experience—an interdisciplinary project by the Department of Neurology at the Kepler University Hospital Linz.
Impact Initiative: Transforming Medicine through AI and Art
Patricia Stark (AT), Thomas Tschoellitsch (AT) // Bold visions for the future of medicine: Insights from a three-day hackathon tackling real-world challenges.
The Future of Arts & Health Industries Encounters
Georg Russegger (AT), Rania Islambouli (AT), Aniko Fejes (AT), Miriam Kathrein (AT), Matthias Konrad (DE) // A conversation about existing, emerging, and possible cross-disciplinary collaborations between art and healthcare.
Jill Sonke: When Hope is a Creative Act: The Arts as a Public Health Imperative
Jill Sonke (US) // The keynote will explore how, through a public health lens, the arts can build social cohesion and solidarity.
Art in Medical Environments
Jill Sonke (US), Andreas Leithner (AT), Kyoko Kunoh (JP) // Jill Sonke talks to medical professional Andreas Leithner and artist-curator Kyoko Kunoh about their projects in Austria and Japan that aimed to redesign spaces of care with the help of art.
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Francesca Bria (IT/DE), José Luis de Vincente (ES), Gerfried Stocker (AT) // The curators Francesca Bria and José Luis de Vicente, together with Ars Electronica’s artistic director Gerfried Stocker, will open the day with a brief overview of the program, topics, and speakers featured in the three sessions of the day.
AI War Cloud and the new Architecture of Power
Sarah Ciston (US), Kambale Musavuli (CD/GH), Klaus Dieter Uhrig (DE), Simone Ruf (DE), Julia Kloiber (DE) // What happens when military AI, predictive policing, surveillance capitalism, and far-right platforms’ power converge? Drawing on investigative, spatial, and cultural analysis, the session considers how evidence and visibility can become civic tools for resistance and democratic oversight.
Dual-Use / Dual Futures: Reclaiming the Stack for Europe’s Commons
Trevor Paglen (US), Marina Otero Verzier (ES), Domestic Data Streamers (ES), Leo Mühlfeld (AT), Paul Keller (NL), dmstfctn (GB) // This session brings together artists, designers, policymakers, and technologists to explore how digital infrastructure becomes cultural infrastructure—how it can be narrated, visualized, and contested as a site of collective agency.
Quantum Horizons: Strategic Infrastructures and Entangled Futures
Bettina Kames (DE), Fernando Cucchietti (AR/ES), Armin Linke (IT), Giulia Bini (IT/CH), Emergence Delft (NL), Robert Meisner (DE), Oscar Diez (ES/LU) // Drawing on work in experimental physics, space and Earth observation, and large-scale sensing infrastructures, the session reflects on how quantum technologies change our understanding of the planet, the cosmos, and ourselves.
Opening Remarks
Andrew Newman (AU/AT), Eva Durall Gazulla (ES) // Eva Durall Gazulla, representing Critical ChangeLab, and curator Andrew Newman will open the symposium by framing its central questions and ambitions.
Derrick de Kerckhove & Katharina Mosene: Educating Agency in the Age of AI
Derrick de Kerckhove (BE/CA/IT), Katharina Mosene (DE) // The keynotes explore how digital transformation and AI challenge democracy, literacy, and education. Derrick de Kerckhove reflects on the erosion of subjecthood and democratic foundations, while Katharina Mosene highlights how young people can build agency to resist disinformation, bias, and power imbalances in digital societies.
Unlearning the Algorithm: Education for Critical AI Literacy
Amil Khan (GB), Ana Maria Salinas Bojaca (CO/DE), Christoph Helm (AT), Mairéad Hurley (IE) // Drawing on insights from digital rights, media literacy, community-based innovation, and education reform, the discussion will focus on practical strategies for fostering technological agency—and ensuring that AI serves as a tool for inclusion, creativity, and democratic participation.
Simona Levi: Don’t blame the people. Don’t blame the Internet. Blame the power.
Simona Levi (IT/ES) // If we truly believe in democracy, we must stop repeating the mistakes of the past. Let’s build a democratic digitalization—one that guarantees real sovereignty for the people.
Praxis Presentations: Future Narratives
Johanna Lenhart (AT), Caitlin White (IE), Guadalupe Patricia Del Razo Martinez (ES) // This session presents a series of short, inspiring presentations from educators who use storytelling, future thinking, and creative data practices to empower young people to imagine and shape the futures they want to see.
