Opening Event & Keynotes Creative Days Vienna 2026

He is co-author of the books The Extreme Self and The Age of Earthquakes, both with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Basar has been Commissioner at Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum since 2011; founding member of Fondazione Prada’s Thought Council; conducted special projects at Prada and Miu Miu; Curator of Public Program at Art Week Riyadh 2025; Expert Advisory Group for the Royal Commission of AlUla; Curator-at-Large at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai; and co-founder of web3 startup Zien. In 2025, Basar contributed to establishing Ibraaz, a London-located space for art, culture and ideas from the global majority. He's also known for his neologisms — such as "Endcore" and "Lorecore" — which act as navigational tools in the extreme present.

Based in London, her work explores how technology shapes myth. As Contributing Editor at Dazed Magazine and former External Research Associate at Moth Quantum, Günseli investigates internet folklore, tracking how emerging technologies – from AI to quantum computing – give rise to new ideologies, digital superstitions and collective fantasies. Her writing has appeared in Art Review, Dazed Magazine, Spike Art and 032c, as well as in publications for Aksioma, Ars Electronica, LAS Art Foundation, among others. As a member of the multidisciplinary audiovisual project The Talk, she collaborates with musicians James K and Heith, and architect Andrea Belosi, transforming research into immersive performance.

With a background in fashion design and visual art, she engages in interdisciplinary collaborations across performance, film and choreography. Her artistic practice examines how movement, music and cultural memory shape human experience, viewing rhythm as an alchemical force that reveals what humans carry within and across time, individually and collectively, emotionally and historically. Cat Jimenez’ own pieces have been presented, for example, at the imagetanz festival at brut Wien, the Ars Electronica Festival, Sound:Frame and the 12th Festival for Fashion and Photography. For three years in a row, Cat Jimenez curated the dance programme at the Kultursommer Wien festival.

NODE Media Lab is a Vienna-based, non-profit and multidisciplinary creative centre founded in 2021 by Ozan Turkkan and Burcu Öztürkler. The focus is on research and production of interdisciplinary experiences at the intersection of media art, science and technology. NODE Media Lab integrates new media technologies into the creative process and builds a bridge between digital and physical reality. As an interdisciplinary and collaborative platform, NODE Media Lab focuses on the relationship between technology, visual culture and performance in contemporary art. The central focus is on the promotion of digitisation and digital archiving - in Vienna and beyond.

Severin Matusek is a writer, strategist and founder of co–matter. He works with clients in the tech & creative industries such as Apple, Samsung, Adobe, Google, WeTransfer and Colette; and the cultural sector such as Serpentine, International Center of Photography and C/O Berlin. Severin is a mentor at NEW INC, a jury member of The Supporting Act Foundation and the host of The Culture & Technology Podcast. He holds a M.A. in philosophy from the University of Vienna and has taught and lectured widely on internet culture, community building and the future of the social web.

Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör has been head of Creativity & Business at the Vienna Business Agency since June 2014. In 2009, she co-founded the gallery festival "curated by_vienna”. In 2019, she and her team launched the Creative Days Vienna – a platform that deals with the opportunities of the latest technological and social developments for the creative industries. Noever-Ginthör is also active as a lecturer, juror and author.