Introduction
Anna Dumitriu regularly gives keynote lectures and talks in international settings as well as online, which explore how art can engage with microbiology, synthetic biology, mycology, genomics, artificial intelligence, robotics, public engagement in science and ethical innovation, as well as her extensive experience of art and science collaboration. She welcomes further (appropriately funded) invitations. The list below includes forthcoming and selected past talks with videos and links where available.
Forthcoming Talks
2024
Anna Dumitriu will participate in a panel on the Dissemination of AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) information as part of a transdisciplinary workshop on AMR entitled “The Power of Communication and Narratives in Antimicrobial Resistance” at the University of Oxford, UK on 16th May 2024. Book here.
Anna Dumitriu and collaborator Professor Dr Maria Elena Torres-Padilla will give a talk about “The Mutability of Memories and Fates” as part of “Encounters Between Art and Biology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Biozentrum Martinsried, Munich, Germany, 12-6pm on 12th June 2024.
Anna Dumitriu and collaborator Alex May will give talks about their work as part of the programme for the exhibition “Touch Nature” at Spațiul de Artă Contemporană /SAC in Bucharest, Romania, 21st-22nd May 2024.
Anna Dumitriu will give at talk at the UCL School of Management Creativity Collaboratorium 2024 at One Canada Square, London, UK, on 14th September 2024.
Anna Dumitriu will give a talk at the All Things Fungi Festival on 15th September, Chiddinglye Estate, East Grinstead, UK on 15th September 2024.
Past Talks
2024
Anna Dumitriu gave a public lecture entitled “BioArt Revolution: Exploring Cutting Edge Science through Biomedia, Interactive Art, and Robotics” as part of the University of Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium, UK, at 1-2 pm on 6th March 2024.
2023
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk about her exhibition “BioArt Knowledge” at the Yarrow Gallery, Oundle, UK on 7th November 2023 in the Great Hall of Oundle School, UK. She also gave three guided exhibition tours for school groups.
Anna Dumitriu participated in a panel on “Art and Science in Dialogue” as part of the programme for Renaissance 3.0 at ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, at 6pm on 6th October 2023. What are important prerequisites for collaborations between art and science, and what roles are necessary? These questions were discussed with the artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May, the Professor of Microbiology at the Institute of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Diethard Mattanovich, as well as the curator and mediator Sonja Schachinger and art and media theorist Ingeborg Reichle in the context of the project “Fermenting Futures”, on display in the exhibition “Renaissance 3.0”
Anna Dumitriu gave three public guided tour of her exhibition “Revoluția BioArt/BioArt Revolution”, at Bastion Maria Theresia 2, for the Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture Programme, on 1st October at 2pm, Timișoara, Romania.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her work in the Science at Midnight event “Biology between Art and Engineering” for the Open Campus Night as part of the European Researcher’s night at 10pm on 29th September 2023 in the Sala Polivalenta din BUPT, Timisoara, Romania.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her work on 20th September 2023 as part of the programme for her solo exhibition “Revoluția BioArt/BioArt Revolution”, at Bastion Maria Theresia 2, Timișoara, Romania, for the Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture Programme. Part of International Microorganism Day.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her new project Uninhibited Faba with some of her collaborators digital/sonic artist Alex May and scientist Anker Sørensen at Artphy in Ontswedde, Netherlands on 6th August 2023 as part of the opening events of the exhibition Digestible.
Anna Dumitriu recorded an art masterclass ” Engaging Science through BioArt” for the SILBERSALZ Institute which is part of the SILBERSALZ Festival, Germany in August 2023.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk and studio tour for Masters of Arts students in Interrelational Art Practices from the Frank Mohr Art Institute at the Hanze Minerva Academie in Groningen, Netherlands at her studio at Phoenix Art Space in Brighton, UK on 23rd May 2023.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a talk about their recent and current collaborations with a focus on Physic-AI Garden (with the EU CAPABLE project) for students at the Royal College of Art on 11th May 2023.
Anna Dumitriu was a featured artist at the Harvard University Microbial Sciences Initiative Symposium 2023.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her works focussed on the theme of sustainability at am event for Phoenix Art Space X KARST on 28th April 2023.
Anna Dumitriu was in conversation with Dr Jane Freeman (Associate Professor at the University of Leeds) about their collaboration as part of her “Collateral Effects” project at the University of Leeds, UK, on 3rd March 2023.
Dr Petra Korlevic chaired an ‘in person’ conversation between artist Anna Dumitriu, Professor Nicholas Thomson (Head of the Parasites and Microbes Research Group) and Dr Linda Grillova (Postdoctoral Fellow), about their collaboration as part of her “Collateral Effects” project at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambridge, UK, on 28th February 2023 with a focus on the Cholera Dress, the Syphilis Dress and Souvenir.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online lecture about her work for postgraduate students at Norwich University of the Arts, UK, on 22nd February 2023.
2022
Anna Dumitriu gave an ‘in person’ talk entitled “Obsessed with Bacteria” about her work at Liljevalchs Konsthal in Stockholm (Sweden) at 6pm CET on 24th November 2022 as part of the programme for “Life Eternal” curated by the Nobel Prize Museum. She was in conversation with the art curator Magnus af Petersens about the meeting between art and science. See here.
Anna Dumitriu spoke at the book launch of “Frankenstein Reanimated” in response to a provocation by Marc Garrett who introduced the book he co-edited, and Ruth Catlow led audience questions, at the Photographers Gallery, in London (UK), 17th November 2022 at 6pm. See here.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May presented a talk about their “Fermenting Futures” project at the European Conference on Industrial Biotechnology in Graz (Austria) in a session entitled “Producing Trends in Citizen Science – Designing the Future of Science & Art” at 6pm on 15th November 2022. See here.
