Location: Oulu Central Library Saari - Pakkala Hall
Address: Hallituskatu 7, 90100 Oulu, Finland | Venue Information | Event Map

Captions are available for this session

How do research, artistic practice and institutional collaboration come together to create new possibilities for the performing arts?

At the heart of this discussion is Trial Against Humanity, an interactive installation-performance utilising AI. Developed through a research-driven process that brought together theatre makers, AI engineers, students and experts from diverse fields, the production offers a case study of how creative processes evolve through interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships. 

The conversation will consider how research and innovation can support artistic development, how institutions adapt to new technologies and modes of production, and what opportunities emerge when artistic practice engages with expertise and perspectives from beyond the cultural field.

Beyond the production itself, the discussion explores what happens when these ways of working become embedded in cultural organisations, and how collaboration with industry partners, researchers and wider communities can open up new approaches to sustainability, audience engagement and organisational development. 

Artist and choreographer Silke Grabinger will contribute her perspective from a practice that combines contemporary dance, performance art and robotics. Drawing on years of artistic exploration with robotics, media art and AI, she examines how emerging technologies shape performance, meaning-making and the relationship between performers, audiences and machines. 

We invite you to explore with us a central thread: how cultural practice responds to a changing world - new technologies, perspectives and ways of working - while staying rooted in artistic practice.

The performance The Trial Against Humanity is taking place as part of the Plenary programme - please check the online programme for times and how to book.

Confirmed speakers:

Anders Hasmo, Det Norske Teatret, Norway
Julia Heikkinen, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Silke Grabinger, Austria

Resources:

ACuTe Digital Theatre: A Casebook, especially the article New Forms of Collaboration: Theatre and Technology in the Age of Artificial, by Peer Arne Perez Øian and Anders Hasmo