Wrap Up
Andrew Newman (AU/AT), Mairéad Hurley (IE) // Moderators Andrew Newman and Mairéad Hurley will bring the first conference day to a close by distilling key insights and moments of inspiration from the sessions.
Welcome & Introduction
Christopher Styles (GB) // Christopher Styles will open the first conference block with reflections on the transformative role of citizen science in education.
Katja Mayer: Can Citizen Science Teach Democracy?
Katja Mayer (AT) // This talk explores how citizen science—when taken seriously as a civic and educational practice—offers a unique entry point into understanding how knowledge is produced, how disagreement can be productive, and how participation shapes both facts and futures.
Citizen Science in Education
Anna Berti Suman (IT), Christopher Styles (GB), Cristina Nava (PT), Elisabeth Schauermann (AT) // Building on the keynote Can Citizen Science Teach Democracy?, this panel brings together educators, researchers, and practitioners to discuss how citizen science can transform learning—and what it takes to make it work.
Opening Remarks
Nicole Grüneis (AT) // Nicole Grüneis will open the second day of the Critical ChangeLab symposium by introducing the role of museums, makerspaces, and other cultural institutions as vital sites of democratic learning.
Aisling Murray: Beta Testing Democracy: When Systems Fail, Culture Steps In
Aisling Murray (IE) // This keynote explores how cultural spaces can act as civic laboratories, where communities reclaim agency through creativity, dialogue, and experimentation.
Creating Rapid Response Learning Environments
Dobrivoje Lale Eric (RS), Federico Bomba (IT), Pedro Russo (PT/NL), Victoria Vesna (US), // The conversation will highlight how adopting a STEAM approach enables cultural organizations to merge critical thinking, creativity, and interdisciplinary inquiry—creating learning environments that not only reflect the complexity of the world but also empower young people to transform it.
Rightful Presence and Radical Making
Andrew Newman (AU/AT), Eva Vesseur (NL), Louise Archer (GB) // From challenging extractive STEM education to cultivating techno-agency and rightful presence, this panel asks how we move beyond inclusion to co-creation, and why making might just be a form of democratic rebellion.
Praxis Presentations: Making Space for Change
Josh Harle (AU), Nicoletta Tranquillo (IT), Sonja Bailer (AT) // This session features a series of short, provocative presentations from educators working in non-formal learning environments, showcasing how they are empowering young people to question, hack, and reshape the systems that shape their lives.
Wrap Up
Andrew Newman (AU/AT), Nicole Grüneis (AT) // Nicole Grüneis and Andrew Newman will conclude the conference with a brief wrap up, highlighting the most important takeaways from the discussions.
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Gefion Thuermer (GB) // The first session of the day explores real-world examples and current research on integrating AI into citizen science.
Marisa Ponti: Minds, Hands, and Machines in Citizen Science: From Uncertainty to Participation
Marisa Ponti (IT/SE) // During her talk, Marisa Ponti will challenge designers and researchers to build the next generation of AI for citizen science by posing five transformative questions, inviting the audience to join a critical dialogue on the path forward.
Artificial Intelligence in Citizen Science
Aleksandra Berditchevskaia (GB), Dilek Fraisl (AT), Gefion Thuermer (GB), Sofie Burgos-Thorsen (DK) // The challenges of AI technologies in relation to citizen science projects are multifaceted. In this panel conversation, experts will focus on and discuss ethical and legal aspects based on practical examples, faced challenges, and applied methodologies.
IMPETUS Demo Day
Agostina Bianchi (ES) // IMPETUS Demo Day reinvents the classic startup pitch event to spotlight citizen science initiatives working on urgent societal and environmental challenges. It emphasizes the power of citizen-driven innovation to create meaningful and lasting impact.
Peggy Sylopp: Listening with Purpose: How Human-Centric AI Democratizes Sound
Peggy Sylopp (DE) // In her keynote, Peggy Sylopp interweaves art, technology, and society around a central question: What does self-determination sound like?
Citizen Science in Artistic Research and Practice
Antonella Passani (IT), Jennifer Kanary (NL), Josep Perelló (ES), Willie Ng’ang’a (KE) // This panel explores how citizen science and artistic research can join forces to create fresh ways of engaging communities, fostering dialogue, and inspiring innovation. Panelists will share strategies, methodologies, and lessons learned from projects that treat art and science as equal partners.
Katrin Vohland: Does Citizen Science Increase Empowerment or Neoliberalism? Some Thoughts to Share
Katrin Vohland (DE/AT) // Drawing from her own experiences as well as literature, Katrin Vohland will talk about the changing role of citizen science amidst the current rapid development in the digital sector.