Anna Dumitriu and Claudia Schnugg gave an ArtScience Spotlight talk as part of the Helena Lecture Series at the Helmholtz Munich Neuherberg Auditorium (Germany) on the 10th November 2022 at 4:30pm.
Anna Dumitriu gave a three presentations about “Biotechnology from the Blue Flower” as part of the exhibition “Our Bio-Tech Planet: the Future of Plants and Humans” at the Botanical Garden in Rome (Italy) on 24th October 2022.
Anna Dumitriu was in discussion with three of her long term scientific collaborators Dr John Paul, Dr Nicola Fawcett and Dr Jane Freeman, in an online webinar “What happens when scientists and artists collaborate?” with the North Wall Gallery in Oxford (UK), as part of Oxford Science + Ideas Festival on Monday 17th October 2022 7pm – 8.15pm BST.
Anna Dumitriu led three ‘in person’ guided tours of her solo exhibition “Collateral Effects” for the Arts Society of Oxford and a number of school groups, at the North Wall Gallery in Oxford (UK) on 6th October 2022 at 3pm BST
Anna Dumitriu gave a live talk for the opening of her exhibition “BioArt Alchemy” at Spazju Kreattiv, in Valletta (Malta) on 16th September 2022 at 6pm CEST. The talk was live-streamed online and you can watch the video here.
Anna Dumitriu gave a live talk about her work to researchers and invited persons at the Wellcome Sanger Institute at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton (near Cambridge), UK, at noon, as part of the Parasites & Microbes seminar series on 28th July 2022.
Anna Dumitriu was part of a live panel discussion on “Art-driven Innovation in Robotics (with S+T+ARTS)” at the European Robotics Forum (ERF) 2022 in Rotterdam at 11am on 29th June 2022.
Anna Dumitriu gave a live lecture on “The Role of Art in Exploring and Engaging Audiences in Cutting Edge Methods in Bioscience” at the conference on “Cutting-Edge Methods in Physics for Studying Intracellular Bacterial Pathogen Interactions with Host Cells and Small Molecules” at the University of Surrey on 22nd June 2022.
Anna Dumitriu was part of a live in conversation with her science collaborators as part of her Institute of Advance Studies Fellowship/Artist in Residence project exploring “Entangled Health” along with a chance to see some of the works at a special lunchtime reception and showcase event 12pm – 2pm at the University of Surrey on 21st June 2022.
Anna Dumitriu discussed the concepts and processes behind her artworks which explore infectious diseases, synthetic biology and robotics for NUA Norwich University of the Arts online Masterclass series on 28th April 2022 at 5pm.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a live introduction to their artworks for their exhibition “Wunderkammer BioArt” at the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden in Germany on 6th April 2022 at 6pm.
Anna Dumitriu gave the keynote lecture focussed on her “Algologies” project as part of “Wild Sci-Art: Art Science and Algae“, an online symposium bringing together art and algae research for the The Scottish Association for Marine Science on 10th March 2022 at 4-6pm.
Anna Dumitriu gave a live talk at the Künstlerhaus Wien in Vienna on 3rd March 2022 about the “Fermenting Futures” project.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about art and technology collaboration as part of British Council Jordan – Arts in the Digital Age Online Forum curated by FutureEverything at 6pm on 23rd February 2022.
Anna Dumitriu and collaborator Dr Jane Freeman gave a joint online talk about their work “BioArt, Bacteria and the Collateral Effects of the Pandemic” for the University of Leeds (UK) on 17th February 2022.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a lecture onlune about their artworks exploring synthetic biology for Goethe University in Frankfurt (Germany) on 21st January 2022.
2021
Anna Dumitriu talked about her project “The Mutability of Memories and Fates” in conversation with curator Claudia Schnugg and scientist Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla at Epigene2sys 2021 (France) on 14th December 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave a 2021 Luminary artist lecture online for Liverpool School of Art and Design (UK) on 8th December 2021 at 5-6:30pm. The lectures present the work of leading practitioners in art and design. Past speakers have included Judy Chicago, Daniel Libeskind, Christopher Le Brun and Mark Leckey.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk “BioArt, Bacteria and the Making of Unruly Objects” for the Department of History of Art at University College London (UK) on 2nd December at 10am.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about her work at Darwin 2021 (India), one of India’s Biggest Evolutionary Movements in Biology, the talk took place on 4th December 2021 at 3:40pm IST, 10:10pm GMT.
Anna Dumitriu gave a live talk about her art projects that explore issues around climate-change, gene editing, and antibiotic resistance as part of the Surrey Hills Symposium at the University of Surrey (UK), 2-6pm on the 24th November 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk “The Unnatural, That Too is Natural: BioArt and Synthetic Biology” for HOLOLABS by Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Germany) at 12:30 GMT / 1:30 CET on 4th November 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about the use of textiles in her work as part of “Women in Textiles & Technology Today” for Digital Switzerland (Switzerland) at 2pm BST / 3pm CEST on 26th October 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk for members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (USA) at 6pm EDT on 25th October 2021.
