Opening Symposium

Meredith Broussard (US)

Meredith Broussard is an assistant professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and the author of „Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.“ Her current research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. A former features editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, she has also worked a software developer at AT&T Bell Labs and the MIT Media Lab. Her features and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, Slate, and other outlets. She holds a BA from Harvard University and an MFA from Columbia University.

Martha Fiennes (UK)

Martha Fiennes, award-winning film-director, writer and producer. Fiennes is best known for her films Onegin (1999) and Chromophobia (2005) and brings to her art substantial experience of film directing and cutting-edge post production technologies. With her team, headed by producer Peter Muggleston, Fiennes applies coding principles adapted from gaming engine structures to create majestic moving images which perpetually self-generate in a continuous and non-predictable cycle. This innovative technique is described as Sloimage .Nativity (2011), her debut work utilising this radical new medium has been exhibited at The National Gallery, London, The Victoria and Albert museum, Sotheby’s London and Paris, Covent Garden Piazza and The Hermitage in St Petersburg. In her most recent moving image artwork, Yugen, (2018) which features Salma Hayek as the leading figure, Fiennes explores the boundaries of her medium to create a visual exploration into our perception of reality. This work was commissioned by TenderCapital. The preview exhibition was at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, September 2018. Yugen is the first work to be registered on Art Records service developed by .ART. Art Records is the new international standard of art object identification on the internet. The service is based on Object ID standard developed by J. Paul Getty Trust and adopted by major law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Scotland Yard, Interpol, UNESCO and ICOM, among others.

Martin Honzik (AT)

Martin Honzik is an artist and the director of Ars Electronica’s Festival/Prix/Exhibitions division. He completed his studies in visual experimental design at Linz Art University in 2001, and went on to get a master’s in 2003 in the Culture & Media Management program at Johannes Kepler University Linz and ICCM Salzburg. He was a member of the production crew at the OK Center for Contemporary Art from 1998 to 2001, when he moved to the Ars Electronica Futurelab where, until 2005, he was involved in exhibition design, art-in-architecture, interface design, event design and project management. Since 2006, Martin Honzik has been director of the Ars Electronica Festival, the Prix Ars Electronica, exhibitions at the Ars Electronica Center, as well as Ars Electronica’s international exhibition projects.

Ulvi Kasimov (UK)

Ulvi Kasimov is a Forbes-listed venture investor, collector and philanthropist. In 2016, Kasimov and his company UKCI launched .ART, the world’s only top-level domain designed for those who live and breathe art. Dedicated to the support of culture in a variety of forms, .ART empowers members of the artistic community to make strong statements in the online space.

Masaru Kitakaze (JP)

Worldwide Chief Creative Officer / Senior Corporate Officer / Member of the Board
Hakuhodo Inc.

Masaru Kitakaze is the Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Hakuhodo Inc. As the second largest advertising agency in Japan, Masaru leads the Creative team of over 800 people, covering a wide array of specialties. From strategic planning, copywriting, art direction, animation, PR, consulting, data-marketing, digital technology, and more.

He is a leading creator in Japan and has been awarded numerous prestigious international awards. Masaru is known for his unique and innovative work. His campaign for a renowned Japanese snack was awarded Gold Cannes Lion for Promotion. And the piece created for a major worldwide tech company, won Gold Cannes Lions in the Cyber, Film, and Design categories. Notably, contributing to Hakuhodo being named the “Most Awarded Agency in Digital in the World 2012” by the Gunn Report, a first for any Asian agency. As head of Creative at Hakuhodo, his team has taken home many awards, including Grand Prix. Most recently, for the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, “Duality” received an invitation to participate in the “Short Film Competition,” which Masaru served as an Executive Producer.

Masaru has a great deal of experience in judging international advertising festivals. He has also served as Jury President for renowned international advertising festivals. His challenge is “unveiling and discovering creative value hidden to the eye.”