Citizen Science in Policy, for Commons, as Activism
Alexandra Albert (GB), Ivana Radović (RS), Katrin Vohland (DE/AT), Sarah Williams (US) // The day’s final session will examine systemic challenges, spotlight stories where participant protection, stable resources, and clear strategies made the difference, and explore what it takes to turn citizen science into a true engine for policy change and social transformation.
Closing Remarks
Vanessa Hannesschläger (EU) // Vanessa Hannesschläger will close the conference with a concise wrap up, weaving together key insights from the sessions.
PROLOGUE
Tawny Schlieski (US), AC Coppens (FR) // We begin the day with a fireside chat mapping the core tensions AI brings to performative art—between human and machine authorship, presence and simulation, control and unpredictability.
ACT I – EXPLORING EXPANSION
Heather Knight (US), Brigitta Muntendorf (DE), Anders Hasmo (NO), Marcus Lobbes (DE), Stefan Kaegi (CH) // In a series of case studies, artists and directors map the current landscape of AI in theater, sharing how this technology is expanding their creative practices.
ACT II – NEW TECH, NEW STAGE
Matthieu Lorrain (US/FR), AC Coppens (FR), Carla Meller (DE), Nils Corte (DE), Michael Rau (US), Ali Nikrang (AT), Silke Grabinger (AT), Victorine van Alphen (NL), Pablo Palacio (ES) // Leading technologists and practitioners take the stage, to first share their speculative visions for the future, and then participate in a hands-on session to explore AI tools for the theater sector.
ACT III – FUTURES IN PLAY
Magda Romanska (US), Nora Krahl (DE), Hermann Schneider (DE/AT), Paulien Geerlings (NL) // How to future-proof the theatre ecosystem? The last conference panel turns a critical lens on the broader impact of AI in theatre, including its institutional, political, and ethical implications.
EPILOGUE
Sarah Ellis (GB) // The closing of the day will bring an outlook into the future of stage magic: What possibilities emerge when theater and AI truly share the stage?
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Vanessa Hannesschläger / Ars Electronica (EU) // Vanessa Hannesschläger / Ars Electronica will open the day with a brief overview of the program, topics, and speakers featured in the following sessions.
Anthropocene Territory Scheldt
Territorial Agency: John Palmesino (IT), Ann-Sofi Rönnskog (FI) // The Anthropocene fundamentally alters the perception of territory, moving it away from a static, bounded, and appropriable space governed by external laws or states towards a dynamic, interconnected, responsive, and self-regulated system that demands a rethinking of sovereignty, belonging, and political organization.
What Is the Great Acceleration?
Alexander Damianos (GB/GR) // This general introduction tells you everything you need to know about what the Great Acceleration is and why it matters to the future of our relationship with Earth.
Earth Is a Sensorium
Owen Gaffney (IE/SE), Mark Williams (GB), Armen Avanessian (AT), Ulrike Felt (AT) // Four speakers from across law, policy, sciences and art answer a simple question in under ten minutes each: How do the Great Acceleration charts sense and make sense of the world?
Digital Humanism Panel on Human Vulnerability in the Digital Age
Erich Prem (AT), Franziska Nori (DE), Christopher Frauenberger (AT), Noemi Iglesias (ES), Silke Grabinger (AT) // Digital humanism aims to shape a livable digital future that focuses on people, the environment, and society. Visions of the future often assume the elimination of suffering. This panel discusses vulnerability as a source of meaning, society, and care. But is it even possible to take the vulnerability of humans and nature as a starting point for a digital future? A dialogue of computer science, philosophy, and art to develop positions of a digital humanism based on vulnerability.
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.
This roundtable will be interactive and enable discussion on media art trajectories from the eighties to today—from the euphoria and idealistic expectations of the early days to the now uber-corporate landscape and the seamless digital life we have become accustomed to. Guided by five provocation statements, we will explore the question of whether New Media Art, as an experimental practice, is still needed or relevant—especially in a time when digital media threaten political stability, spread ever more misinformation, and fuel societal polarization.
create your world has been supporting the next generation of designers and creatives since 1998.
The program connects young people, invites them to exchange ideas, is interested in their future prospects and makes their concerns visible. During the festival, create your world will occupy more than 2,000 square meters on the second floor of POSTCITY – transforming it into an inspiring playground where you can experiment, tinker and discuss with young and young-at-heart explorers.
Credit: Ars Electronica / Domas Schwarz
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