CINETic UNATC

𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 | 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥
Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
18–20 November | UNATC I. L. Caragiale

We are delighted to announce our keynote speaker:

𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗱𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱, Professor in Digital Humanities at Trinity College Dublin; co-director of the Trinity Centre for Digital Humanities, Director of the MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture; principal Investigator in the National Centre for advanced digital research Rinn AI
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚: 𝙖 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨
The rapid introduction of generative AI tools into artistic workflows and cultures of production has proven both exhilarating and deeply destabilising. While new creative paradigms have emerged, so also have concerns about the effect these shifts may have on generative justice, that being our very right and capacity to create. Addressing this concern in any coherent manner requires us, as technological change so often does, to revisit our foundational understanding of what an artistic act consists of, what role the arts play in human experience, and what it has meant in the past for technology to bring large scale shifts in artistic practices, identities and markets. Crucial to this exercise is a differentiation between tools, which are deployed with an awareness of their effect, and infrastructures, which by their very nature tend to sublimate into culture and sink below the level of conscious use. This keynote will address how remaining aware of and actively managing this distinction can help us not only to maintain a clear understanding of the difference between AI outputs and human creation, but also to maintain access to generative justice for all.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
We welcome original research and practice-as-research from artists and researchers working with AI in performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields.

Submit
Title + abstract (200–250 words) + bio (50–100 words)
Form: https://forms.gle/Ea6mRrnSRKSqthcR6

Full call and themes: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

Selected papers / extended abstracts will be considered for publication.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

Contact: [email protected]

𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 | 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥
Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
18–20 November | UNATC I. L. Caragiale

We are delighted to announce our keynote speaker:

𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶, Reader in Creative Robotics and Course Leader of Creative Robotics at the University of the Arts London, where he also co-leads the Creative Robotics Research Hub
𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 = 𝘼𝙧𝙩 𝙓 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨
Creative Robotics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that fuses artistic imagination with robotic capability, reframing robots not as purely functional machines but as collaborators, co-creators, and expressive entities in the creative process. This keynote introduces the concept of Art × Robotics, distinguishing it from robotic art, which simply uses robots as tools or performers within artistic works. Creative Robotics instead centres on process over product, investigating the deeper conditions and interactions through which creativity unfolds when humans and robots work together, spanning a spectrum from technical innovation in expressive robotic behaviour to fully artistic exploration of emotion, narrative, and aesthetics. Drawing on real-world projects, performances, and student-led work from the Creative Robotics programme at the University of the Arts London, this talk invites the audience to rethink the boundaries between technology and art, and to consider how the process of robots creating alongside humans might expand what creativity itself can mean.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
We welcome original research and practice-as-research from artists and researchers working with AI in performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields.

Submit
Title + abstract (200–250 words) + bio (50–100 words)
Form: https://forms.gle/Ea6mRrnSRKSqthcR6

Full call and themes: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

Selected papers / extended abstracts will be considered for publication.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

Contact: [email protected]

𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 | 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥
Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
18–20 November | UNATC I. L. Caragiale

We are delighted to announce our keynote speaker:

Dr. 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱, artist, researcher and Senior Lecturer at the University of Arts London - Creative Computing Institute
𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡
Generative neural networks produce media through a complex fabric of computation, contingent on large scraped datasets, where features and representations get encoded into the weights of unfathomably large data arrays, which in turn are enmeshed through complex chains of computation. The ease and realism through which this generated media is mass-produced and its almost uncanny flawlessness makes it easy to forget the complex computational contingencies that produce it. This talk will show how treating these vast computational processes as artistic materials, by making targeted interventions to inputs, weights, training and inference of generative neural networks, artists are able to make critical works that reveal to us otherwise unseen aspects of these models, where the artworks themselves present new ways of understanding and making sense of these unfathomably complex computational systems.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
We welcome original research and practice-as-research from artists and researchers working with AI in performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields.

Submit
Title + abstract (200–250 words) + bio (50–100 words)
Form: https://forms.gle/Ea6mRrnSRKSqthcR6

Full call and themes: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

Selected papers / extended abstracts will be considered for publication.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

Contact: [email protected]

𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 | 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥
Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
18–20 November | UNATC I. L. Caragiale

We are delighted to announce our keynote speaker:

𝗧𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇 (HERTZLAB, Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany)
𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢? 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨
I’d like to draw on the historical relationship theatre has had with technology and how, in a production environment that seldomly leaves space for true experiment, we have to carve out space for artistic research (that also includes failure and risk) and how, on a logistical level, a rehearsal works for humans and for machines and what the output may be (I’ll give Bayreuth as example, which wasn’t really perceived well). I’ll take a bit of an excursion into what might be needed for productive work with AI in a theatrical setting (local machines, dataset training and finetuning, speech-to-text-to-speech, the missing presence of embodiment) and what this might mean for theatre going forward.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
We welcome original research and practice-as-research from artists and researchers working with AI in performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields.