His also serves as an Executive Producer for IoT product design development for Lyric Speaker (SIX Inc.) and Pechat (monom).

In his spare time, he is a very analog person practicing Japanese calligraphy, oil painting and pottery.

Thomas Macho (AT)

1952, 2nd July born in Vienna (Austria); 1970-1975 Studied philosophy, musicology and pedagogy at the University of Vienna; 1976 Doctorate (with a thesis on the philosophy of music); 1984 University Lecturing Qualification (Habilitation) in philosophy (with a postdoctoral thesis on the metaphors of death); 1976-1987 University Assistant, and from 1984 University Lecturer for philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Klagenfurt; 1987- 1992 Head of the Study Center for Peace Research in Stadtschlaining (Austria); 1993 Chair of Cultural History at Humboldt-University, Berlin; Guest Professorships at the University of Klagenfurt, University of Fine Arts, Linz and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Studies, Vienna; 1999 Co-founded the Hermann von Helmholtz-Centre for Cultural Techniques at Humboldt-University, Berlin; 2000 Senior Fellow at the International Research Center for Cultural Studies, Vienna; 2001-2003 Spokesperson of the DFG-Research Group »Bild – Schrift – Zahl«; 2001 Received Award of the Aby-Warburg-Foundation Hamburg; 2003-2006 Director of the Institut für Kultur- und Kunstwissenschaften at Humboldt-University, Berlin; since 2003 member of the Advisory Board of the Austrian Embassy in Berlin (Kulturforum); 2004-2006 Spokesperson of the Research Training Group Codierungen von Gewalt im medialen Wandel; 2003-2005 Sub-Dean and 2006-2008 Dean of the Philosophical Faculty III at Humboldt-University, Berlin; since 2007 member of the Board of Trustees for the foundation Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden; 2008-2012 associate Director of the Center for Literary and Cultural Research, Berlin; 2008-2009 Senior Fellow at the International Research Institute for Cultural Technologies and Media Philosophy of the Bauhaus University, Weimar; 2009-2011 Director of the Institute for Cultural Theory and History at Humboldt-University, Berlin; since 2009 member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Studies »Morphomata – Genese, Dynamik und Medialität kultureller Figurationen« at the University of Cologne; since 2010 member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts; since 2012 member of the Advisory Board of »Minerva-Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of End of Life« at Tel Aviv University (Israel).

Hideaki Ogawa (JP/AT)

Hideaki Ogawa is a creative catalyst, artist, curator and researcher in the field of art, technology, and society.

He has realized many projects for innovation with industries such as Honda R&D, Toshiba, Toyota and Hakuhodo etc.

His focus is about Art Thinking to catalyze innovation. His leading project, Future Catalysts, is a creative and innovation base jointly-developed by Hakuhodo and Ars Electronica.

Andrey Sebrant (RU)

Born in Moscow in 1954, got MS degree in laser physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1977, got PhD in plasma physics in 1985 at Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. Quit scientific research in experimental physics and started working for various internet companies in 1995. Producer and Marketing Director for many Russian projects of early internet era; since 2004 work for Yandex, the largest Russian internet search and content company, now Director for Strategic Marketing at Yandex.
Since 20036 work as Editor-in-Chief for Russian Internet Marketing Journal, teach Digital Technology Applications at Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Member of Expert Council at Moscow Polytechnic Museum. Producer of annual Yet Another.

Kazuko Tanaka (JP)

Kazuko Tanaka works in the field of business development for a leading marketing company in Japan, Hakuhodo Inc., and is the founder of the network Hakuhodo Working Moms Link. She is also a founding member of VoiceVision Inc., where she is a producer of community projects for companies and local governments. Kazuko Tanaka is also involved in the Ars Electronica Tokyo Initiative, a joint project of Hakuhodo and Ars Electronica. Jury for Prix Ars Electronica Digital Communities 2016, 2018, and jury for the STARTS prize 2018.