Symposium 2026 – The Experimental Museum
November 9–10, 2026
Puppentheatersammlung Dresden, Kraftwerk Mitte Dresden
As part of an ongoing collaboration between TU Dresden and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), hosted by the Puppentheatersammlung Dresden.
The symposium is dedicated to exploring the museum as a site of experimentation and brings together a diverse group of speakers for this purpose. The topic begins with the observation that museums, while traditionally places of conservation, are often simultaneously sites of rich technological, social and artistic experimentation. To better understand this duality, we invite speakers from a range of disciplines to discuss manifestations of technological, political, artistic, curatorial, computational, experiential, educational, theatrical, social experimentation in museum contexts.
We welcome a broad range of “experimentation”. This might be artistic exploration or technological innovation, or projects or methods that embrace chance and risk and trial and error, or the application of empirical methods to museology and the museum experience. Or novel and “experimental” conceptualisations of museums and their associated practices: risky reframings that may or may not prove fruitful.
The symposium will bring together researchers and experts from museology, science and technology studies, computer science, experience design, theatre and art, cultural studies and theory to share ideas, project case-studies, theories and results. Over the course of two days, we share thoughts and experiences with research projects and museum practices, artistic positions and theories and framings, with a focus on exchange of ideas across disciplines. One of the keynotes is being presented by Sarah Kenderdine (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland).
Other confirmed contributors are:
- Orit Halpern – Dresden University of Technology, Germany
- Christopher Salter – Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
- Gabriel Menotti – Queen’s University Kingston, Canada
- Priscila Arantes – University of São Paulo, Brazil
- Erik Champion – University of Adelaide, Australia
- Pablo Dornhege – Berlin University of Applied Sciences and Technology, Germany
The symposium marks the conclusion of the ANIMA project, a joint project between TU Dresden IXLAB and the SKD Puppentheatersammlung, exploring the use of AI and mixed reality to augment a theatre puppet collection. As part of the symposium, guided tours of the collection will be offered.
Preliminary Program
Participation & Registration for
Participation is free of charge and requires prior registration via online form.
The number of participants is limited to 50.