It was a great pleasure to accept the invitation from 'Amanhã,' the latest program by the incredible ModaLisboa team, focused on social impact and empowering young people for the future in fashion. Through expanded computational arts, 3D, and modeling, Carincur and João Pedro Fonseca put technology at the service of fashion by opening up the infinite horizons that are yet to be reached and discovered. This fusion of two seemingly distant universes reveals very intimate affinities when it comes to the future, sustainability, skins, avatars, and other current themes.
It is with immense pride and enthusiasm that we announce a strong partnership for the future projects of our ZABRA center. Daslight, from the pioneering French company Nicolaudie Group, the most important company in computer-controlled lighting, is now an official partner of ZABRA. From today, our equipment will bear the company’s seal, and our future activities - classes and workshops - will cover lighting design and the Daslight 5 software as the official brand. We believe that this partnership will make the world of lighting design more accessible and intuitive for everyone interested - beginners, professionals, or the curious - allowing them to further explore its artistic and technical dimensions.
Through a partnership with IPBEJA, we received three interns João Bico, Joaquim Fernandes and Nuno Figueira, from the Audiovisual and Multimedia course to intern at ZABRA for three months. They will work with us in all artistic areas where ZABRA is involved. From performance to lighting design and videomapping, among other techniques, the interns will absorb all the knowledge and, throughout the internship, develop their personal research. In the end, they will give a lecture on the topic and present their final piece. This internship is guided by the mentorship of ZABRA’s directors - Carincur and João Pedro Fonseca.
ZABRA participated in the XXVI Lusófona International Week of Cinema and Media Arts, discussing the role of AI in contemporary creativity. Artistic directors Carincur and João Pedro Fonseca, along with resident artists Lua Carreira and Filipe Baptista, shared their ideas and projects involving artificial intelligence, addressing current concepts and future expectations. In a rapidly transforming world, the very foundations of our activity are being questioned. Creativity, which we perhaps mistakenly considered a bastion of humanity in what some have dubbed the "age of imagination," is no longer an exclusively human domain. Machines, particularly Generative AI systems, are swiftly occupying various territories of human creativity, presenting us with new challenges. The emergence of any technology throughout history brings with it both enthusiasm and panic, and we watch almost incredulously at the pace with which these systems evolve, challenging long-standing models and principles of artistic creation. This is the ideal moment to not only discuss what is already here but to talk about the boundaries we want to set, the limits we deem acceptable, and the opportunities we wish to seize.
ZABRA welcomed the SUB_BAR academy from its partner EUFONIA, a pilot project aimed at launching a musical ecosystem for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals based on subfrequencies. The music courses are organized and implemented by ZABRA, EUFONIA, and Studio M.A.R.S. Through this 72-hour course, students learn to compose and perform in this new creative medium, choosing their instruments from a variety of options, both hardware and software. This project starts in Lisbon and extends to Berlin and Vienna. The classes feature instruments provided by KORG and the ABLETON software. We couldn't be more thrilled with this collaboration and are eager to see the final results.
What is the impact of artificial intelligence on different forms of artistic expression, from writing to visual arts to music? What are its ethical and social implications? Researchers in the fields of computational creativity, artists, designers, legal experts, and investors in digital art assets will debate these questions at a conference organized by APDSI – Associação para a Promoção e Desenvolvimento da Sociedade da Informação, in partnership with Ciência Viva, the Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, and the Associação Portuguesa de Editores e Livreiros. Carincur talked about her work and practice with artificial intelligence.