Anna Dumitriu participated in an online policy round table at the ENCATC Digital Congress 2021 (Italy) entitled “Artists in the spotlight! / Artists at the centre! In search of new policy agendas for education and research” at 10am BST / 11am CEST on 22nd October 2021. ENCATC is the European network on cultural management and policy.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk and discuss her work with the Ayatana Artists Research Programme (Canada) at 4pm BST / 11am EST on 19th October 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk about her work and participated in an online panel discussion with Claudia Schnugg, Annick Bureaud and others as part of the Fusion Talks programme by Qolony (Romania) at 4pm BST / 5pm CEST / 6pm EEST on 11th October 2021.
Anna Dumitriu discuss her “Engineered Antibody” and “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form” online in the Under the Viral Shadow Conference by Art Laboratory Berlin (Germany), which accompanied the exhibition of the same name, on 9th October 2021. Watch here.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her work as artist in residence at the National Collection of Type Cultures at 10:50am BST / 11:50 CEST as part of the European Culture Collections Organisation XXXIX conference which took place online on the 22nd September 2021, organised by the National Culture Collections (UK).
Anna Dumitriu presented her latest works, including a screening of Fermenting Futures in an online talk “An Artistic Exploration of Microbiology” for FEMS as part of International Microorganism Day programme (Europe) on 16th September at 2pm BST / 3pm CEST.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May presented their Fermenting Futures project at the 15th International Congress on Yeasts (online) on 24th August 2021 at 17:45 CEST, 16:45 BST, and showcase the final artwork. There were also reflective talks from experts and a panel discussion (Austria).
Anna Dumitriu was the popular keynote speaker for STEAMivism, a 3-day STEAM and activism online conference hosted by the Art Shine Foundation (USA) aimed at high school and undergraduate students. The talk took place on 7th August 2021 at 8:35am PST.
Anna Dumtriu presented a paper, with Alex May, on “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form” online at the ALIFE 2021 Conference on Artificial Life, organised by the International Society for Artificial Life and University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) as part of the Special Session ALife and Society at 7:40am BST, 8:40am CEST on 20th July 2021. The project was also shortlisted for ALIFE 2021 conference art exhibition.
Anna Dumitriu was a panellist for the second edition of the (EN)COMPASS series by Science Gallery International (Eire) which interrogated the impact of art and science coming together. The session explored the importance and impact of residencies, and whether collaborations fostered through those residencies bring about significant change at the individual and institutional levels. The event took place online on 7th July 2021 at 5pm BST / 6pm CEST.
Anna Dumitriu was an online keynote speaker for Collaborative Research in the Arts and Science at the University of Brighton (UK) on 7th July 2021.
Anna Dumitriu participated in Forum Design Pays De La Meije (France), as part of an online round-table discussion chaired by par Zoé Sfez (journalist for France Cultur) with Alex May, boredomresearch and others, on 2nd July 2021. The participationof British artists in the event was supported by the British Council France. See the discussion here and the rest of the event here.
Artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their project “Biotechnology from the Blue Flower” with a panel of experts from the EU Horizon H2020 CHIC project, with whom they are collaborating. The event took place on 30th June 2021 at 6pm BST, 7pm CEST. The discussion explored the methodologies of “New Plant Breeding Techniques” such as gene editing using CRISPR, the potential uses of these techniques to improve food security and mitigate the impact of climate change, and focussed on the question what does ‘natural’ really mean anyway – or as Goethe put it “The Unnatural, That Too is Natural”. Watch the discussion here.
Anna Dumitriu was a panellist as part of a discussion about her residency the “Mutability of Memories and Fates” with the Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells at the Helmholtz Zentrum, Munich (Germany) on 29th June 2021. View the discussion here.
Anna Dumitriu was in conversation with Liz Whitehead, director of FABRICA (UK) about her “Algologies” project, commissioned by the gallery, on the final day of her residency -20th June 2021 . Watch the discussion here.
Anna Dumitriu gave the afternoon plenary online talk for the School of Life and Medical Science Annual Research Conference 2021 at the University of Hertfordshire (UK) on 22nd June 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about her work with Arctic microbiology and her project “The Birth of Snowflakes” as part of the Polar Sci Art Soiree (UK/Global) from 8pm on 20th June 2021.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her artworks with robotics, artificial intelligence, artificial life, computational neuroscience and consciousness in an online talk for the University of Norwich (UK) on 18th June 2021. Watch here.
Anna Dumitriu was a speaker at “Beyond Biology: Robots, Telepathy and Artificial Brains” for the Downloadable Brain online events programme by Cognitive Sensations (UK) on 16th June 2021 at 6pm. Details here.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about her work and her project “Unruly Objects and Biological Conservation” (which is supported by an A-N Artists Bursary) for the Department of Antiquities and Works of Art at the University of Western Attica in Athens (Greece) on 15th June 2021. The lecture took place in the context of the courses “Conservation of Natural History Objects” and “Conservation of Contemporary Art”, of the Department of Preservation of Antiquities and Works of Art of the University of West Attica. More information here.
Anna Dumitriu was a speaker (online) at “Visions of Artificial Intelligence: Society, Art and Future Technologies“, part of the “Artistic Intelligence – Wissenschaftlich-künstlerische Technikvisionen” research project based at HafenCity University Hamburg (Germany) on 12th June 2021.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her projects Fermenting Futures and Biotechnology from the Blue Flower in an online lecture: “The unnatural, that too is natural: Artistic Explorations in Synthetic Biology” for UCLA Art|Sci Center (USA) on 12th May 2021 at 9:00 am PST. View the recording here.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk as part of the “New Dynamics in Healthcare” panel for the Lifestyle Transformation Design course at the Willem De Kooning Academy, in association with the Science Gallery Rotterdam at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam (Netherlands), on her works “Shielding“, “Susceptible” and “Ex Voto” on 7th April 2021. View here.
