Video Archive – The Conference by Media Evolution

Anab Jain – Rewilding Our Imaginations

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:42:33 GMT

“We need an infrastructure that deepens our spiritual connection to the world – a spiritual infrastructure.”

Filmmaker, designer and futurist Anab Jain (she/her) wants us to keep asking ”what if”. How might we flourish by living in a different way than today? You might know her work with the foresight and design studio Superflux from the Venice Biennale, where they created a banquet for 12 different species in 2021. That’s just one example of how we can imagine the future through storytelling. And not just one future but many different possible futures.

Anab introduces two ideas for rewilding our minds and the planet: Expanding the self through interconnectedness, and intergenerational ecological time. A great example of the latter is the ”seven generation stewardship” employed by some indigenous peoples in America. It’s a way of safe-guarding the planet for use at the same (or an even better) rate than now.

Dive into Anab’s inspirational talk that takes us from Bhutan, to London and back again.

Georgina Voss – How To See What's Not There

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

Are we in control of technological megasystems, or are they in fact controlling us? By taking on a critical approach to modern technology, Georgina Voss emphasizes the need to collectively challenge the systems that underpin our world. Humans suffer from hubris in terms of using technology to exert control. Voss draws a parallel to the film Jurassic Park, highlighting the role of technological systems in our everyday life. She explains how these systems affect us both emotionally and physically although they are invisible to the human eye. As were the imaginary dinosaurs to the actors in the movie. But, “how to see what isn’t there?” Through digital screens we can have new experiences in virtual worlds, which might evoke unsettling emotions. But just like in Jurassic Park, the systems that are there to protect us can in fact also become a threat. The theme of control connected to systems becomes more relevant with complex and demanding technologies evolving rapidly. Voss urges us to take a critical perspective on the systems surrounding us, “because after all, if velociraptors can systematically test electrified fences for weakness, so can we”.

Joshua Idehen – Mom Does The Washing

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

“We are living in a world where we do not agree.” The spoken word artist Joshua Idehen kicks off the session by delivering a humorous performance about the flaws of various ideologies, the world according to your mom, doing the washing. Aiming to unite the audience through music, he showcases the power of humor, language and love when speaking across differences.

Seán Ronayne – Now What?

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:05 GMT

“How do we protect something we do not love and do not understand?” Seán Ronayne is the ornithologist who came up with the idea to sound-record every bird in Ireland, to show the world what beautiful and unique creatures they are. He is also the main character in the documentary Birdsong. With his extraordinary projects capturing soundscapes and imagery from nature’s most precious wildlife, he urges people to come together and protect the nation’s birds, as 63% of them are at risk of extinction. His collections are representations of the physical loss that are a consequence of the exploitation of Irish nature. He uses music and sound as a way of connecting with people and making them feel and understand the importance of preserving biodiversity. Birds’ mimicry of each other and other species is a symbol of the worlds’ interconnectedness. As Seán points out, extinction is not just happening in the Amazons but “here on our doorstep”, and “the actions that we take in Sweden and Ireland have a ripple effect on the world.”

Johanna Koljonen – Closing Remarks from The Conference 2024

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:26:04 GMT

Moderator Johanna Koljonen speaks to a packed Theatre stage before the closing keynote on Wednesday. She talks of the collective dreams that have been manifested through Jemma Foster's Geomantra app and helps us to land in the space of hopefulness and melancholy that is present in them before introducing Nipun Mehta and his keynote on Who Must We Be.

Johanna Koljonen - Opening Remarks from The Conference 2024

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:21:10 GMT

Beloved The Conference moderator Johanna Koljonen opens the 2024 edition with restating the question Joshua Idehen asked in his performance: How did you get here? The theme of the first day is a wake-up call – a kind of “oh shit” moment that forces us to turn to that scary corner in the room, but to light it up with rationality, with community, with poetry.

Joshua Idehen – How Did I Get Here?

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:20:18 GMT

British artist Joshua Idehen (he/him) opens The Conference 2024 with a spoken word performance in which he asks the audience “how did you get here”. The electrifying performance is an homage to David Byrne’s 1980 track "Once in a Lifetime", originally performed by Talking Heads.

Nipun Mehta – Who Must We Be?

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:18:16 GMT

”We need to move from transaction to relationship.” Nipun Mehta brings us on a transcendental journey to find our compassionate selves. Through the transforming story of his walking pilgrimage across India, Nipun kicks off by sharing his three key values: success, service and stillness. Further life snippets trigger us to ask ourselves fundamental questions such as “Where did you learn to be good?” or “Who must we be to walk towards futures we cannot imagine?” For one thing is certain, Nipun loves life and the humans that constitute it. He generously shares with the audience the guiding statements shaping his daily life, work and service, as they are all intertwined. By taking inspiration from figures of compassion and wisdom such as Mother Teresa, Gandhi or Desmond Tutu, he insists that creating a “we-to-we” community centred around our relationship to the other rather than the value involved in the transaction process will make us all more complete humans. As he concludes, “we are not merely what we do but we become who we are by what we do”. A true lesson of community, service and humility to help us navigate the unknown of tomorrow.

