May 1, 2024 | Boston & New York

The Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and Swissnex in Boston and New York are starting a collaboration around Kein Kino, an interdisciplinary lecture series presented by the ZHdK’s Department of Design.

As part of the series, Swissnex in Boston and New York will present three online lectures in 2024, featuring speakers from its creative networks in the northeastern US. On May 13, Ana Rajcevic, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, will introduce their work in hybrid human-embodiments, a multi-disciplinary inquiry that combines experimental art and design with research in technology, robotics, biomedicine, history, materials science, and psychology. Two further editions presented by Swissnex will follow in the fall semester.

Kein Kino is a lecture series presented online and in person at ZHdK’s on-campus cinema, Kino Toni, inviting speakers to discuss their projects at the intersection of design, art, and technology, from game design, to video art, social media, immersive arts, dance, theater, film, and new media. The series is intended as an invitation to exchange knowledge and to provide impulses for cross-disciplinary projects. The theme of the current edition of the series is “Design Realities – Future Technologies.”

The partnership with ZHdK is the latest step in Swissnex’s efforts to foster a cross-cultural dialogue on design, following on Lens of Impact, a conversation series in collaboration with the School of Art and Design History and Theory at the New School’s Parsons School of Design, and The Expanding Scope of Design, a report published last year with Boston-based design studio Other Tomorrows, exploring critical shifts in the design landscape across Switzerland and the US.