Anna Dumitriu gave a public online talk on “Creating Meaning from Healthcare Data Through Art” as part of the ART/DATA/HEATH talks series for the University of Brighton (UK) on 30th March 2021 at 1:00pm BST, 2:00pm
Anna Dumitriu introduced her work in an online talk for the Thomson Group: Bacterial Genomics and Evolution at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton near Cambridge (UK) as part of her “Collateral Effects” project on 18th March 2021.
Anna Dumitriu participated in an online talk for the Sapporo International Art Festival 2020 (SIAF 2020) (Japan) chaired by Agnieszka Kubicka-Dzieduszycka (SIAF2020 Curatorial Director of Media Art). The talk explores how the pandemic has affected artists around the world. The live online talk took place at 7:00pm JST, 10:00am GMT, 11:00am CET, on 6th February 2021.
2020
The Interdisciplinary Conference: Taboo – Transgression – Transcendence in Art and Science held by the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (Austria) will feature a panel discussion on the “Fermenting Futures” project. The panel comprised artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May and scientists Professor Diethard Mattanovich, and Dr Özge Ata, and was moderated by project curator Sonja Schachinger. The panel took online on 27th November 2020 at 2pm CET, 1pm GMT.
Anna Dumitriu, as an artist deeply engaged with the issue of antibiotic resistance, was a panelist for the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week “How can we improve awareness for antimicrobial resistance in Africa?” organised by Africa CDC on 21st November 2020, 18:30 SAST, CAT, 19:30 EAT, 17:30 WAT, CET, 16:30 BST and 12:30 EST as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW). See the conversation via the hashtag: #AfricaWAAW.
Anna Dumitriu was a keynote speaker for the Viral Life symposium organised by NOBA: Norwegian Bioart Arena on the 17th November 2020. The talk took place at 1pm CET, 12pm GMT.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk “Threads Across Time: BioArt, Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies” for the Media & Arts Speaker series at Duke Kunshan University (at Duke Kunshan Innovation Building 1046) in China on 13th November 2020 at 6:00pm (CST) hosted by Prof. Vivian Xu and Prof. Benjamin Bacon, and supported by Arts and Humanities and the Humanities Research Center at Duke Kunshan University. Watch the video here.
Anna Dumitriu participated in a free online event about gene editing in plants as part of European Science Week on 10th November 2020 at 5pm (GMT) 6pm (CET). She discussed her project with Alex May entitled “Biotechnology from the Blue Flower” in collaboration with the EU CHIC project.
Anna Dumitriu discussed her work in an online event as part of the opening symposium for BurgLabs at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle in Germany on 6th November 2020 from 10:00am – 3:30pm (CET) 9 :00am – 2:30pm (GMT).
Anna Dumitriu participated in an online panel on “New approaches and mechanisms for communicating about Future and Emerging Technologies” discussion as part of “Signals from the Future” organised by FETFX, in collaboration with QUEST project. The panel examined new approaches and mechanisms for communicating about future and emerging technologies and Dumitriu discussed her extensive art/science collaborations in the field, on 4th November 2020 at 11:15am (CET) 10:15am (GMT). View the talk here.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online talk about her work for the Postgraduate Symposium of Norwich University of the Arts on 29th October 2020.
Anna Dumitriu participated in a panel discussion “AI Talk: Bill Seaman – Insight Engine” as part of the B3 Biennale with Sophia Crespo and chaired by Bill Seaman. 1pm (BST) or 2pm (CEST), on 16th October 2020.
Anna Dumitriu was in conversation with Dr Aristea Fotopoulou for a discussion and Q and A event on 9th October 2020 for the launch of “Shielding” a new sculptural installation by the artist, in collaboration with the domestic abuse charity RISE as part of the Brighton Fringe. Commissioned by the University of Brighton research project ART/DATA/HEALTH: data as creative material for health and well being, and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Anna Dumitriu was part of an online panel discussion for Leeds Digital Festival 2020 on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 at 1:00pm (BST) 2:00pm (CEST) 3:00 (IDT) entitled “Making Art from Data“. Watch the discussion here.
Anna Dumitriu discussed Susceptible as part of Creating and Curating with Data – how do artists make sense of data? in an online event with Alex May, Irini Papadimitriou (FutureEverything) and Donna Close (Principle Investigator for Arts DRIVA) with the University of Brighton on 15th September 2020 at 2:00pm (BST) 3:00pm (CEST).
Anna Dumitriu participated in “Telluric Vibrations” the Ars Electronica Garden Los Angeles at UCLA on 12th September 2020. She gave an online talk: “Collateral Effects: The Hidden Effects of the Pandemic” at 8:00am (PDT) 16:00 (BST) 17:00 (CET) and participated in a panel discussion “Climate Change and Virusphere” 9:00am (PDT) 17:00 (BST) 18:00 (CET) with Victoria Vesna and Sarah Popelka.
Anna Dumitriu gave the first talk of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology‘s 2020 NTNU ARTEC Seminar Series (online). The subject of the talk was “BioArt, Research, & the Pandemic: Uncertain Histories and Unstable Futures” and Dumitriu was in conversation with guests from NTNU Oceans, the Center for Experimental Humanities at Bard, & Kunsthall Trondheim followed by an audience Q and A session. The free event took place between 2.30 – 4.00pm (CEST) 1:30 – 3:00pm (BST) on 3rd September 2020.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their Cyberspecies Proximity project in a S+T+ARTS Talk in conversation with Lucas Evers and Eric Way (Schindler) at the Open Wetlab at Waag Society in Amsterdam on 2nd July 2020 at 6:30pm (BST) or 7:30pm (CEST).
