ICT Meets the Arts: Speakers & Presentations

Silvia is a policy officer at the European Commission, working in the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. She contributes to develop strategies for cultural and creative industries, in particular design, fashion and high-end, in the framework of the broader European industrial policy. She is also responsible for the implementation of cross-fertilisation and cross-innovation actions for design, fashion and high-end. Thanks to previous work experiences at regional and European level, she gained expertise in various policy areas, such as tourism, culture, creative sectors, industrial policies, skills development, EU funding.

Title:

Supporting cross-innovation in the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy

The intervention focuses on the main objectives of the New Industrial Strategy for Europe and on how we can support businesses in the transition towards a green economy, through cross-innovation and by tightening collaboration between creatives and technology providers.

Dr. Eleftheria-Maria Pechlivani

Dr. Eleftheria-Maria Pechlivani is a Senior Researcher Grade C΄ and R&D manager of the Additive Manufacturing Unit at the Information Technologies Institute (ITI) of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). She graduated from the Department of Physics (Physics Degree, 2002-2006) of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki- AUTh and she obtained her MSc in Physics & Technology (2006-2008) and her PhD in Physics (2013) with scholarship from the same University and Department. She has successfully participated in 24 funded EU (7 Horizon 2020, 3 FP7) and National R&D projects (14 NSRF), is the Scientific Coordinator of 4 NSRF projects, holds 3 Patents and is the (co)author of more than 84 publications in scientific journals and international conferences. She is an expert on Additive Manufacturing. Her research interests include: 3D Printing & Bio-printing, Rapid prototyping, Organic and Printed electronics, Sensors, Open Design Platforms, AI & IoT applications and Industry 4.0. She was for four years the R&D&I manager of a high-tech company in the field of Organic & Printed Electronics. For more than 12 years she was a research scientist at AUTh working at Nanotechnology Lab LTFN and Applied Physics Laboratory. She was a lecturer in N&N “Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies” – Interdisciplinary Post-Graduate Master Program at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and a Board Member of the Hellenic Organic & Printed Electronics Association (HOPE-A) for the period 2018-2019.

Dr. Dimosthenis Ioannidis

Dr. Dimosthenis Ioannidis is a Senior Researcher Grade C’ in CERTH/ITI. He received the Diploma degree in electrical and computer engineering, the MSc. in Advanced Communication Systems and Engineering from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and his PhD with title «Privacy-aware human presence and movement analysis in controlled and uncontrolled environments», from the Faculty of Engineering department of Computer Engineering & Informatics, University of Patras in 2000, 2005 and 2017 respectively. He has been a teaching assistant at TEI Thessaloniki (2006-2010). His main research interests include computer vision, stereoscopic image processing and signal analysis, linguistics algorithms, web services, semantics, visual analytics, energy efficiency, IoT platforms development and security ecosystems including blockchain, as well as research in ethics and biometrics. Since 2007, he has been the (co)author of 120 papers in refereed journals, edited books, and international conferences. He has served as a reviewer for several technical journals. He has also been involved in more than 30 research projects funded by the EC and the Greek secretariat of Research and Technology. During his involvement in these projects, he involved as a leader of several WPs, where he had the supervision of large team of developers and technical teams. He is also currently acting as an Ethics evaluator of running projects executed under the auspices of EC, providing services such as monitoring of research activities performed in projects in respect to assigned ethics requirements. Services are related to the assessment of the human participation in real-life trials, privacy enhancing technologies used for the protection of personal data as well as other ethics issues that shall be tackled within a project lifetime (i.e., dual use, misuse & personal sensitive data). Finally, he is also a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, and of the CEN/TS on EU Professional Ethics Framework.

Title:

3D Printing, Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Service of Cultural Heritage & Arts

The new digital technologies, to which 3D printing belongs, are processes that lead to the preservation, development and disclosure of our heritage. This can be through creating complex shapes and new works for reproducing, restoring or preserving artifacts, and educating a wider audience on history and arts. Furthermore, through the use of complementary digital technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality, the public can access cultural heritage and artwork in an immersive manner, either by incorporating animation, storytelling and reconstruction during a physical visit or by providing remote access to cultural exhibits and activities. This presentation offers an overview of the aforementioned digital technologies for Cultural Heritage & Arts, implemented in several EU and National funding projects.

