With dominant narratives about artificial intelligence competing with human creativity, this performance demonstrates how humans and digital entities can perform together on stage as creative companions.

Composer and audiovisual artist Zeno van den Broek composed Ways of [ ] for two leading musical ensembles – HIIIT and Percussions de Strasbourg – and four digital entities: robotic percussion machines programmed to perform both autonomously and in interaction with the human percussionists.

To train these entities, Van den Broek fed their algorithms with rhythmic data from their ancestors: mechanical technologies such as steam engines, looms, and other industrial machines. In this way, the digital entities gradually learned to respond to different materials and ways of playing – much like humans learn from their predecessors and respond to fellow performers.

Performance duration: 65 minutes

A ticket for this performance includes entry to the expo and the afterparty on Friday.