Anna Dumitriu discussed her work in “Spinning Yarns: Pathology and Poetry” for The Art + Science Reading Group, a virtual gathering of thinkers, researchers and the incurably curious. Organised Amelia McConville and Autumn Brown and supported by Science Gallery Dublin and the Trinity Long Room Hub. Listen to the podcast. The event took place on Wednesday 20th May 2020 at 6:30pm.
The Department of Media Theory at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (Austria) hosted an online public lecture by Anna Dumitriu “Threads Across Time: Combining and Fermenting Two Cultures” on Tuesday 19th May. She discussed the ideas and processes behind her artworks, which are created deeply embedded in bioscience settings.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online lecture for the Creative Reflections on Professional Practice course at Imperial College London on 14th May 2020.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online lecture to Art and Life Sciences students at the University of Leiden on 16th April 2020.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave an online lecture on their “Cyberspecies Proximity” robot project and EU Vertigo STARTS residency with Schindler for the BioComputation Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire.
Anna Dumitriu gave an online lecture on her practice to arts students at Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland on 24th March 2020.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her collaboration with the National Collection of Type Cultures Centenary Symposium on 2nd March 2020 at Public Health England Colindale in London.
2019
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk entitled “Making meaning: exploring bacterial genomics through art to communicate antimicrobial resistance” at the ART/DATA/HEALTH Symposium at the University of Brighton on 16th December 2019. This event is by invitation only.
As part of the Cyberspecies Proximity Vertigo STARTS Residency at Schindler Anna Dumitriu gave a talk and was in conversation with her artistic collaborator Alex May, and Silvio Napoli (Chairman of Schindler) as part of a panel discussion on “Art, Innovation and Society”, chaired by Nicolas Henchoz (Director of the EPFL-ECAL Lab) at the Schindler City Auditorium in Ebikon, Luzern, Switzerland on 2nd December. View the talk below.
Anna Dumitriu gave a lecture about her Teeth Marks project followed by a discussion with her collaborator Dr Melissa Grant at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts (in collaboration with the the Barber Association) in Birmingham, UK, at 6pm on 20th November 2019. Teeth Marks explores the history and future of dentistry through its emotional and cultural impact. The project is strongly influenced by the relationship of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter to the early history of Birmingham Dental Hospital (the first dental hospital in the UK) and Dumitriu worked directly with the hospital’s historic collection as well as with researchers at the forefront of the latest research in the field. The project was exhibited at the Open Wide Art Gallery at Birmingham Dental Hospital.
Anna Dumitriu spoke at “AI, Art & Nature” at the Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BBAW) in Berlin on 4th November 2019 at 6pm as part of Berlin Science Week.
Anna Dumitriu gave talks at the (Co)Art workshop “Working with Technology to Co-create Art”, and to Girls STEAM Power Timisoara and to BioCoderDojo Timisoara on her work, in Timisoara, Romania, supported by the European Capital of Culture Timisoara 2021.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk and discussed “Making and Exhibiting BioArt Internationally” to participants on the Future DiverCities EU Project which took place in Zagreb, Croatia as part of the Extravagant Bodies Biennial led by Kontejner on 17th September at 5pm.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their collaborative robotic artworks alongside a panel of experts in a symposium they curated at Ugly Duck in London on 28th September 2019 to accompany their exhibition “Intelligent Machinery“.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a talk about their project “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form” at the WRO 2019 Media Art Biennale in Wroclaw, Poland, as part of the conference “Human Aspect – Non Human Aspect” on the 17th May 2019 to accompany the exhibition of the work at the Four Domes Pavilion in the Biennale.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk about her work on 29th March 2019 at Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall as part her major solo exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” events programme (funded by Arts Council England).
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk on her work in the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Universität für Bodenkultur Wien), Vienna on 13th March 2019 as part of her ongoing collaboration exploring yeast and synthetic biology .
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk about her work to the students at the National Institute of Art and Design in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event was hosted by curator Nasima Dzhuraeva, and Normurod Negmatov director of the Tashkent Art Biennale.
Anna Dumitriu gave a very popular talk on her “Romantic Disease” series on the 28th February 2019 at New Frontiers: Innovation and Access: the Medecins Sans Frontieres 8th Regional (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) TB Symposium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She also exhibited artworks from the series at the symposium.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk on her work involving art and science collaborations in a closed event entitled “The Art of the Possible” at the Imperial War Museum in London on the 25th February 2019.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk at the University of Warwick and led a workshop for Synthetic Biology PhD researchers as part of an event called SynBioArt19 on 30th January 2019.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk about her work to the Art-Science Interest Group at the Natural History Museum on 24th January 2019.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk on “Making and Exhibiting BioArt Internationally” at Birmingham Open Media (BOM) on 23rd January 2019. (Funded by Arts Council England/British Council AIDF Grant)
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk on “Making and Exhibiting BioArt Internationally” to MA Art and Science Students at Central St Martins in London on 21st January 2019 (Funded by Arts Council England/British Council AIDF Grant)
Anna Dumitriu both curated and presented at a conference and events programme entitled Future Life for IMPAKT in Utrecht on 18th and 19th January 2019 to accompany the exhibition “A World Without Us“. There was also a premiere showcase of “BioComputation Robots” made in collaboration with Alex May, Professor Volker Steuber and Professor Freek Hoebeek.
2018
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a talk accompany the exhibition of “ArchaeaBot: A Post Climate Change Post Singularity Life-form” in “A World Without Us” at IMPAKT in Utrecht on 24th November 2018.
