ARTISTS PRESENTATIONS
EXHIBITION OPENING
EXHIBITION DURATION
LOCATION
ARTISTS PRESENTATIONS
EXHIBITION OPENING
EXHIBITION DURATION
LOCATION
We invite you to the opening of the CYENS Artist Residency Program Showcase, a celebration of creativity, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Coordinated by the Thinker Maker Space of CYENS in collaboration with three of our Multidisciplinary Research Groups (MRGs)—EdMedia, Museum Lab, and ITICA—this year’s residency program has brought together six artists whose practices bridge the worlds of art, science, and technology.
At the heart of this program lies a vision: to foster a fertile ground for experimentation where artists and researchers co-create, challenge boundaries, and explore new dimensions of knowledge and expression. Over the course of their residency, the participating artists engaged in dynamic exchanges with our research group transforming cutting-edge scientific insights into artistic forms.
The opening event offers a unique opportunity for our visitors to meet these six talented artists in person. Through a series of presentations, they will share their backgrounds, their creative journeys during the residency, and the collaborative processes that shaped their work.
Following the presentations, visitors will be invited to a showcase of the artworks produced during the residency. Each piece reflects a unique interplay of creativity and knowledge exchange, demonstrating how art can serve as a bridge between disciplines and a lens through which complex ideas are made tangible.
This event is free and open to everyone—whether you are an art enthusiast, a tech lover, or simply curious about how science and creativity intersect.
17:00–17:20
OIT – Johannes Jakobi
17:20–17:40
Does The World Need Actors, Anyway? – Ágnes Kaszás
17:40–18:00
Our future is somewhere here – Ål Nik
18:00–18:20
ArchiWonderland Syndrome – Harry Varnavas
18:20–18:40
Thinking through making: Towards frugal lightweight forms – Divleena Singh
18:40–19:00
Radical Approaches on DecolonizingHeritage Management – Dimitriii
*Registration is only required for the artists presentations as limited spaces are available. Registration & participation are free. The exhibition is open to the public. No registration is required.
17:00–17:20
OIT – Johannes Jakobi
___
Accompanying the exhibition opening the artist talk is giving further insight into the body of work. Some of the shapes of the show are close to written language, some are close to symbols. Most of them generate something half semiotic: Shapes that somehow remind us of something representative, but also appear vague and off, exploring a space in between sign and gesture.
A gesture draws from a trained repertoire of movements. Movements which have been internalised and automated in such manner, that we don’t have to use much cognition anymore, to process a certain task. Therefore we might reach a state of flow.
____
Johannes Jakobi is an artistic researcher based in Berlin.
Recently he dealt with
1) a critical security gap in our electricity infrastructure,
2) the deposition or “parking” of personal items in public spaces, and currently
3) physical mobility of people living in the streets.
During his residency he will work on a vibrating surface to be installed under the pavement in a public area.
17:20–17:40
Does The World Need Actors, Anyway? – Ágnes Kaszás
___
Ágnes will introduce herself and her artistic background with some references, such as IOP interactive short films, and the Escape Train immersive show. Then, she will present her residency process on AI tools in the art fields with the project outcome.
____
Ágnes Kaszás is a Hungarian actor, director, art and tech game designer, and entrepreneur based in Helsinki and Budapest. In 2014, she introduced the escape game concept to Finland and founded, designed, and directed her room escape company, Insideout Escape Games, which operated for 9 years in Helsinki.
Between 2015 and 2019, she created and produced numerous art and tech edutainment concepts for companies such as Veikkaus, Silja Line, OAJ-Finnish Ministry Of Education, and was a guest teacher at Haaga-Helia University Of Applied Sciences. In 2017, with her company, she scripted and directed Escape Train, a 13-hour, 1000 km-long immersive theatre show set on a speeding train through Finland for VR Finnish National Railways based on the 20th Century Fox movie “Murder On The Orient Express.” This production won two Bronze awards in the Eurobest Creative Festival.
Between 2019 and 2022 she founded IOP Games, a video game development company delivering immersive digital games for young adults on the majority of Silja Tallink’s vessels.
