Conference AMU 80: Art and Science: Thinking Outside the Box

Conference AMU 80: Art and Science: Thinking Outside the Box

The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU) invites you to the international conference Art and Science: Thinking Outside the Box, to be held on 18–20 November 2025 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of AMU’s foundation.

The conference will focus on the resonances, tensions, and intersections between the arts, the natural and technical sciences, and the social sciences and humanities. This gathering of artists, scientists, and researchers will not only allow for the comparison of methods and approaches, but above all open up the question of what it means to think creatively, critically, and rigorously across boundaries and beyond disciplinary frameworks.

Keynote lectures will be delivered by Thomas Ostermeier, Jussi Parikka, and Mayumi Kuno-Mizomura. The conference will be conducted in English. Its grand finale will be the conferral of the honorary doctorate of AMU upon Thomas Ostermeier on 20 November 2025.

Conference Chairs: Jitka Goriaux and Veronika Kluskov

Bohuslav Martinů Hall | HAMU | Liechtenstein Palace | Malostranské náměstí 13 | Prague 1

Programme Highlights

Session 1: Singing and the Body | Chair: Marek Fri (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague)

• Marek Fri (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) – Singing and the Body: Science as a Tool for Understanding
• Daniela Pečlová (Janek Academy of Performing Arts, Brno) – Rethinking Music Education with Low-Latency Technology
• Adéla Hanžlová (Charles University, Prague) – Cultivating Voice Proprioception through Embodied Teaching

Session 2: History, Creativity, and Research | Chair: Petra Zeller Dotlailová (Basel University)

• Petra Zeller Dotlailová (Basel University) – Historically Informed Costume: Between History, Creativity and Embodied Research
• Laurent Berger (University Paul-Valéry, Montpellier) – Acting in a Chaotic Universe
• Gemma Dardis (Limerick Institute of Technology) – Alchemical Intuition in Scientific Misadventures

Session 3: Theatre and Artistic Research | Chair: Jan Hyvnar (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague)

The panel will be held in Czech with simultaneous translation into English

• Jan Hyvnar (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) – Jaroslav Vostr: Comprehensive Theatre Practitioner, Theorist and Founder of Scenology
• Dominika Grygarová (National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Advanced Studies of Brain and Consciousness) – The Cognitive Power of Art: Neural Responses to Engagement with Visual Artworks
• Zuzana Slovová (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) – The Liberated Theatre and Artistic Research. Notes on the Last monograph by Jaroslav Vostr on the Czech Interwar Avant-Garde

Session 4: Artistic Research and Collaboration

• Antoni Collot (University of Lorraine) – Soft Laboratory: Allostasis, Artistic Research and Epistemological Divergence
• Michael Lazar (University of Haifa) – Art Science and Everything Inbetween: Rethinking Narratives for Successful Collaborations
• Sónia Alves, Soenke Zehle (HBKsaar) – Learning Pathways at the Intersection of Art and Science: Creative Agency and the Cyanotypes Framework

Session 5: Curating Atmospheres

Curating Atmospheres, Practicing with Weathers and Climates