Nerdy Arts – Closing Event

GRA & VU Student Presentations at VU Amsterdam

With a Keynote Talk by Kim Baraka (Assistant Professor in AI, VU):
Perspectives at the intersection between robotics and the performing arts

13 May 2025, 14:00–17:00 (walk-in from 13:30)

Location: Eventspot in the NU Building
(the building with the green and pink lampions inside, at the top of the tall escalator)
NU-4C07, NU Building
De Boelelaan 1111, 1081 HV Amsterdam

Language: English
Entry: Free, including drinks
Accessibility: The location is elevator-accessible. Please reach out if you have specific accessibility needs.
RSVP (optional, for headcount & drinks): https://networkinstitute.org/2025/04/23/nerdy-arts-event/

Join us on 13 May for the closing event of Nerdy Arts, an interdisciplinary collaboration between students from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (GRA) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU University). This afternoon brings together presentations, experiments, and insights from across the boundaries of art, science, and technology.

Program Highlights:

  • Keynote by Kim Baraka (Assistant Professor in AI, VU): Perspectives at the intersection between robotics and the performing arts
  • Informal presentations by students from GRA and VU
  • Discussion, mingling, and drinks

Students present research and speculative concepts exploring themes such as: impact of smells on memory, depression and neuroimaging, location and movement based audio and performance, mapping the Dutch colonial empire, interactive soft-robotics with liquids and gasses, societal issues and news permeation, femme perspectives on artificial intelligence, and computationally supported metaphor analysis.

This is a chance to engage with student-driven research in progress and explore how creative thinking can meet innovation, social reflection, and critical inquiry.

This event also invites new connections and potential collaborations between students, researchers, and staff interested in crossing disciplinary boundaries. If you’re curious about exploring future interdisciplinary projects, this is a great moment to connect and start a conversation.

Participating GRA Students:

Participating VU Students:

  • Helen Petronella Arts
  • Jakub Frac
  • Jagoda Hanuszewicz
  • Urtė Jakubauskaitė
  • Julia Janssen
  • Gavin Lip
  • Alexander Schmatz
  • Lewis Shanahan
  • Bastiaan Thijs Sizoo
  • Summer Skillen
  • Floor Tazelaar
  • Zixuan Wang

About Nerdy Arts

From 22 April to 13 May, students from the Nerdy Arts program at GRA work at VU Amsterdam, alongside VU students from the Network Institute Academy Projects. Together, they explore intersections of artistic and scientific research.

Presentations and small exhibitions are on view throughout the NU Building, including:

  • The street-side corner space
  • Eventspot (top of the escalator at NU building)

All presentations are free and open to students, staff, and curious visitors.

We especially welcome researchers, educators, and students from across GRA and VU who are interested in experimental approaches or co-developing future initiatives.

Organized by:

  • Jojo (Joris) Landman (Nerdy Arts, Experimental Interdepartmental New Technology Program, GRA)
  • Ivano Malavolta & Mauricio Verano Merino (Network Institute, VU)

In collaboration with:

  • Art Science Gallery

With many thanks to everyone at GRA and VU who helped make this possible!

More info: https://rietveldacademie.nl/en/page/33308/nerdy-arts