Visual Arts

3rd Symposium on Digital Art in Ireland [April 22, in person, UCC] Registration Open

Registration is now open for the 3rd Symposium on Digital Art in Ireland

April 22nd, 2026 in University College Cork

The symposium is a collaboration between Sample-Studios and University College Cork’s Department of Digital Humanities and Future Humanities Institute. The Symposium is generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

Registration is now open for the 3rd Symposium on Digital Art in Ireland. The symposium is a collaboration between Sample-Studios and University College Cork’s Department of Digital Humanities and Future Humanities Institute. The Symposium is generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

The Symposium will take place at University College Cork & the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, Fitzgerald’s Park 22nd April, 2026. It is chaired by Stephen Roddy, James O’Sullivan, Aoibhie McCarthy & Emer Yip.

Book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/3rd-symposium-on-digital-art-in-ireland-tickets-1985523941558

Participants and attendees may also be interested in submitting to Digital Art in Ireland: Theory, Practice, Futures, a new book that will be published in late 2026/early 2027:
https://www.blackwaterpublishing.com/digital-art-ireland

Symposium Programme

DATE 22nd April 2026

Symposium: 10am-5:15pm | Exhibition Opening Reception: 5:30-7pm 
Venue: Dora Allman, University College Cork
10am Opening Remarks
10.15am – 11.30am Session 1
  • FAILING SMALL: TRAINING A GENERATIVE AI MODEL WITH IMPERFECT DARKROOM IMAGES. Alaz Okudan with James McDermott , Centre for Creative Technologies, University of Galway
  • ARTISTIC ACCESS TO COMPLEX DIGITAL SYSTEMS THROUGH PARTICIPATORY DESIGN. Dr Paul Green and Juan Francisco Martinez, MTU Crawford College of Art & Design &  Nimbus Research Centre
  • A PRACTICE-LED APPROACH TO MUSIC VISUALISATION IN THE IRISH DIGITAL ARTS CURRICULUM. Guang Yang, University College Cork
Break 11.30-11.45am
11.45am – 1.00pm Session 2
  • FULLY SUBMERGED: COLLABORATIVE WORK AND IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES. Barbara Denier, University College Cork and Dr. Paul Green, MTU Crawford College of Art & Design
  • A MULTI-MODAL ADAPTIVE MICROTUNING ARCHITECTURE: BRIDGING MTS, MPE, AND MIDI 2.0 FOR REAL-TIME JUST INTONATION. Rui Su, Joseph Timoney, Damián Keller, Maynooth University
  • A LEGION OF DEVILS- THE ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SCULPTURE OF JAMES L HAYES. James L. Hayes, MTU Crawford College of Art & Design

Lunch 1-2pm
2.00pm – 3.15pm Session 3
  • CHROMAESTHESIA IN CURGENVEN’S AGENESIS. Robin Parmar, University of Limerick
  • CREATIVE TRANSPARENCY: REFLECTIONS ON A DEVELOPING HYBRID DIGITAL PRACTICE. Chris Falconer
  • ACCESSIBILITY AND MULTI-SENSORY INSTALLATION. Jane Cassidy, University of Galway’s Centre for Creative Technologies
Break 3.15-3.30pm
3:30pm – 4:15pm Panel
  • THE BODY AS HARDWARE: ENTANGLEMENT OF FLESH AND MACHINE THROUGH DIGITAL PERFORMANCE. EL Putnam (Maynooth University), Katherine Nolan (Technological University Dublin), Phaedra Shanbaum (Maynooth University)
4:15pm – 5:15pm Final Session
  • METAGARDENER: CULTIVATING LIFE IN INTERACTION DESIGN. Caileann Finn, University of Limerick
  • LUDDITE ACADEMY; TOWARDS A POLITICISED DIGITAL CREATIVE PRACTICE. David Benqué, Institute of Diagram Studies, Sample-Studios Member
  • COUNTER-ARCHIVAL METHODOLOGIES AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF MEMORY: THE IRAQ PHOTO ARCHIVE AND HOUSE OF MEMORY. Basil Al-Rawi 

Exhibition Opening

House of Memory,  Basil Al-Rawi

The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, 5.30-7pm

CLICK HERE

Additional details: https://sample-studios.com/events/3rd-symposium-on-digital-art-in-ireland/

‘How shall we do this?’ keynote with Alex Martinis Roe [Feb 26, NCAD, 18:00 GMT]

‘How shall we do this?’ keynote with Alex Martinis Roe

26 Feb 2026 / 18:00 / 1 hour 15 mins

Harry Clarke Lecture Theatre, NCAD

Booking required: https://imma.ie/whats-on/symposium-launch-how-shall-we-do-this-alex-martinis-roe

Feminist practices of researching and archiving minor histories, engage with the past to activate and develop their feminist, anti-colonial, anti-fascist and anti-capitalist politics. Alex Martinis Roe, artist, researcher and author of To Become Two: Propositions for Feminist Collective Practice.