Nick Hasty – Inferring Creativity

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:16:10 GMT

Examining the creativity of generative artificial intelligence tools brings up interesting parallels with human cognition. Just as AI systems predict and fill gaps, our brains do so too, drawing from a wide range of learned behaviours, experiences and beliefs. Both entities heavily rely on their training data: AI on diverse datasets, humans on factors like personal histories, culture and upbringing.

Of course, creativity is not only a generative optimisation tool developed by our homo-sapien ancestors in order to survive. The frictions and surprises that occur in the creative process provide valuable data for better informing our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. Nick uses the metaphor of a therapist to reframe the potentials of human-AI collaboration. Just as a therapist does, these tools can help humans to unpack, twist and turn concepts to aid better understanding and make meaningful breakthroughs. The results are often new and surprising (the essence of what creativity is all about.)

Nick ends with some hopeful predictions for creative expression and that it can lead to more creative, inspired and poetic results. Ultimately, AI can help us to better learn what it means to be human.

Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:05:10 GMT

“Injustice it’s not rooted in computing. It’s been happening for hundreds of years and it’s still being imposed through centuries in violence through colonialism.”

“Before seeking new design solutions, we look for what is already working at the community level”. This is one of the 10 principles for design justice that Costanza-Chock presents in her keynote, which is essential listening for middle-class gender-normative designers. We might be blind to the burdens imparted on less privileged individuals, but if we think more about the implications our devices, interfaces and systems have on everyone, we can get far. That’s the message that Costanza-Chock has for us.

There’s no one “best” approach to design problems – “I’m not looking for the systems to be less biased”, they say. Because we’re living in an historical time where there’s a slow sea-change taking place. The Design Justice book from 2020 presents concrete examples of how marginalised peoples are disproportionately burdened by existing systems and technologies. Designers, activists and developers alike can learn from and be inspired by the Design Justice Network to engage in liberating system design. Because the root of the issue is the structural inequality that reproduces this ‘matrix of domination’, as Patricia Hill Collins defined it in Black Feminist Thought. There are huge interlocking systems of oppression (from capitalism to white supremacy) and design justice is a concrete framework for beginning to tackle these age-old issues.

Audrey Tang – Alignment Assemblies and Collective Intelligence

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 11:19:37 GMT

With the nuclear bombs detonating in 1945, Pandora’s box was unlocked. For Audrey Tang, Minister of Digital Affairs in Taiwan, Artificial Intelligence represents another box of Pandora that challenges us to think about how we can avoid the pitfalls for society and achieve collective global action. We as a society have a choice: Are we going to tumble into the abyss of abuse, manipulation, threat, cyber attacks, and deep fake, or are we going to embrace shared values, democracy, and global AI cooperation?

Global AI governance, as pursued and advocated for by Audrey Tang and Taiwan, builds on consensus and public participation in policy-making, recognizing the role of AI for good purposes. Alignment Assemblies, a pilot project of the Collective Intelligence Project, aims to sync technologies with societal values and wants to reduce the fear of AI through a participant-guided conversation about needs, preferences, hopes, and fears. In this aspect, open source and Alignment Assemblies are powerful catalysts for bolstering societal understanding. This is why Audrey Tang calls for all hands on deck to solve the Gordian Knot that is AI in order to free the future of it.

Uffe Elbæk - How to challenge the status quo’s of the world

Wed, 20 Aug 2014 18:20:15 GMT

"The most interesting place to be is at the border between the known and the unknown, and how you handle your life there."

What are you doing right now? What is important to you? Should you do it differently? Are you already on the right track?

These are questions that social entrepreneur and politician Uffe Elbaek invites us to reflect on. Combined with four personal stories, he talks about how the people we meet, and the mistakes that we make, have an influence on our worldview and how we go about things.

Jenny Wilson - The Creative Process

Wed, 20 Aug 2014 11:28:54 GMT

"I'm drowning in a deep sea of ideas."

What does a creative process look like? Few things can be as personal and abstract as the creative process. Artist Jenny Wilson talk about her voyage going from a hollow shell to having a finished album.

How the initiating stages of a shut down intellect and vacant space slowly fills up with elusive signals of inspiration. The fear of acting on these signals as they surely will lead to a long and heavy task of collecting material but at the same time the satisfaction of feeling alive and sparkling.

Juliana Rotich - How to enable others to make things happen

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 15:29:56 GMT

"It is in sharing that we create value."

