Digital Cosmos

Hartwig Art Foundation presents Digital Cosmos, a two-day forum at De Thomas, Amsterdam on 21– 22 November 2025. The event will critically examine the role of art amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and its planetary transformation. Speakers to date include Yuk Hui, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Marina Otero, Benjamin Bratton, John Gerrard, Holly Herndon, Cory Arcangel, and Lukas Likavčan (more to be announced). 

Digital Cosmos explores the current, unprecedented moment in time, in which artificial intelligence has diversified into a myriad of forms and applications, both inside our devices and in the world around us. It is evolving so rapidly that we might already be living in an ‘extended reality’, a cosmos of hybrid spaces and life forms. This extended reality is only possible because of a planetary network of supercomputers and countless data centers that store the digital remnants of human memory on which AI is trained, consuming vast amounts of energy and water. 

This two-day event brings together visionary artists, thinkers, and technologists to collectively navigate the convergences of artificial intelligence, life and art and explore key questions: What happens when life, intelligence, and technology become indistinguishable? How do artistic practices engage with the ethical, social, and environmental implications of artificial intelligence? And when artificial worlds blossom and organic life crumbles, how can we nurture the web of life and shape the future of this increasingly digital cosmos? 

2025 Programme: 

Friday 21 Nov. Day 1: Evening Programme (8:00 PM - 10:30 PM) 
Presentation and Listening session with Holly Herndon. 

Saturday 22 Nov. Day 2: All day (10:30 AM - 10:30 PM) 
A full day of keynotes, conversations, and panel talks. The full programme and complete list of speakers will be announced this fall. 

Five-year research journey

In 2023, Hartwig Art Foundation embarked on a five-year research journey exploring how virtual technologies—like AI, VR, AR, game engines, blockchain, metaverse tech and more—are reshaping the cultural landscape and how artists and cultural institutions can critically engage with these developments. 

The aim of this journey was to bring together a community of practice—artists, technologists, and cultural institutions—through research, workshops, and events. In 2023, the first international conference, Art in the Age of the Metaverse, took place at de Balie in collaboration with Rijksakademie. During the event, we charted unexplored frontiers in art and digital technology together with experts like Ian Cheng, Micaela Mantegna, Trevor McFedries, Marina Otero, Kévin Bray, Morehshin Allahyari, Katja Novitskova and others.  

Now in 2025, we’re calling our local and global community and our partners back to meet and exchange in Amsterdam at De Thomas, a Brutalist church located just steps away from Hartwig Proxy and the future site of the Hartwig Museum.