Submit
Title + abstract (200–250 words) + bio (50–100 words)
Form: https://forms.gle/Ea6mRrnSRKSqthcR6

Full call and themes: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

Selected papers / extended abstracts will be considered for publication.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

Contact: [email protected]

𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 | 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥
Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
18–20 November | UNATC I. L. Caragiale

We are delighted to announce our first keynote speaker:

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 Ö𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 (Uppsala University)
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙮𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜
Can AI be innovative? Digital ethicist Carl Öhman argues that AI systems can bring new things into existence — yet they still lack the capacity to begin in the deeper sense. They cannot throw themselves into the uncertainty of the future. Drawing on his forthcoming book 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢, he unpacks what this means for our personal, professional, and political lives.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
We welcome original research and practice-as-research from artists and researchers working with AI in performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields.

Submit
Title + abstract (200–250 words) + bio (50–100 words)
Form: https://forms.gle/Ea6mRrnSRKSqthcR6

Full call and themes: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

Selected papers / extended abstracts will be considered for publication.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

Contact: [email protected]

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 | 𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
Call for Abstracts: Ai in Art Practices and Research Conference 2026
UNATC Bucharest, 18-20 November 2026

We are pleased to announce that the abstract submission deadline for the AI in Art Practices and Research Conference has been extended to 25 September 2026.

Overarching provocation: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁!

We invite original research and practice-as-research contributions exploring artificial intelligence in the cultural and creative sectors (performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, literature, and related fields). Interdisciplinary approaches from technology, health, philosophy, digital humanities, and beyond are welcome.

Confirmed keynote speakers include:

— 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 Ö𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 (Uppsala University) – 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙮𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜
— 𝗧𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇 (ZKM | Karlsruhe) – 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢? 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨
— 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 (UAL Creative Computing Institute) – 𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡
— 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶 (University of the Arts London) – 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 = 𝘼𝙧𝙩 × 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨

Subthemes include:
— AI takeover? The human value of creativity, art, and culture
— AI as creative partner – methods, workflows, and production ecosystems
— Ethical AI for all – responsible, culturally sensitive, and sustainable practices
— The healing powers of art and AI – well-being, support, and therapy
— Widening accessibility and participation through AI
— AI in research and education (especially in the arts)
— Performers – robots, embodied AI, virtual agents, and the human body
— Designing with AI – architecture, scenography, costumes, avatars, and extended realities
— AI in relation to memory and heritage – restoration, alteration, datasets, curation, and archiving

𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿
25 September 2026 – Abstract submission deadline (extended)
1–14 October 2026 – Peer review
15 October 2026 – Notification of acceptance
15 November 2026 – Extended abstract deadline
18–20 November 2026 – Conference

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
Title
Abstract (200–250 words)
Bio (50–100 words) with institutional affiliation
Illustrations or links (if applicable)

Please submit your abstract through this Google Form: https://forms.gle/tvL9YhLCmeXL2YHA8

Selected papers/extended abstracts will be considered for subsequent publication.

All presentations will be held in English.

Should any students, colleagues or fellow travellers on the AI/Art frontier find our provocation tempting, please share this call with them.

For enquiries, contact [email protected]

We look forward to your contributions and to welcoming you to Bucharest.

Web: https://cinetic.arts.ro/en/evenimente/ai-conference-2026/

📌Mâine, 7 iulie 2026 este ultima zi când se mai pot face înscrieri pentru workshopul de vineri 10 iulie — Expanding Your Role Repertoire: Discovering New Possibilities Through Psychodrama susținut de prof. dr. Hod Orkibi, School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa.

Detalii și înscrieri aici:

Expanding Your Role Repertoire: Discovering New Possibilities Through Psychodrama - CINETIc Expanding Your Role Repertoire: Discovering New Possibilities Through Psychodrama 10 July 2026 | 10.00-14.00 | Multifunctionala, CINETIC UNATC (Str. Tudor Arghezi 3-b) Workshop organised by the Research, Innovation, Development Department in collaboration with the Community and therapeutic theater M...