RAIVE AI Summer School

September 2-7, 2024

Royal Conservatoire Antwerp

On September 6, 2024 we invite you to the final presentation of RAIVE!
This will take place at 17.00 in De Gele Zaal of the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. After one week of creating collaboratively and interdisciplinary, the participants of the summer school will present the work they have been developing together under the guidance of four coaches. Take your agendas and save the date! Free entrance.

Alexandra Fraser performing at LAbO 2021 — Photo by Erik Berkey
Alexandra Fraser performing at LAbO 2021
Photo by Erik Berkey

RAIVE is a laboratory for young artists from diverse disciplines such as dance, music, technology, and visual arts. During this late summer school, students come together to redefine the boundaries of their craft through the lens of interdisciplinary collaboration. Here, the application of AI in art is approached much like creative writing is to literature, focusing on demystifying digital tools and hacking the conventions of traditional art-making.

The programme is structured to encourage autonomy while providing access to expert guidance. As participants, you will be divided into groups in which you will work for one week. During this process you both learn from each other and benefit from the insights of four coaches, skilled in different areas within the arts. These coaches are there to mentor as well as share their personal artistic journeys through lectures and performances, enriching the learning atmosphere.

Introductory workshops will guide you in how to work with AI and interactive audio. These sessions aim to empower you and your group to take your art into new and unexpected realms, balancing between the craft of creation and the freedom of exploration.

The culmination of this week-long journey is a public presentation held in De Gele Zaal of the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. This sharing isn't about showing polished pieces but rather the raw, intriguing results of a week's exploration of art and technology. It's an invitation to the public to witness the process and the progress of works that sit at the intersection of multiple disciplines, brought to life by the next generation of artists who are as interested in the mechanics of creation as they are in the aesthetics of their final output.

Coaches

Giusy Caruso

Giusy Caruso

Giusy Caruso is a pianist and artist-researcher who blends classical and contemporary music with advanced technologies like motion capture, virtual reality, and AI. As chair of the CREATIE group at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, she explores the intersection of art, science, and technology through immersive "phygital" performances that merge physical and digital realms. Her concerts, which often feature duets with her avatar in the Metaverse, challenge traditional formats and push musical expression into new territories. Caruso's innovative work has earned recognition such as the prestigious STARTS Prize from the European Commission.

Işıl Bıçakçı

Işıl Bıçakçı

Işıl Bıçakçı was born and raised in İstanbul. After graduating from Computer Sciences and realising coding and programming was not the profession she truly aimed for, her interests started to shift towards the performing arts. After studying acting in Theatre Academy and also performing there, she started her study of Contemporary Dance at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory in Istanbul. After her graduation and working for Istanbul State Opera and Ballet for years, she started creating her own performances that were already showing her talent for inviting subtle irony and a sense of humour as well as clarity to her work, which remains recognisable in her later works.

Umut Eldem

Umut Eldem

Umut Eldem is a composer, researcher, and creative programmer. He works as the coordinator of the research group CREATIE at Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, where he gives courses on music theory and audiovisual composition. As a Max Certified Trainer, he teaches and regularly organises workshops on creative coding for musicians. His compositions and research focus on the exploration of synaesthesia as an artistic medium. He has given lectures on his research of synaesthesia, and had his audiovisual works and installations combining sound and colours presented in many countries around the world.

Frederik De Bleser

Frederik De Bleser

Frederik De Bleser is a researcher and lecturer at Sint Lucas Antwerp. His research focuses on the connection between art and technology and the development of free software tools for artificial intelligence and data visualization. He is co-founder of the Algorithmic Gaze Research Group. He coordinates the master in digital media at Sint Lucas, and works as a freelance data visualisation artist, creating projects for Belgian news and online democracy platforms.

Location

Royal Conservatoire Antwerp

The Royal Conservatoire Antwerp is located near the vibrant Zuid district and serves as a hub for musical and performative talent. The Conservatory shares a campus with deSingel, an acclaimed arts centre known for its eclectic mix of music, dance, and theatre performances. Together, they form a cultural beacon within the city. The neighbourhood around the Conservatory is lively and artistic, dotted with galleries, cafés, and boutiques, reflecting the creative spirit of the institution.

Royal Conservatoire Antwerp
Desguinlei 25
2018 Antwerp
Belgium

Planning

7th of June: registration deadline
11th of June: first online meeting with all participants and coaches

Mon Sep 2: welcome, workshop, group project work, dinner
Tue Sep 3: workshop, group project work, sharing session
Wed Sep 4: morning warm-up, group project work, workshop, performance
Thu Sep 5: morning warm-up, group project work, group project try-out
Fri Sep 6: morning warm-up, setting up, group project work, final presentation, dinner and afterparty
Sat Sep 7: feedback session

The total price of the summer school is € 300,00.
Accommodation and travel costs are not covered by the organisation, but depending on the circumstances, your institute might cover the fee and the related costs through scholarships. We have 4 full scholarships for students from Sint Lucas Antwerpen.