To accompany the exhibition of “ArchaeaBot: A Post Climate Change Post Singularity Life-form” as part of Rencontres Bandits-Mages “Unstable Reality and Shifting Knowledges: Mending the Fabric of the World” in Bourges, France, Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a keynote talk entitled “Collaboration Across the Three Domains” about their work on 16th November.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about perceptions of bacteria in art at “Micro Worlds” at Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on 6th November 2018.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their collaborative robotics projects including their ArchaeaBot and BioCompuation Bots at the University of Hertfordshire on 2nd November 2018 at their Biocomputation Seminar.
Anna Dumitriu gave a lecture about her artistic practice for the opening of her solo exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” at the Esther Klein Gallery in Philadelphia Science Center on 18th October 2018.
Anna Dumitriu was interviewed by Pier Luigi Capucci as part of the “Five Words for the Future” project which aims to help people to imagine the future. identify and understand what’s new and the latest innovations.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their collaborative artwork “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form” at “Art & the Life Sciences: Ethics & Perspectives – Athens”, which took place at Theatre of Athens School of Fine Art on 5th October 2018. This event was co-organised by the Laboratory for Study and Conservation of Ancient and Modern Cultural Properties of the University of West Attica and the Athens School of Fine Art.
Anna Dumitriu, Alex May and Amanda Wilson discussed and exhibited their collaborative project “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form in the event “Future Life” at LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial in Gijón, Spain on 20th September 2018 and visitors had a chance to view the installation.
In her role as 2018 President of the Science and the Arts Section of the British Science Association, Anna Dumitriu gave her presidential address: Art, Ethics and New Technologies” at the British Science Festival in Hull on 13th September at The University of Hull. Dumitriu was in conversation with Dr Lucy McCabe and introduced by Heather Barnett. “Each scientific breakthrough brings to light new ethical dilemmas. In this talk, Anna Dumitriu shows how artists engage with ethical implications of modern technologies, from CRISPR gene editing to robotics and AI, and why their involvement in the conversation is important and beneficial for both science and society.”
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their collaborative project “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity and Post Climate Change Life-form” at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, to accompany the project which was on show at the festival in the exhibition “Error in Progress:. The talk was part of the Artists Talks series at POSTCITY on Saturday 8th September 2018.
Anna Dumitriu gave an artists talk with her artworks at R-Space Gallery in Lisburn, Northern Ireland at the launch of her solo show From The Field about the relationship of linen and microbiology. This the inaugural event of the Linen Biennale NI 2018.
Anna Dumitriu participated in the Leonardo and Anilla Cultural “Open Live-Stream Conversation on Performance and Biosystems” on 27th July 2018. The artists presenting were Nina Weisman (U.S.), Anna Dumitriu (U.K.), Stelarc (Australia), and Tiare Ribeaux, and the event was moderated by Danielle Siembieda (U.S.). This program was organized by Anilla Cultural Latino América – Europa en Uruguay as part of the International Online Education leading to Leo50 in Uruguay. The event was an interactive live-streamed virtual conference, translated into English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk as part of the launch event for “Invisible Worlds” at Eden Project in Cornwall on 26th May 2018.
Anna Dumitriu gave a talk for Viral Culture: CRISPR, Art and Lit Symposium at Pomona College, Claremont, California on 27th April 2018.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May discussed their new project “ArchaeaBot: A Post Singularity, Post Climate Change Life-form” (being made in collaboration with Amanda Wilson) at the University of Hertfordshire Biocomputation Group on 20th April 2018.
Anna Dumitriu and Yoram Lev Yehudi spoke about art and science collaboration and Anna’s work with the MRG-Grammar project in a talk entitled “The Art of Dissemination” at EARMA 2018 at SQUARE in Brussels, Belgium on 17th April 2018.
To celebrate International Women’s Day Anna Dumitriu was in conversation with scientist and medical doctor Nicola Fawcett about their collaboration, at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, UK as as part of her major solo exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” on 1st March 2018.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May gave a public lecture about their work at Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas, USA on 6th March 2018.
Anna Dumitriu and Alex May spoke about their work focussed on the “Art and Science of Linen” as part of Belfast Science Festival on 22nd February 2018 at PRONI in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Anna Dumitriu personally led a packed guided tour of her solo exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, UK on 10th February 2018 at 2pm
Anna Dumitriu spoke at “Pharma Food Labs: Bio Bodies” at Makerversity at Somerset House in London, UK debating the future of the Food & Pharma on 9th February 2018 6:30pm.
2017
Anna Dumitriu spoke at Art Laboratory Berlin’s Interdisciplinary Conference: Nonhuman Agents in Art, Culture and Theory between the 24th and 26th November, 2017. Read a review of the Non Human Agents Conference at Art Laboratory Berlin by Clara Rodríguez Fernández on Science and Art Join Forces to Challenge our Anthropocentric World Views on Labiotech (EU), December 2017.
Anna Dumitriu personally led a guided tour of her solo exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford on 22nd November 207 at 1pm.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her work at Technology and Emotions Live at Sentralen in Oslo, Norway on 7th November 2017.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her role as Lead Artist on the “Trust Me, I’m an Artist” project at the final symposium on 17th November 2017 at Waag Society in Amsterdam.
Anna Dumitriu gave an artists talk at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford as part of her major exhibition “BioArt and Bacteria” on 2nd November 2017 at 6:00pm.