Out of the need for better media coverage, Ushahidi was born. Co-founder Juliana Rotich explains why this new technology is a door opener to create a more transparent and better world - not only in Africa, but also on a global scale.

Through the concept of crowdsourcing, knowledge is being put in people's hands. This enables us to find true stories in data and give the world a better picture of what is really going on.

Molly Crabapple - Art and the network

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:02:19 GMT

"A sketchpad can go places cameras cannot look."

For Molly Crabapple, art is the discipline of seeing. Together with her sketchpad, she has been able to see things cameras couldn't - portraying Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Occupy Wall Street protesters and Syrian refugees.

Molly talks of the importance of drawing in a networked world, where there are more images than ever before. She also challenges us as listeners to draw. Because even though it can't change the world, it might make us see it a bit differently.

Alexis Ohanian - Lagom is not enough

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 18:08:31 GMT

Alexis Ohanian is an entrepreneur and investor from Brooklyn, NY, best known as the co-founder of the social news site reddit.

With a proven record of making something people love as the model for success, he will come to The Conference to talk about the importance of giving a damn about the people who are about to use and consume what you create.

James Bridle - Naked Lunch

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:07:10 GMT

The world is shaped by new technologies, but perhaps it is shaped more by how we understand those technologies, how they impact our daily lives, and the mental models we have of them. James will talk about architectural visualisation, online literatures, contemporary warfare and contemporary labour, in an attempt to articulate new ways of thinking about the world.

James Bridle is a writer, artist and technologist based in London, UK. He exhibits and speaks worldwide on the subjects of literature and technology, networks and culture. In 2011, he coined the term “New Aesthetic”, and his ongoing research around this subject has been featured and discussed worldwide.

Cindy Gallop

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 18:55:33 GMT

Cindy Gallop, the founder & CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn, offers some provocative, challenging and highly subjective views on how to redesign the future of business; the power shift from the old world order model to the new; the lies we tell ourselves around the most fundamental aspect of human behavior, our sexuality; and why disruption is so critically important in the only gigantic billion-dollar sector nobody in the tech world ever encourages you to disrupt.

You can change the world in more profound ways than you ever thought possible, by changing what you do in the office, and what you do in bed. Cindy Gallop will talk about changing the world through business and sex.

Suzannah Lipscomb - Opening keynote

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:41:45 GMT

Suzannah Lipscomb is Senior Lecturer and Convenor for History at New College of the Humanities. She also holds a post as Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of East Anglia.

Suzannah will open The Conference by looking back. She will talk about what we can and can not learn from the past.

As a Scholar, Suzannah took a double first in her BA and a distinction in her Masters, both in History at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 2007-2010, Suzannah was Research Curator at Hampton Court Palace. She is now a consultant to Historic Royal Palaces and an External Advisory Member on their Research Strategy Board.

Sahar El-Nadi

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:41:30 GMT

Sahar El-Nadi is a writer, photographer and an eyewitness to the Egyptian revolution. She will talk about the incredible lies of the state controlled media outlets in Egypt and what activists are doing to combat this by sharing what’s actually going on with the rest of the world.

Hojun Song

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:34:34 GMT

Hojun Song is a South Korean artist and engineer that is making narratives and raising questions by creating absurd objects like radiation jewelry and the strongest weapon in the world. Currently he’s working to launch his own small satellite.

Kate Hartman

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:45:37 GMT

Kate Hartman is an artist, wearable design technologist, and Assistant Professor of Wearable & Mobile Technology and Director of the Social Body Lab at OCAD University in Toronto. Her work spans the fields of physical computing, wearable electronics, and conceptual art.

http://www.mediaevolution.se/theconference

Ben Hammersley - Keynote

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:46:02 GMT

Ben Hammersley is a British writer and technologist, specializing in the effects of the internet and the ubiquitous digital network on the worldʼs political, cultural and social spheres.

Riyaad Minty

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:06:47 GMT

Riyaad Minty leads the Al Jazeera Network’s social media initiatives. As part of the Network’s New Media team, he ensures that Al Jazeera has a presence and is part of the conversation across Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.

Amber Case - Cyborg Anthropology and the Future of the Interface

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:22:21 GMT

Amber Case is a cyborg anthropologist and user experience designer from Portland, Oregon, USA. Her main focus is mobile software, augmented reality and data visualization, and reducing the amount of time and space it takes for people to connect. Case founded Geoloqi.com, a private location sharing application, out of a frustration with existing social protocols around text messaging and wayfinding.

Paola Antonelli

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:22:09 GMT

Paola Antonelli is Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design of The Museum of Modern Art, where she has worked since 1994. Paola’s goal is to insistently promote design’s understanding, until its positive influence on the world is fully acknowledged and exploited.