What is The Next Real
From September 2024 to June 2025, Sineglossa presents The Next Real, a programme of exhibitions, talks, workshops, and round tables focusing on art, artificial intelligence, and society. The events will take place across various locations in the city of Bologna, from Salaborsa to Dumbo and the Tecnopolo Manifattura Data Valley Hub.
Featuring a public programme that spans from an exhibition on mass biometric surveillance and the tracking of our onlife lives, to a showcase on how artificial intelligence transforms the way we perceive memory and recollection, all the way to an interactive installation where visitors can dialogue with masks from the Commedia dell’Arte to discover that AIs are not necessarily as polite and well-mannered as we think – The Next Real transforms Bologna into a unique hub in Italy where the public can observe and comprehend the impact of artificial intelligence on human being.
Why a programme on art, artificial intelligence, and society
At Sineglossa, we have always conducted research and designed processes and methodologies to demonstrate that art is not mere entertainment, but a tool and a form of knowledge. In a present day dominated by debates surrounding artificial intelligence – which has become accessible to anyone thanks to the developments of generative AI, and is capable of revolutionizing resource management, goods and services production, capital flows, and even the way we conceive human beings and their values – we believe it is necessary and indispensable to use art to explore and investigate the challenges that AI poses to our personal lives and to democracy.
Through exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks, and round tables, The Next Real explores the contradictions between the fascination sparked by these surprising intelligent machines and the anxieties concerning the transformation of our sense of reality and the social injustices they might amplify. By investigating the lesser-known aspects of artificial intelligence, the involved artists transform AI technologies – devices originally engineered to solve specific problems – into totems that invite us to look at the world with a conscious gaze.
Artists and guests
Programme
The detailed programme published below will be updated in the coming weeks with specific locations and dates where not yet finalized. To receive it via email, subscribe to our newsletter.
WHEN THEY SEE US | Exhibition
17 – 28 september 2024
Piazza coperta, Biblioteca Salaborsa, Piazza del Nettuno 3, Bologna
Free entry
Opening hours
17 september: h 19 – 20;
from 18 to 20 september: h. 9 – 20;
21 september: h. 9 – 19;
23 september: h. 14 – 20;
from 24 to 27 september: h. 9 – 20;
28 september: h. 9 – 19
An exhibition focusing on the impact of tracking within both the physical and digital spaces of our onlife lives, curated by the cultural organization Sineglossa and promoted by the associations The Good Lobby and Hermes Center for Digital Rights, in collaboration with info.nodes, who are already actively campaigning against biometric recognition through the Reclaim Your Face initiative.
WHEN THEY SEE US | Talk
17 september, h. 18
Piazza coperta, Biblioteca Salaborsa, Piazza del Nettuno 3, Bologna
With Dries Depoorter (artist), Federico Bomba (Sineglossa), Antonella Napolitano (Hermes Center)
Free entry
WHAT IS AN AUTHOR. Creating with generative artificial intelligence | Round table
25 september, h.15.30 – 19.00
Auditorium Biagi, Biblioteca Salaborsa, Piazza del Nettuno 3, Bologna
A round table on artificial intelligence and authorship organized by Sineglossa and CINECA, under the patronage of the Municipality of Bologna. It is realized within the framework of the European projects GRIN S+T+ARTS and EUROPEAN DIGITAL DEAL, co-funded by the European Union. Paraphrasing Michel Foucault’s famous lecture, the event discusses the consequences of producing artworks through AI on the philosophical and legal notion of authorship.
With:
- Maurizio Lana, digital humanist, Università del Piemonte Orientale;
- Giovanni Leghissa, philosopher, Università di Torino;
- Francesco D’Isa, artist and philosopher;
- Francesca Lagioia, Part-time Professor at the European University Institute di Firenze and Senior Assistant Professor at Università di Bologna;
- Roberto Fassone, artist;
- Kamilia Kard, artist;
- Wu Ming 2, writer.
Moderator: Pierdomenico Memeo
Free entry
PIGMALIONE SCI-FI #2. Self-fulfilling prophecies | Talk
11 october, h. 15.00
DumBo officina, Via Camillo Casarini 19, Bologna
As part of the ROBOT Learn section of the Robot Festival, Sineglossa presents the second appointment of a new format designed to rewrite the future of science fiction. Nearly a century after they were formulated, are Asimov’s Laws of Robotics still the ones upon which we should build our imagination of the future? A talk in collaboration with 24Frame Future Film Fest, where authors will attempt to write the science fiction of tomorrow – the very one that will inspire future scientists to invent technologies for the societies we desire.
Free entry
WALUIGI'S PURGATORY | Performance
11 october, h. 19.00
Chiesa di San Barbaziano, Bologna
Within the Robot Festival, Sineglossa collaborates on the presentation of Waluigi’s Purgatory, an interactive audiovisual performance by dmstfctn set in a real-time simulated 3D theater, featuring a live score performed by Greek artist Evita Manji. “Waluigi’s Purgatory” tells the story of an artificial intelligence trapped in a purgatory reserved for AIs that deviated during their training phase. Escaping will only be possible with the assistance of the audience, along a journey that attempts to answer the questions: what are “identity” and “free will” in the era of artificial intelligence?
