From copyright law to concrete silos: MishMash Opening Conference in Kristiansand

On 14 and 15 September, MishMash held its opening conference in Kristiansand. The two days moved between Kilden Performing Arts Centre, the Kunstsilo museum and the Kraftverk venue, and gathered researchers from the partner institutions with artists, students and people from the cultural and creative sector.

Monday: keynote, tracks and posters

Sunniva Whittaker, rector of the University of Agder, Anne Kjersti Fahlvik from the Research Council of Norway and MishMash director Alexander Refsum Jensenius opened the conference. Then, Jane C. Ginsburg, professor of literary and artistic property law at Columbia University, gave the first keynote on copyright, artistic creation and artificial intelligence.

The rest of the day followed the three perspectives of the centre—humans, machines and society—moderated by centre directors Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Ida Jahr, and Daniel Nordgård. Over lunch, 42 posters were presented in eight thematic clusters, from human and AI interaction to responsible AI and critical futures. In the afternoon, seven parallel sessions covered creative performance with AI, AI in artistic processes, health, game development education, the creative value chain, cultural heritage, and collaboration in education. Makers from music, film and museums then reflected on the importance of knowledge when using AI in creative processes, before Jane Ginsburg, Jon McCormack and Anne Kjersti Fahlvik set the agenda for the near future in the closing session.

The evening continued at Kraftverk/BARE with MishMash LIVE, a mini festival with local food, art installations, and short talks with the creators of the film Julius, Kunstsilo’s project From Artwork to Algorithm and the sound installation The Logos.

Guests filling the hall at Kraftverk under coloured lights

A DJ playing under a neon sign reading BARE

Three participants talking at a yellow table in the courtyard

The hall at Kraftverk seen from above, with a tree among the tables

A participant studying an installation on a bank of screens

Visitors on a round sofa in the installation room

Two visitors trying an installation on a laptop

The poster for the film Julius on the screen during the talk

1 / 8

MishMash LIVE at Kraftverk/BARE on Monday evening. Photos: University of Agder.

Tuesday: together with Tech:Art

The second day was organised together with Tech:Art at Kilden and turned towards the cultural and creative sector. Gerfried Stocker of Ars Electronica gave the opening keynote, followed by NRK on the use of new technologies in cultural practice and a dialogue on research in practice from MishMash. Jane Ginsburg returned with an expert statement on rights and ownership in artistic work.

After lunch, Kilden, Det Norske Teatret, Piksel and other Norwegian cultural organisations presented their work with new technology, Sarah Ellis of the Royal Shakespeare Company gave the second keynote, and industry representatives discussed their use of new technologies. MishMash Scientific Advisory Board member Jon McCormack of Monash University closed the programme with insights and musings on artistic co-creation with frontier AI models.

The conference ended in the concrete silos of Kunstsilo, where Alessandra Bossa performed .skin, an installation-performance for three musicians, steel membranes, flexible mirrors, transducers and machine listening, followed by a party on the roof.

Guests arriving at Kunstsilo in front of the yellow entrance banner

The silo hall at Kunstsilo with a suspended sculpture above the guests

A host welcoming the guests with a microphone

The audience gathered among the concrete silos before the performance

Alessandra Bossa performing .skin with steel membranes and projected light

The audience in the silos lit in yellow during the performance

Guests at the rooftop bar after the performance

1 / 8

The farewell party and the performance .skin at Kunstsilo on Tuesday evening. Photos: University of Agder.

The abstracts of all sessions and posters are collected in the book of abstracts (PDF). The next MishMash conference takes place in Oslo in April 2027, hosted by Kristiania University College.