June 4, 2025 – Shoreditch Arts Club, London
Innovation meets creation at the crossroads of art and technology
KIKK brings digital art & ideas to life at Belgium House
As part of the Belgium House at South by Southwest London, organised by Wallonia Brussels International, Walloon Exportation Agency, wake! by Digital Wallonia and The Belgian Embassy, KIKK is curating a dedicated panel on Art & Technology as well as a program of artist film screenings presented throughout the day.
Join us for a deep dive into the new frontiers of artistic creation, where immersive experiences, digital innovation, and critical perspectives converge.
PANEL – Art & Technology
⏰ 5:00 PM | Final panel of the day
📍Shoreditch Arts Club – 6 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DD
🎟 Free entry – Registration required
Right after the panel:
Networking cocktails kick off around 5:45 / 6:00 PM, followed by a DJ night to keep the rhythm going late into the evening. You’re warmly invited to stay and enjoy!
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Speakers
Moderator: Marie du Chastel – Curator & Artistic Director, KIKK Festival
Kay Watson – Head of Arts Technologies, Serpentine Galleries (UK)
Emmanuel Van der Auwera – Artist (BE)
Barney Steel – Creative Director, Marshmallow Laser Feast (UK)
BIOGRAPHIES
Marie du Chastel - moderator
Marie du Chastel is an art curator specialized in new media art based in Brussels. She is the artistic director of KIKK, a non-profit organisation exploring the crossovers between art, science, technology and society. At KIKK, she curates the KIKK Festival, oversees Le Pavillon, a 2,500m² museum dedicated to the same topics, and leads multiple artistic programs: artistic productions, residencies, art science collaborations, EU projects.
She is also the co-founder and artistic director of ikii, a creative studio that collaborates with world-renowned artists to transform live and entertainment projects, develop innovation labs, and support ambitious artistic and technological ventures.
Marie has been a member of the Digital Arts Commission of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation since 2014 and was awarded Francophone Woman of the Year by the AIMF in 2020.
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Kay Watson - Arts Technologies at Serpentine
Kay Watson is a researcher, producer and curator working with art and advanced technologies, photography and video games. She is currently Head of Arts Technologies at Serpentine and a Trustee of The Photographers' Gallery, Mediale and Brighton Photo Fringe.
She has worked at the Contemporary Art Society, The Photographers’ Gallery, Art Night with the ICA and co-organised projects with Hi Barbara and Hemera Collective. She also holds an MA History of Art with Photography (Distinction) from Birkbeck and a BA(Hons) in Fine Art New Media from Chelsea College of Art and Design, UAL.
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Emmanuel Van der Auwera
Emmanuel Van der Auwera (b. 1982, Belgium) is a multidisciplinary artist working across film, VideoSculpture, theater, and print. His work critically explores how mass media images shape our perception, emotions, and collective memory. Since 2012, he has investigated the rise of social media as a visual paradigm shift, focusing on the ethics of the gaze and the economy of emotion in contemporary imagery. His installations question the viewer’s role, revealing how we’ve become both spectators and spectacles. With a distinctive approach to visual literacy, Van der Auwera constructs new ways of reading images in an age of simulation. He is a laureate of the HISK post-academic program (2015) and winner of the Young Belgian Art Prize and the Goldwasserschenking Award. His solo shows include HEK (CH), Le Botanique (BE), and IKOB (BE), and he has participated in group exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo (FR), KW Institute (DE), and the Yokohama Triennale (JP), among others. His work is held in major collections such as MAC’s, WIELS, Mu.ZEE, KANAL-Centre Pompidou, and the Dallas Museum of Art. A monograph dedicated to his practice was published by Yale University Press & Mercator Fonds in 2020.
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Barnaby Steel - Creative Director
Barnaby Steel is an artist and creative director of London-based experiential artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Barnaby’s art practice centres on the senses; enticing audiences into states of expanded perception, a space where the boundaries between bodies blur. His work is deeply rooted in scientific observation as a window that allows us to look through and beyond our own experience, to understand the complexities of things hidden from the naked eye. His work steps outside the human- centred worldview, exploring the threads that weave us into relationship with the more than human world.
Of the Oak, 2025 An Artwork by Marshmallow Laser Feast: Ersin Han Ersin, Barnaby Steel, Robin McNicholas. Commissioned by Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Currently on view at Kew Gardens.
