Sixteenth International Conference on The Image

  • From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture
  • 11-12 September 2025
  • Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France + Online

Themes and Special Focus

Founded in 2010, The Image Research Network is brought together around a shared interest in the nature and function of image making and images. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions.

The Sixteenth International Conference on The Image calls for research addressing the following annual themes and special focus:

  • 2025 Special Focus—From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture
  • Theme 1: The Form of The Image
  • Theme 2: Image Work
  • Theme 3: The Image in Society
  • Theme 4: Creative and Cultural Technologies
  • Theme 5: Ordinary Practice and Collective Behaviors

2025 Plenary Speakers

Sha Xin Wei

Sha Xin Wei

Professor in the School of Arts, Media + Engineering (AME) at Arizona State University, USA

"Collective Sense-making, Prototyping Social Forms, and Anticipatory Governance"

(In English)

Sandra Laugier

Sandra Laugier

Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, Paris, France

"Democracy and the Competent Viewer"

(In English)

Ana María Sedeño Valdellós

Ana María Sedeño Valdellós

Málaga University, Spain

”Imaginarios y estéticas de lo visual con la Inteligencia Artificial: hipertrucaje, efectismos y fantasmagoría”

(In Spanish)

Plenary Panel: Digital Care and Democratic Gestures

Barbara Formis

Barbara Formis

Lecturer, Université Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne, France

Monika Kwasniewska-Mikula

Monika Kwasniewska-Mikula

Editor, Didaskalia: Theatre Journal; Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre and Drama, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Rossella Mazzaglia

Rossella Mazzaglia

Associate Professor, Performance Studies, University of Bologna, Italy

Local Conference Chair

Barbara Formis

Barbara Formis

Lecturer, Université Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne, France

Local Conference Committee

Camille Salinesi

Camille Salinesi

Professor, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

Miguel Almiron

Miguel Almiron

Media Artist and Professor, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

Research Network Chairs

Cátia Rijo

Cátia Rijo

Vice President of Higher School of Education of Lisbon, Lisbon Polytechnic, Portugal Coordinator of the Visual Arts and Technologies DegreeDesignLab4U Founder

(English)

Ana Maria Sedeño Valdellós

Ana Maria Sedeño Valdellós

Universidad de Málaga, España

(Spanish)

Conference Partner

Media Package

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