Die Wolke Art Group is a non-profit research and development organisation dedicated to the performing arts, contemporary dance, mixed media and technology. Its chief aim is the realisation of original works, as well as the support of local artistic activity, through events and collaborations. The group operates the alternative art space Vitruvian Thing and organises two International festivals. It has collaborated with institutions such as the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki, the Culture Secretariat of North Rhine Westphalia, and the Dimitria festival, while it is also known for its use of technology in its productions, such as in Trajectory of an Idea, Stream, and Δtopia.

Dani Joss, Die Wolke’s tech manager, is a sound artist and composer of electroacoustic and electronic music. He is the creator of the album Shaper of Form (2006), recipient of the international Qwartz award, as well as Liquid Photography (2004), while having composed for a variety of theatre and dance performances. He has directed the awarded series of experimental dance film Imago, he is a member of London-based sound art vehicle Paradigm Weave, as well as a founding member of Occam’s Sharpener, designers of audiovisuals, special effects, and immersive experiences. He holds an MA (distinction) and BSc (1st class honours) from the Sonic Arts department of London’s Middlesex University, while he has also conducted research at the acoustic communication department of Berlin’s Technical University.

Title:

Use of sensor technology in contemporary performance and audiovisual art

Die Wolke art group’s interactive performance projects use wireless inertial and electromechanical sensor interfaces in order to obtain motion data from dancers’ bodies and process the information in real time to modulate audiovisual material. A framework of hardware and software tools has been developed that allows the system to be scalable and adaptable to a wide array of performative scenarios, such as intermedial composition or improvisation. Die Wolke’s focus has been to approach the subject from multiple points of view, concentrating on functionality, aesthetics, experimentalism, or conceptualisation, depending on the project. The case studies presented are individual, standalone pieces, while at the same time waypoints towards a philosophy of the applied aesthetics of technology.

Title:

Mind’s Eye: A pilot project for the inclusion of people with visual impairment in the experience of art

Mind’s Eye pilot project was developed in the framework of START- Create Cultural Change program during 2020 and was launched for the first time at the premises and the collection of MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the Center for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind – Thessaloniki’s Branch.

In this context, professionals from different disciplines have worked in close collaboration with specialists from the visually impaired community and developed inclusive practices for the interpretation of artworks. The practices are applied as audio-haptic aids to a section of the space and to ten artworks from the museum’s collection and focus on sparking tactile and acoustic stimuli to activate the ‘Mind’s Eye’. The applications developed are based on the principles of universal design, use new media (3D Modeling, 3D Printing, QR-Codes) and propose new ways of approaching and engaging in art, beyond sight.

This project is being presented as an example of how technology can be used to enhance the museum experience and enable the access of people who experience disabilities in various aspects of cultural and daily life.

Argyro studied Business Administration, specialized on the cultural tourism and holds a MA in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Sheffield. She holds a track record of planning and executing creative projects with national reach for independent artists, major Greek festivals and international institutions for more than two decades.

Up till recently, she curated Reworks Agora, a forward thinking international forum that showcases the future development of the cultural industries and the Unlearning Talks a 10episode webcast series with virtual conversations on how to develop resilience and sustain sociocultural work in the wider region of South Eastern Europe.

As an educator, she developed the program of the Thessaloniki Cultural Management Academy, a post-graduate program by Goethe Institut for cultural managers aiming at capacity building to inspire innovative processes in the cultural sector and fostering exchange in South-Eastern Europe. At the same time, she developed 2 programs presented by the American Tech Labs in four City Libraries around Greece, the Active Communities Tools and CrowdfundABLE.

Promoting active citizenship with participatory practices motivated her to support urban activist initiatives in the past like Thessaloniki Otherwise and TEDx Thessaloniki, while in 2014 she co-founded FEAST Greece, an offline crowdfunding platform that brings creative ideas to life.

She is member of the Bosch Alumni Network, Culture for Change Network and CitizensLab and nowadays coordinates the Alliance for Thessaloniki Culture, a non-formal association, consisting of 43 local organizations, which promotes the sustainable development of Thessaloniki through culture.

She is passionate about upgrading the creative class, transforming the Greek cultural ecosystem and she always looks for new collaborative working methods. She is also guest speaker and writer, moderator and podcast producer on cultural entrepreneurship and innovation.