Anna Dumitriu was in conversation with Louise Latter (BOM) and Dr Rob Neely (University of Birmingham) to discuss her collaboration with Dr Neely and the new installation “The Chemistry of Biology: An Alchemy of DNA” on the 11th October 2017 during the premier of her new installation at BOM (Birmingham Open Media).
Anna Dumitriu spoke about her work at the conference “Life at Work. New ecologies, BioArt, Biodesign” organised by Paris Sciences et Lettres at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris on 16th and 17th October 2017.
Anna Dumitriu presented her work as part of a “Trust Me, I’m an Artist” Event at Fabrica Gallery in Brighton as part of the British Science Festival. The event is organised by the Science and the Arts Section of the British Science Association and takes place at Fabrica Gallery Brighton on 5th September 2017.
Anna Dumitriu led an “Experts Tour: Controlled Commodities: Ethics and Materiality” on 9th September 2017, where attendees were able to explore the artworks and projects on show at Postcity at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz that raise complex ethical issues about developments in science and technology, either in their use of materials or subject matter. Artist Anna Dumitriu also introduced her own project Controlled Commodity, on display at the festival, which explores antibiotic resistance and CRISPR gene editing.
Anna Dumitriu spoke about “Make Do and Mend” at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz on 9th September 2017 as part of the FEAT panel on the FIS stage at Postcity and also as part of the STARTS programme on 10th September in the at Postcity.
As part of the FEAT exhibition at BOZAR as part of the BOZAR Electronic Arts Festival “Make Do and Mend: Controlled Commodity” was exhibited and Anna Dumitriu presented her work as part of the STARTS Symposium: ART, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATIONS IN EUROPE.
Artists Talk by Anna Dumitriu as part of the Imperial College CDT Festival of Science: Science and Art 21st April 2017. Anna Dumitriu discussed her artistic practice, collaborative working methods and work in the exhibition as part of the Imperial College CDT Festival.
Jenny Judova led a Q&A with Anna Dumitriu about how artists work with institutions and museums as part of the Art Talks season at for Art Map London in collaboration with Creative Wick, Tuesday 21st of March 2017 at The Atrium, London.
Keynote lecture “The Art & Craft of Bacterial BioArt” by Anna Dumitriu for MAKE 2017 Symposium: Art + Biology, 4th March 2017, organised by the Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Eire.
2016
Talk “DIY BioArt” at DIYbio Israel, Google Campus, Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday 27th November 2016. Dumitriu discussed her FEAT residency on the MRG-Grammar project at The Weizmann Institute in Tel Aviv and Technion in Haifa. Dumitriu also gave talks at the Weizmann Institute and Technion during her visit.
Talk as part of FEAT event at Ars Electronica Festval, Linz, Austria from 12pm – 3:30pm on 8th September 2016.
Talk as part of The Games Europe Plays – BODY<>TECH Colloquium at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery in Greenwich, London, UK on 7th July 2016. Accompanied by an exhibition including works from the Sequence project.
Talk as part of the FEAT Vienna Workshop “Knowledge in Art, Science and Technology” at OCG – Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft, (Austrian Computer Society), Wollzeile 1-3, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Monday 27th June 2016. Event runs 6-9:30pm.
Talk on the Sequence VR project and the impact of genomics, robotics and big data on life at Forum Europe Digital Festival 2016, The Egg, Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday 21st June 2016.
Talk “Exploring Bacterial BioArt” at LIBRARY LONDON, 112 St. Martin’s Lane, London, Wednesday 27th April 2016.
Talk “Artistic Explorations with Biomedical Science and Technology”, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, College Lane Campus, Lecture Theatre LF233 , Wednesday 27th April 2016.
Talk “Exploring Bacterial Bioart” alongside collaborator Alex May at The School of Visual Arts New York City on 4th April 2016.
Talk “Hypersymbiotics, Faecal Transplants and The Romantic Disease” performance of the “Hypersymbiont Enhancement Salon“, exhibition and panel discussions as part of “Gut Reactions: The Microbiome and Human Nature” at Princeton University, 31st March 2016.
Talk “The Romantic Disease: An Artistic Investigation of Tuberculosis” at the Humanities in Healthcare Group at The University of Calgary, Canada, 3rd March 2016.
Talk “Unnecessary Research: Art as a Metadiscipline” as part of “The New Immortals” events programme at Phoenix Brighton, UK, 25th February 2016.
Talk as part of “Bio-Art, Video Mapping and HCI” at The ATLAS Center, University of Colorado Boulder, USA, 8th February 2016.
Speaker at Gene Editing, Artificial Life and Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Symposium at the Newkirk Centre for Science and Society as part of “WETWARE: art | agency | animation“, University of California Irvine, USA, 5th February 2016.
Talk at LASER Symposium at University of California Los Angeles, USA, 7-9pm 4th February 2016.
Talk “Exploring Bacterial BioArt” at Imperial College London, UK as part of Bio Changes on 18th January 2016. There was also a panel discussion featuring Ionat Zurr, Oron Catts, and Rachel Wingfield.
2015
Talk “Mendel’s Legacy: Exploring Bacterial Genomics through Art”, Mendel Museum Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 28th November 2015.
Talk “Exploring Bacterial BioArt” as part of “BioArt: Altered Realities” at the Starr Auditorium, TATE Modern, London, UK, 26th November 2015.
Talk about The Sequence Project as part of “Networked Bodies Festival – Data Bodies: Unveiling, Communicating, Visualising Data Tracking + Surveillance Practices” at Watermans in London on 14th November 2015.
Talk at Seoul BIOART 2015, South Korea, 6th November 2015.
