The Arts in Society Research Network

Modeling Life Systems: Art, Algorithms, and Ecologies

We invite proposals for the Twenty-First International Conference on the Arts in Society, to be hosted from 10-12 June 2026 by the Department of Theatre Studies, School of Philosophy, at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, with integrated online participation via CGScholar Event (KX).

Founded in 2006, The Arts in Society Research Network brings together artists, scholars, educators, curators, and cultural workers to examine the role of the arts in shaping human understanding, social life, and innovation.The annual conference serves as the central meeting point for scholars, practitioners, policymakers, designers, technologists, educators, and community leaders working across these interconnected fields.

Special Focus and Conference Themes

The special focus of the Twenty-First International Conference on the Arts in Society explores the dynamic interfaces between nature, technology, and creative practices—all with a keen eye on how art practices can catalyze meaningful social change. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have challenged long-held notions of human agency and creative authorship, intensifying the urgency to grapple with the ever-evolving interplay of living systems and computational processes.

Aristotle writes, "Art takes nature as its model." Artificial intelligence is “modeling” its “Art” on the world’s creativity, training a powerful new “general intelligence.” By investigating the role of data—environmental, social, and personal—as both a raw material for artistic exploration and a source code for world-building, we invite discussions on the aesthetics of data, coding as a contemporary craft, and the philosophical implications of creating art at the cusp of ecological crisis and digital innovation. Central to our dialogue is how socially engaged art practitioners expand or redefine relationships to the natural and digital worlds, foregrounding issues of environmental justice, ethical artificial intelligence, algorithmic bias, labor-market disruption, automated labor, inclusive collaboration, and the culture of immediacy.

Through an interdisciplinary lens, researchers, artists, technologists, and community organizers are called to examine questions of environmental urgency, creative experimentation, and equitable frameworks for technological engagement. We seek to nurture dialogue on how ecological patterns inspire digital frameworks such as natural system-inspired algorithms—and, conversely, how computational advances influence our ecosystems from water and energy over-consumption to creating unprecedented images of ecosystems and predictions of weather events.

This conference provides a platform for envisioning collaborative, resilient futures—where socially engaged art practices foster community co-creation, reimagining public spaces, and mapping and modeling policies toward sustainability and shared well-being. We aim to reframe how emergent art, and technology can guide us toward more profound engagement with ecological systems and novel modes of social transformation—before it’s too late.

Proposals may also address the Network’s ongoing themes: Pedagogies of the Arts, Arts Histories and Theories, New Media, Technology, and the Arts, and The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life.

Contributions can be theoretical, empirical, methodological, practice-based, or community-engaged. We welcome interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that confront real-world challenges and complexities.

Languages

The Twenty-First International Conference on the Arts in Society is bilingual. Proposals and presentations are welcome in English or Spanish. Delegates may choose the language that best suits their work and communities, and the Event (KX) environment will indicate the language of each Presentation Page so audiences can navigate accordingly.

Knowledge Experience

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, combining in-person sessions in Athens with live online sessions and asynchronous presentations hosted on CGScholar.

All registered delegates—whether attending in person or online—have access to the full online program and its growing archive of presentations and discussions.

Hosted in CGScholar’s Event (KX) environment, the conference is conceived as part of an ongoing knowledge experience rather than a one-off meeting. Proposals become Presentation Pages, sessions are woven into a shared schedule, and digital media and discussion boards allow delegates to explore work before, during, and after the event. This model supports sustained, reciprocal exchange across geographies, time zones, and disciplines.

Publication Pathways

Accepted presenters are invited to develop their work for publication through The Arts in Society Journal Collection and Book Imprint. Submissions follow peer-review processes aligned with the scholarly standards of the Network. Further details on publication opportunities and submission timelines are available on the conference website.

Membership and Community

By members, for members: membership is included in all Presenter Passes, making conference participation a meaningful way to activate and extend your membership benefits across the year. Membership supports the ongoing work of the Research Network—its conferences, journals, books, and shared digital community.

We hope you will join us—on site in Athens or online—for the Twenty-First International Conference on the Arts in Society.

Sincerely,

Dr. Clio Fanouraki, Conference Chair. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Daniel Tucker, Research Network Chair

Dr Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, USA