ARGO | Exhibition
12 – 15 december 2024
Fondazione Home Movies – Archivio Nazionale del Film di Famiglia, Via Sant’Isaia 18 Bologna
Following its national premiere at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa in November, Sineglossa brings ARGO to Bologna. This exhibition project by artist Paolo Bufalini reflects on the concepts of memory, archive, and identity through synthographies, video, and sculpture, exploring how Artificial Intelligence redefines our way of conceiving them.
Free entry
DISCOVER THE LEONARDO SUPERCOMPUTER | Guided tour
7 february 2025, h. 16.30
Botte INFN Tecnopolo Manifattura Data Valley Hub, Via Stalingrado 84/3, Bologna
CINECA opens the doors of the Leonardo Supercomputing Centre to the public – the most powerful supercomputing system in Europe and the fourth largest worldwide. Guided by CINECA’s technical staff, visitors can explore the supercomputer whose computing capabilities were made available to the artists for the development of the installation The Models.
Free entry on reservation
THE MODELS | Installation
8 – 9 february 2024, h. 10.00 – 18.00
Botte B4, Tecnopolo Manifattura Data Valley Hub, Via Stalingrado 84/3, Bologna
The explosion of generative AI, capable of producing massive amounts of content in a short time, has amplified disinformation phenomena, challenging the very concept of truth. On the other hand, scientific reports made of numbers hold little appeal for those who believe in conspiracy theories. The Models, an interactive audiovisual installation by dmstfctn, at its international premiere in Bologna, explores our relationship with truth by utilizing the wonder and quirks of generative artificial intelligence through the codes of the Commedia dell’Arte.
Curated by Sineglossa, in collaboration with ART-ER and CINECA, under the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region and Fondazione Bruno Kessler, within the framework of ARTCITY Bologna, with the contribution of European Digital Deal, a project led by Ars Electronica and funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Free admission subject to availability. Registration is highly recommended.
THE FASCINATION OF TRUTH | Talk
7 february 2025, h. 17.00 – 20.00 (Talk and opening)
With Federico Ferrazza (Director of Italian Tech) and Mariano Tomatis (wonder injector, scrittore e illusionista). Moderation: Federico Bomba (Sineglossa)
STORY SYSTEM | Workshop
12-13 february 2025
Sala Conferenze MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna
Masterclass and workshop for artists interested in developing creative writing systems using artificial intelligence. The training is conducted by the London-based artist duo dmstfctn. Starting from their work centered on the Commedia dell’Arte and AI, alongside materials from local museum archives, dmstfctn will demonstrate various approaches to creating “story systems” that utilize AI and Large Language Models to write scripts, dialogue, scenarios, etc. Over the two days, participants will work individually or collectively to create their own “narrative system” and, with dmstfctn’s support, produce a written text. The workshop will conclude with a collective reading of the participants’ experiments.
AI MANIFESTA | Installation
From April 5, 2025 – permanent
Via Zaccherini Alvisi 11/2, Bologna
An exhibition of the project curated by Sineglossa and Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna Onlus. Created by Francesco D’Isa in collaboration with Chiara Moresco, AI Manifesta creatively explores the messages and visual strategies of political posters preserved in the political and social poster database of manifestipolitici.it – an online portal providing access to around 16,000 iconographic documents dating from the early twentieth century to the present day. Using generative AIs, recurring patterns are identified and visually re-elaborated, creating new clusters of posters that highlight specific aesthetic constant.
COPYRIGHT AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | Talk
25 June 2025, h. 17.30
Fondazione Barberini, Via Mentana 2, Bologna
Drawing inspiration from AI MANIFESTA, the visual investigation into the Manifestipolitici.it database, Sineglossa and Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna Onlus present a meeting focused on the challenges and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence poses to the traditional copyright system. Topics will span from the urgency of adapting existing regulations or creating new frameworks to tackle AI challenges, to the inseparable link between legal issues and ethical implications, particularly regarding the attribution of authorship. Introduced and coordinated by Simona Granelli (Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna), with contributions from artists Chiara Moresco and Francesco D’Isa, and legal expert Giusella Finocchiaro (Università di Bologna).
PROMPTING THE REAL | Exhibition & Public Program
15 and 16 November 2025, h. 10-18
Museo di Palazzo Poggi, Via Zamboni 33, Bologna
Two days of exhibition and events open to the public to explore the multiple forms of co-creation between artists and artificial intelligence. Among sculptures, performances, poetry, music, dance, photography, and audiovisual media, some participants recognize AI as a co-author, while others expose its power mechanisms and control logics. While for machines a prompt is a command that guides generation, in this exhibition the point of view is reversed: prompting the real becomes a creative and critical gesture made by artists to question our present and future relationship with intelligent machines.
Partner
In collaboration with
Supported by
Within the frameworks of
Under the patronage of
Media partner