Alex Martinis Roe’s practice seeks solidarity between different positions and generations, as a way of participating in the construction of cultures of difference. Making film installations, publications, workshops and dialogic public events, we gain insight into the artist’s use of transdisciplinary methods that combine writerly, performance and filmmaking methods with feminist and decolonial historiography, ethnography, and political organising.

In this lecture, Martinis Roe presents her expansive working methods that include: an ethnographic approach to archives, where communities guide Martinis Roe’s encounters with artefacts; using pedagogical formats to experiment with ways to learn about, tell and disseminate feminist concepts, methods and stories; using video as a collective transmission of embodied knowledge; working with different positionalities towards a plurality of values and narratives. Central to all of these methods is the importance of relationships: a commitment to radical relational processes of co-creating alternative systems of value and meaning. This relational politics starts from difference and creates kinships and alliances that exceed the dominant social order.

This opening address is followed by a drinks reception. This is the first of several events programmed as part a three-day symposium programme, How shall we do this? This leads onto the all-day symposium at IMMA on Friday 27 February 2026, from 10:30am, the programme concludes with a practice-based workshop on Saturday 28 February from 11am at IMMA. Read full details of these events on the main symposium webpage here.

Digital Changelings: 3D Scanning Nature [Feb 17 @ 12:00 GMT in person (Galway) and online]

Digital Changelings: 3D Scanning Nature

Date & Time: 12pm, Tuesday 17th February

Location: Studio 3, O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Galway

Registration

In person: https://ti.to/creative-tech/masterclass-liing-heaney

Zoom: https://universityofgalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jbqJZag_T0CrOoJBH1CAFA#/registration

Centre for Creative Technologies, University of Galway, Masterclass Series

In this session, multidisciplinary artist 1iing heaney will talk about the use of 3D scanning in her practice, and how it has informed her thinking on digital and ecological life. She will discuss the technical and creative application of the medium as she has implemented it across installation, sculpture, and video.

Speaker Bio
1iing heaney is a multidisciplinary artist based in Leixlip, Co. Kildare exploring the complex entanglements of the anthropocene, particularly between technology and ecology. She is currently a Masters by Research candidate in IADT, funded by scholarship from TU Rise Elevate. Working across diverse mediums such as 3D print, Extended Reality, stone, CGI, steel, and screen, her work is presented as immersive, sculptural, and screened experiences.

Upcoming:

Róisín Berg – Tuesday, 24 February

Tara Jaye Burke – Tuesday, 3rd March

Claire Healy  – Tuesday 24th March

Jane Cassidy – Tuesday 31th March

Funeral for Ashes: Combining Art, Ecology, and Immersive Technology [Nov 18, Online and in person, @12pm]. University of Galway Centre for Creative Technologies.

Funeral for Ashes: Combining Art, Ecology, and Immersive Technology

Date & Time: 12pm, Tuesday 18th November

Location: Studio 3, O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance, University of Galway

Join artists Conor Maloney and John Conneely for an in-depth masterclass on Funeral for Ashes, an immersive installation honouring Ireland’s endangered ash woodlands. Blending TouchDesigner, Bitwig Studio, LiDAR, and photogrammetry, the work transforms ecological data and human movement into a living, responsive environment of sound and light.


In this session, the artists will unpack the creative and technical process behind the piece — from 3D scanning native trees to synchronising generative audio and real-time visuals — and discuss how digital art can serve as both ritual and environmental reflection.

Register to Attend: https://ti.to/creative-tech/masterclass-funeral-for-ashes

Expanding Realities: XR at the Intersection of Hidden Histories, Biosciences, and Creative Technologies [Online and in person, Nov 4th, 12pm]. University of Galway Centre for Creative Technologies.

Expanding Realities: XR at the Intersection of Hidden Histories, Biosciences, and Creative Technologies

This masterclass with visiting Fulbright Specialist, Thomas Tucker of Virginia Tech, explores how Extended Reality (XR), including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, has become a transformative tool across disciplines. Drawing from his own creative practice and collaborative research, he will present case studies that demonstrate how XR bridges cultural heritage, bioscience and veterinary research, and interactive art.

The session will combine project documentation, live examples, and conceptual framing to illustrate how XR operates as both a research methodology and a medium for storytelling. Attendees will gain insight into how immersive technologies are reshaping education, cultural preservation, scientific research, and artistic innovation.

Highlights

Creative Installations: Immersive XR artworks, including Drosera Obscura and Sound Arcade, which integrate animatronics, sound design, and sensory elements. These projects showcase how XR can provoke ecological awareness and emotional reflection while pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Historic Reconstructions: XR as a means of digitally repatriating artifacts and reconstructing lived environments, from WWI trenches and Civil War battlefields to overlooked rural landscapes. These projects illustrate how immersive experiences can expand access to cultural memory and hidden histories.

Bioscience and Veterinary Simulations: XR applications in veterinary training, animal care, and biological research—such as simulations of bat flight and sonar perception in China—highlight how immersive environments can serve both scientific understanding and empathy building for professionals and students.

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Registration: https://ti.to/creative-tech/masterclass-thomas-tucker

This masterclass is part of a series run by the Centre for Creative Technologies at University of Galway.