17:40–18:00
Our future is somewhere here – Ål Nik
___
Ål Nik [Alexandra Nikolova] will share insights from her practice as an interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and researcher. During her residency at CYENS – Thinker Maker Space, and EdMedia, she explored the intersection between past, present, and future through the lenses of collaborative making, gamification, and graphic design. She created a conversation board-card game for people who are interested in exploring potential future scenarios and are open to asking themselves questions about the relation between past, present, and future.
____
Ål Nik [Alexandra Nikolova // Александра Николова] is involved in several disciplines. As an artist and designer, she explores the ways to weave different mediums, playing with visual, digital and sound arts. She graduated Fine Art and Media Design: Experimental Publishing at the Piet Zwart Institute and during her studies, she expanded her practice with mixed-media publishing, making her graduation project a mix of facilitation, illustration, graphic design, audio producing, recording, and publishing. As a facilitator, Ål is interested in creating space for collaboration – no matter the medium or topic, she explores ways to invite other makers to experiment with new mediums and take part in valuable conversations.
18:00–18:20
ArchiWonderland Syndrome – Harry Varnava
___
The talk invites you to explore space, scale, and perception through an artistic journey of reinterpreting spatial experiences. Showcasing dynamic shifts in scale, direction, and layers of color, light, and form, the artist reveals how changing mediums transforms how we perceive space, uncovering hidden dimensions and infinite possibilities. By bridging the exhibition and audience, the artist shares insights into micro-scaling, upscaling, and layering, offering a fresh perspective on spatial design. Join this thought-provoking session to uncover the wonders of ArchiWonderland—where imagination reshapes reality and perception meets creativity. Let’s explore the profound and infinite aspects of space together!
____
Harry Varnavas is a licensed Architect. With over seven years of experience at firms like Coop-Himmelb(L)au in Vienna, Zaha Hadid Architects in London, and locations including Miami, he focuses on innovative and aesthetically pleasing designs.
As an Architect, Designer, and Artist, Harry is passionate about spatial perception, arts, aesthetics, and digital media technologies. He specializes in architectural design, planning, photogrammetry, and VR/AR experiences.
Harry holds a Master of Arts in Architecture from the RCA in London and a BA in Architecture with First Class Honours from the UCA in Canterbury, as well as an exchange diploma at the University of Technology, Sydney.
18:20–18:40
Thinking through making: Towards frugal lightweight forms – Divleena Singh
___
The talk features some of her work samples (objects and sculptures) with emphasis on the process of creative experimentation through making and low-tech fabrication. She would talk about incidental discoveries, unexpected intersections and collaborations related to making, learning from analogies, and the journey towards research in soft and lightweight spatial structures. The basics of concepts like tensegrity, form-finding, self-organisation and minimal forms would be introduced as inspiration for the following workshop where we would collectively make large membrane tensegrity sculptures and capture the emergent forms using photogrammetry.
____
I have been an architect and an industrial designer. A maker at heart, and an aspiring researcher (research through making). My current work lies at the intersection of the following themes- enquiry into forms, spatial lightweight sculptures, self-organisation and form-finding, lightness and economy of material, tensegrity as craft, open design and accessible fabrication. More recently, I have been exploring interactive sculptures with tangible force-interactions by leveragring the dynamic behaviour and natural intelligence of lightweight membrane tensegrity structures.
18:40–19:00
Radical Approaches on DecolonizingHeritage Management – Dimitriii
___
In this talk, we’ll explore radical methodologies for decolonizing heritage management, inspired by my recent residency project. This work centers on rethinking heritage preservation, challenging museum layouts, and fostering reconnections between people and their cultural heritage.
We’ll begin by discussing how digital research can serve as a tool for reclaiming cultural heritage. Many objects of profound historical and cultural significance are displayed or archived far from their landscapes and communities of origin. By locating these items in online museum collections, we can begin a process of reconnecting with heritage in a new, accessible way.
Tracing and digitally capturing these objects represents a first act of reclamation, a tangible way to interact with what would otherwise be out of reach. This technique emphasizes a hands-on, creative approach to heritage, breaking from the traditional, often passive experience of simply viewing objects in museum cases.
From here, we’ll dive into the concept of “decolonizing museum spaces” by reshaping how heritage is presented and engaged with. This involves rethinking not only the physical layout of exhibits but also the narratives surrounding them. In a decolonial approach, communities and individuals connected to these heritage items should play a central role in shaping how their histories are told.
