Call for contributions: AI as Environment - Infrastructure, Knowledge, Operation 

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. 

Find full call and submission form here. 

Looking Beyond What AI Can Do

Most public discussion of artificial intelligence focuses on what the technology can do, or what we can do with it. AI as Environment invites a broader perspective on AI and the relations between technology, people, society, culture and the environments we inhabit.

The conference brings together artists and researchers across disciplines and practices. Through the themes of infrastructure, knowledge and operation, it explores how AI participates in and shapes different environments, and how these environments in turn shape AI.

AI as Environment is therefore not limited to any particular technology, practice or research question. Rather, it offers an open invitation to approach AI through an ecological lens, from artistic practice and creativity to knowledge production, technology, culture and society.

– Artistic research has a particular contribution to make here. Artists do not only analyse AI from the outside. They work in and through these systems and can make visible relations and conditions that might otherwise remain unseen, 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 inquiry in visual arts, music and sound, performing arts, design, curatorial practice and arts education, as well as interdisciplinary research that brings artistic practice into dialogue with AI and machine learning, human-computer interaction, media studies, Critical AI studies, environmental humanities, cultural studies and related fields.

– We hope the conference will be a place where creative experimentation meets critical perspectives, says Associate Professor and founder of ARAK, Kai Hanno Schwind. 

AI as Environment is a research programme developed by the AI Ecologies research group in the project Kunstens co-pilot: Kunst og KI i et prosessøkologisk perspektiv, funded by Kulturrådet (2026-2028).

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 December 2026. Notification 18 December. 
• 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. 
• AI Ecologies is a research group at Kristiania, exploring AI at the intersection of art, media, and the environmental humanities.
• KAI — Kristiania AI Centre is a new interdisciplinary research centre for trustworthy and sustainable AI. 

• Contact: arak@kristiania.no