Call for contributions: AI as Environment - Infrastructure, Knowledge, Operation
Artists and researchers are invited to submit proposals to the 9th Artistic Research at Kristiania Symposium (ARAK) and the 2nd MishMash Conference, held in Oslo on 13–14 April 2027. The deadline for abstracts is 1 November 2026.
In 2027, Kristiania's annual symposium on artistic research joins forces with MishMash – Centre for AI and Creativity.
The two-day conference is co-organised with the AI Ecologies Research Group, the Kristiania AI Centre (KAI) and Atelier Nord. It brings artistic research into dialogue with the wider field of AI and creativity.
Looking Beyond What AI Can Do
Most public discussion of artificial intelligence asks what the technology can do, or what we can do with it. AI as Environment starts somewhere else.
It looks at the data centres, mineral supply chains and energy that sustain AI; at the datasets and classification systems that decide what machines can recognise and generate; and at the software, interfaces and workflows through which artists and others actually work with these systems.
Together, these shape the conditions under which art and knowledge are now made.
– Artistic research has a particular contribution to make here. Artists don't only analyse AI from the outside. They work inside its operations, and they can make visible relations that are hard to grasp through analysis alone, says Professor Synne Tollerud Bull.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers and Exhibition Programme
We are pleased to announce that Tiziana Terranova (Università di Napoli 'L'Orientale'), Orit Halpern (Technische Universität Dresden) and Kyle Stine (Johns Hopkins University) will be keynote speakers. They are joined by the Spring 2027 Atelier Nord/MishMash artist-in-residence.
The conference is accompanied by a public exhibition at Atelier Nord, 12–16 April 2027.
Details of the exhibition and the full programme will be announced later.
Research Fields and Artistic Practices
The call is open to artistic research and practice-based work in visual arts, music and sound, performing arts, design, curatorial practice and arts education, as well as to interdisciplinary research in fields such as media studies, critical AI studies, human-computer interaction and the environmental humanities.
– We hope the conference will be a place where creative experimentation meets critical perspectives, says Associate Professor and founder of ARAK, Kai Hanno Schwind.
How to submit
- Abstract (max. 300 words) and bio (max. 100 words)
- Presentations of 15 minutes: paper, practice-based presentation, or a combination
- In-person only; travel and accommodation are not covered
- Researchers at all career stages, including PhD candidates, are welcome
- Deadline: 1 November 2026. Notification: 15 December 2026
- About 20–25 presentations will be selected for a curated programme
Find full call and submission form here.
About the organisers:
- MishMash – Centre for AI and Creativity is one of six national AI research centres funded by the Research Council of Norway. It brings together more than 200 researchers at 16 institutions.
- ARAK is Kristiania's annual symposium for artistic research.
- Atelier Nord is an Oslo venue for contemporary art with a focus on media art, and co-runs the Atelier Nord/MishMash artist residency programme.
Sluttblokk
Faculty of Society, Arts and Media
The faculty offers a work‑life‑relevant and practice‑oriented education in performing arts, film and media. We provide students with the tools to develop as independent artists and creators, and to shape the artistic and media landscape of the future. Read more
