site.bta2nd ShapeShift Festival Tests Utopia's Frontiers

Sofia's National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts will host the 2nd ShapeShift Festival between May 31 and June 2, the organizers said.

This year's edition of the event is mottoed "Is Too Much to Dream of Utopia?" In a series of six talks and workshops, participants from 11 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US) will explore the relationship between humankind and innovation and the unending transformation of the world, for better or worse.

In a talk on "Changing the Future Narratives", Lead Artifact Designer at Futurity Systems Magda Mojsiejuk will give a talk on "Changing the Future Narratives" will show how past and present science fiction works painted visions of the future we would like to see (or to avoid), and how they intersect with the work of creative design.

"Journalists in Flux" Martin Alvarez and Rebeca Duque Estrada will take their audience on "Journeys through Architecture, Materials, and New Technologies", showcasing innovative construction systems that utilize fibres and wood and illustrating how new technologies can reshape the architectural landscape.

In her presentation called "A Future that Wasn't", curator and cultural manager Irini Papadimitriou will argue that while the world we live in characterised by uncertainty, injustice and conflicts and one where most of us feel disempowered or unable to imagine differently, art has the power to help us challenge the status quo and corporate narratives, activating new ideas about technology, ecology and intelligence, and better stories about the future.

In "The Colors of Light", Paris-based designer Marine Rouit-Leduc will present two years of research and experimentation she carried out as part of the Agora grant on the colors of light and will discuss a series of projects developed in the fields of object design, visual arts and digital art.

Serial entrepreneur Jamshid Alamuti will talk about "Personal Fulfilment through Technology", providing a holistic overview of how technology is affecting our personal growth and development and what that implies for us as creatives and for the ecosystem we are involved in.

In "Cloud War", former Parisian lawyer Mathieu Simonet will present a poetic collective endeavour he has initiated to shape cloud legislation within ten years.

Four workshops are also on the programme of the Festival: "Work Better, Faster, Stronger: the Agile Utopia," moderated by David Szucs; Dimitar Rangelov's "Be Creative, Practical, and Effective: The AI Utopia"; Deya Shopova's "Can Technology Increase the Effectiveness of Psychotherapy in the Mental Health Field? What We Should Know about VR and Psychotherapy"; and Magda Mojsiejuk's "Let's Make a Zine: Envisioning a Better Future."

ShapeShift will screen six short films on its subject: Minted, Flowers Blooming, Rival, The Burnt Auction Behind, TerraForma, and The First Code.

Last but not least, an exhibition will feature works by six international artists: William Latham, Claudia Hart, Margaret Murphy, Phillip Toledano, Alonerone, and Petko Tanchev, as well as an installation created especially for the occasion by NextDC.