In this dialogue, we’ll reflect on the significance of heritage beyond its physical presence, embracing alternative ways of preservation that prioritize lived, communal experience over static displays. By engaging in radical decolonial acts, we reclaim the story of our heritage, positioning it back into the hands of those to whom it belongs.
____
Dimitri is a visual artist with a Master’s degree in Media Arts from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Through their artistic practise they work with analogue and digital sculpture, video, photography, artificial intelligence as well as data collection (material and conceptual) which they collect while exploring both the physical and digital world. Their works manifest as transmedia installations in the shape of parallel lands of fantasy and queerness. They explore materiality on a physical , digital and bodily level, issues of segregation, exclusion within traditional social rituals and their relationships with nature. Their aim through their research is to discover new queer narratives and materials that transform their reality.
Accompanying the exhibition opening the artist talk is giving further insight into the body of work. Some of the shapes of the show are close to written language, some are close to symbols. Most of them generate something half semiotic: Shapes that somehow remind us of something representative, but also appear vague and off, exploring a space in between sign and gesture.
A gesture draws from a trained repertoire of movements. Movements which have been internalised and automated in such manner, that we don’t have to use much cognition anymore, to process a certain task. Therefore we might reach a state of flow.
Ágnes will introduce herself and her artistic background with some references, such as IOP interactive short films, and the Escape Train immersive show. Then, she will present her residency process on AI tools in the art fields with the project outcome.
Ål Nik [Alexandra Nikolova] will share insights from her practice as an interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and researcher. During her residency at CYENS – Thinker Maker Space, and EdMedia, she explored the intersection between past, present, and future through the lenses of collaborative making, gamification, and graphic design. She created a conversation board-card game for people who are interested in exploring potential future scenarios and are open to asking themselves questions about the relation between past, present, and future.
The talk invites you to explore space, scale, and perception through an artistic journey of reinterpreting spatial experiences. Showcasing dynamic shifts in scale, direction, and layers of color, light, and form, the artist reveals how changing mediums transforms how we perceive space, uncovering hidden dimensions and infinite possibilities. By bridging the exhibition and audience, the artist shares insights into micro-scaling, upscaling, and layering, offering a fresh perspective on spatial design. Join this thought-provoking session to uncover the wonders of ArchiWonderland—where imagination reshapes reality and perception meets creativity. Let’s explore the profound and infinite aspects of space together!
The talk features some of her work samples (objects and sculptures) with emphasis on the process of creative experimentation through making and low-tech fabrication. She would talk about incidental discoveries, unexpected intersections and collaborations related to making, learning from analogies, and the journey towards research in soft and lightweight spatial structures. The basics of concepts like tensegrity, form-finding, self-organisation and minimal forms would be introduced as inspiration for the following workshop where we would collectively make large membrane tensegrity sculptures and capture the emergent forms using photogrammetry.
In this talk, we’ll explore radical methodologies for decolonizing heritage management, inspired by my recent residency project. This work centers on rethinking heritage preservation, challenging museum layouts, and fostering reconnections between people and their cultural heritage.
We’ll begin by discussing how digital research can serve as a tool for reclaiming cultural heritage. Many objects of profound historical and cultural significance are displayed or archived far from their landscapes and communities of origin. By locating these items in online museum collections, we can begin a process of reconnecting with heritage in a new, accessible way.
Tracing and digitally capturing these objects represents a first act of reclamation, a tangible way to interact with what would otherwise be out of reach. This technique emphasizes a hands-on, creative approach to heritage, breaking from the traditional, often passive experience of simply viewing objects in museum cases.
From here, we’ll dive into the concept of “decolonizing museum spaces” by reshaping how heritage is presented and engaged with. This involves rethinking not only the physical layout of exhibits but also the narratives surrounding them. In a decolonial approach, communities and individuals connected to these heritage items should play a central role in shaping how their histories are told.
In this dialogue, we’ll reflect on the significance of heritage beyond its physical presence, embracing alternative ways of preservation that prioritize lived, communal experience over static displays. By engaging in radical decolonial acts, we reclaim the story of our heritage, positioning it back into the hands of those to whom it belongs.