Talk at the Fashionable Diseases Workshop event “Tuberculosis as a Romantic Disease: Artistic, Historical & Literary Perspectives” at Newcastle University, 18th June 2015.
Talk at London LASER 08 event, Central St Martins School of Art and Design, 17th March 2015.
Talk at BLAST, Bournemouth University, UK, “Investigating the Bacterial Sublime” alongside biomedical scientist Kevin Cole, 24th February 2015.
Talk at “Art Talks”, University of Hertfordshire, UK, “Sublime Bacteria, Bored Robots and The Nature of Trust in CreativeCollaborations” on 27th January 2015.
Talk at the Horizon Scanning Lecture Series, Nottingham Trent University, UK on 7th January 2015.
2014
Talk at TEDx Bucharest at the Pallady Auditorium, Bucharest, Romania, “The Bacterial Sublime” on 22nd November 2014.
Talks at BIO-FICTION Festival, Vienna, Austria, Trust Me, I’m an Artist – Towards an Ethics of Art and Science Collaboration on 23rd October 2014 and The MRSA Quilt on 24th October 2014.
Keynote lecture and roundtable discussion at Cinekid New Media Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, “Trust Me, I’m an Artist: On Art and Science Collaboration” on 15th October 2014.
Talk for the “Hacking Healthcare” course at The University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, “Interventions in Biomedicine” on 14th October 2014.
Talk at Art Laboratory Berlin, “[micro]biologies: The Bacterial Sublime”, Germany, 28th September 2014.
Talk at the Hacking Department of Willem De Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, Netherlands on 15th September 2014.
Talk at Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s Ethics in Performance Series for Brighton Fringe Festival, Brighton, UK “The Romantic Disease: Art and TB” on 16th May 2014.
Talk at Wearable Horizons on “Wearable Bacteria” at the Sci-Fi London Festival, British Film Institute, London, UK on 3rd May 2014.
Talk at The Romantic Disease World TB Day Symposium at Watermans Gallery, London, UK on 24th March 2014
Talk at Bio Art/Bio Design: Enjeux culturels et sociétaux de la biologie de synthèse – Journée d’études, Amphithéâtre Langevin de l’ESPCI ParisTech, organised by Décalab and Leonardo/Olats, Paris, France on 6th March 2014.
Talk at Mediamatic Bio industry in Amsterdam, Netherlands, “The Romantic Disease: An Artistic Investigation of Tuberculosis” on 12th February 2014.
Talk at Public Engagement in Science through Art: Politics, ethics, power and propaganda at Waag Society in Amsterdam, Netherlands, “Art and Modernising Medical Microbiology from the Romantic Disease to Whole Genome Sequencing of Bacteria” on 31st January 2014.
Presenter at How Do You Do Biodesign roundtable discussion at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, Netherlands on 23rd January 2014.
2013
Talk on “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime: Participatory Art Practice, Bioart and Microbiology” at the conference on “Bio-power and Bio-activism. Art in the Age of Posthumanism” at the Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk, Poland, 12th December 2013.
Talk on “Art and Modernising Medical Microbiology: From the Romantic Disease to Whole Genome Sequencing” at the Modernising Medical Microbiology Conference 2013 at the University of Oxford on 9th December 2013.
A panel discussion on the notion of the sublime in art and science entitled “Of Wonder and Terror” also with Julian Stallabrass and Lynne Segal at HowTheLightGetsIn, Hay-on-Wye, UK.
Talk at Genspace in New York City, USA on “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime” 12th March 2013.
Talk at The State University of New York in Fredonia, USA, on “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime” as part of Women’s History Month to accompany the exhibition “Gone Viral: Medical Science and Contemporary Textile Art” on 7th March 2013.
Talk at Concordia University in Montreal in Canada, for The Fluxmedia Research Group which specialises in interdisciplinary research across art and the life sciences on 4th February 2013.
2012
Talk at the New Stage of the National Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic as part the Mutamorphosis 2 Conference and panel organiser for “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime: Whole Genome Sequencing, Microbiology and BioArt” 6th December 2012.
Talk at The Institute for Advanced Studies Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delemhorst, Germany, on “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime: Participatory Art Practice, Bioart and Microbiology” as part of Performativity and Scientific Practice on 26th October 2012.
Lecture at The University of Hull in Scarborough, UK on “Elements of Performance in Art/Science Collaborative Practice” on 19th April 2012.
Talk at The Science Gallery in Dublin, Eire on “Confronting the Bacterial Sublime” as part of the “Trust me, I’m an artist” series on 1st March 2012.
Talk at The Citizen Cyber Science Conference at University College London, UK on BioArt and microbiology on 17th February 2012.
2011
Talk at the Modernising Medical Microbiology Day at The University of Oxford, UK on BioArt and microbiology on 5th December 2011.
Keynote lecture for Tres Pilares, Una Conexion: Arte, Ciencia y Technologia at the Goaz Museum in Bilbao, Spain on 30th November 2011.
Panel discussion about the role of art in engaging the public in debates around new technologies for EU Conference on the Future of Emerging Technologies at The University of Warsaw, Poland on 24th November 2011.
Talk at The Ahmed Shawkey Museum in Cairo, Egypt on BioArt and microbiology on 12th November 2011.
Talk about BioArt and microbiology at Cambridge University’s Festival of Ideas, UK on 23rd October 2011.
Series of talks at The International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA 2011) in Istanbul, Turkey on “Communicating Bacteria”, “The Institute of Unnecessary Research”, “Biosensing and Networked Performance” and “The Emergence of Consciousness” in September 2011.