Reminder: CFP and Keynotes for UM SPA 2026 Conference on AI and Performing Arts

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Oct 18, 2025, 8:43:41 AM10/18/25

to Movement and Computing

CALL FOR PAPERS

Vanishing Acts: AI, Performative Knowledge & Sustainable Memory

12th Annual International Conference of the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta, in collaboration with the Department of Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, University of Malta

Dates: 25, 26 & 27 March 2026

Optional: 28 March (Additional Events)

Venue: Valletta Campus, University of Malta, and other venues

Submit Proposals by: 7 November 2025

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Susan Kozel (Malmö University, Sweden)

Prof. Christopher Salter (Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland)

Prof. Rebecca Fiebrink (University of the Arts London, UK)

In an era when Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the ways we create, perform and preserve, the question of what is being (re)written, entangled or quietly effaced becomes urgent. Furthermore, the role of AI in shaping memory - both cultural and personal - introduces additional layers of complexity. How might we critically engage with AI-driven performance, particularly in contexts where practices and methods may be altered or erased? How can artists, scholars and researchers trace a path between lived experiences and historical practices, and the creative opportunities made possible by AI?

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to provide a platform to confront and discuss the new approaches to thinking and creativity that involve AI in the performing arts (dance, theatre, music). We invite proposals of papers, multi-modal presentations, installations, workshops and performances that address any of the topics of interest below:

Collaborative Agency Between AI and the Performing Arts
AI as Co-Director
The Performing Body in AI-Driven Systems
Performing with AI: Fears and Challenges
Performing Through Virtual Reality
Potential Dimensions of Space Through Augmented Reality in the Performing Arts
AI and Improvisation
Reimagining Narrative Forms in the Performing Arts with AI
AI, Cultural Memory, and Performative Practices
Getting Back to Basics: Countering AI
Reconsidering Historical Methods of Transmission in the Performing Arts
The Impact of AI on the Preservation and Alteration of Performing Arts Archives
AI Literacy and the New Digital Divide vis-à-vis the Performing Arts
AI Bias and Representation in the Performing Arts
The Challenge of AI to Authorship and Artistic Integrity
Legal Complexities in the Exploitation of Artists’ Work
The Ecological Cost of AI-Driven Artistic Practices and Digital Platforms
The Status of the Composer in AI-Generated Music
Sonification of Big Data
Choreographic Intelligence and AI
Prompting as Creative Process: Dialogic, Recursive, and Entangled AI Interactions
Data Analysis of Performance Through AI and Algorithms

We are proposing an optional exhibition and performance day on Saturday, 28 March, consisting of a curated tour of Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) with possibilities to perform site-specifically outdoors and at various venues at the Valletta Campus Theatre.

We also welcome and encourage proposals from Masters students and Doctoral candidates.

The conference invites a range of presentation formats:

Paper Presentations (15–20 minutes)
Pre-organised Panel (90 minutes)
Workshops or Practice-based Demonstrations (30–90 minutes, please specify)
Poster Presentation
Performance, Artworks, Demos (15–30 minutes, with limited technical support)
Short Films, Documentaries, Screendance (10–15 minutes)

Please submit your presentation proposal (limited to one submission) to the conference e-mail address [spacon...@um.edu.mt] by 7 November 2025 in a single .pdf format with the following information:

Name and Surname
Institutional Affiliation (if any)
Contact E-mail Address
Title of the Submission (100 characters maximum)
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Format of Presentation (select from one of the above options)
Short Bio (100 words maximum)
Technical & Spatial Requirements (please be specific and note that we cannot guarantee to satisfy every need)
For a film submission, please also submit a link to view