Screenings of art films 5 PM to 10 PM:
Screenings of films by artists from Wallonia-Brussels Federation in the cinema (71-minute loop) from 5 PM to 10 PM with
Stéphanie Roland – Le Cercle Vide – 18 min.
Ariane Loze – If you didn’t choose A, you will probably choose B – 20 min.
Emmanuel Van Der Auwera – White Cloud / 白云 – 20 min.
Ethel Lilienfeld – EMI – 13 min.
2 films projected directly in the venue on the 2 screens of the 1st floor:
:mentalKLINIK - Hypercloud on Sky 1
:mentalKLINIK - Hypercloud on Sky 2
Curated by KIKK - Marie du Chastel
Ethel Lilienfeld - EMI
The panels program of the day:
1 PM – Immersive Tech in Belgium and the UK
Description: In 2023, XR (Extended Reality) reached a global revenue of around $100 billion. This figure is expected to quintuple by 2030. In Wallonia, the sector is supported by the IIS 'XR Wallonia HITT – Human Interaction Technology Transfer', an active member of wake! For comparison, the global video game industry is estimated at $250 billion, equivalent to the cinema and music sectors combined. This panel will be led by representatives from HiTT, Innovate UK’s Immersive Tech Network and the organiser of the European XR festival Stereopsia.
Panel Organiser: Mathieu Demaré, Advisor in Digital Strategy - Innovation Ecosystems - HiTT; Alexandra Gerard, Stereopsia
Moderator:
Panelist 1: Asha Easton – Innovate UK - Immersive Tech Network
Panelist 2: Alexandra Gérard - Stereopsia + United XR Europe
Panelist 3: Camille Donegan - Eirmersive (TBC)
2 PM – The Future of Media: Navigating Innovation and Emerging Challenges
Description: The media landscape is undergoing rapid transformation, influenced by technological advancements, evolving audience behaviors, and the continuous emergence of new platforms. This panel brings together industry leaders to discuss the future trajectories of media, examining the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Topics will include the integration of artificial intelligence, the concept of liquid content, and the role of collaborative networks like Future Media Hubs in fostering innovation. Through the presentation of case studies from the network, attendees will gain insights into successful strategies for navigating the evolving media ecosystem.
Panel Organiser - Moderator: Loïc De Visscher, Corporate Innovation Manager at RTBF
Panelist 1: Panelist: Sofie Hvitved: Futurist, Senior Advisor and Head of Media at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies. Her passion lies within the intersection of media and technology, and how the future media landscape is going to unfold.
Panelist 2: Eleni Sharp: Head of Product - New Propositions at the BBC, Eleni specialises in setting up and facilitating open innovation in large organisations, her and her teams work is multi award winning and has been spoken about on a global stage.
Eleni has previously run the BBC’s Innovation Labs as well as world first research projects, high profile consumer digital products and prior to joining the BBC she worked with many well known brands on their digital strategy.
3 PM – The Development of SportTech: How Technology and AI Can Help the Sports Industry
Description: A concrete example of collaboration between Belgium and the UK: the Belgian startup Raw Stadia works with various UK partners, using advanced data collection techniques on playing surfaces to optimize both player performance and field conditions.
Panel Organiser - moderator: Héloïse Devaux, Program & Partnership Manager – Leansquare, SportsTech Belgium
Panelist 1: Xavier Péters: CEO LeanSquare & Investment Senior Manager, Board Member SportsTech Belgium
Panelist 2: Anthony Cioppa: Professor at University of Liège, expert in AI for Sports
Panelist 3: Olivier Barniche: Head of Innovation, EVS
4 PM – Amplifying Futures: The Pulse of Innovation in Music Tech
Description: The music industry is in the throes of a revolution driven by cutting-edge technology and bold creative minds. This panel unites a trailblazing innovation leader, a groundbreaking music tech researcher, and a visionary startup advisor to explore how technology is reshaping the music landscape. From harnessing AI and immersive experiences to pioneering sound design and scaling music ventures, we'll dive into the future of music and its intersection with creativity, technology, and business. Our expert panelists will uncover the secrets to fostering innovation, bridging the gap between artists, technologists, and investors, and pushing the boundaries of what music can achieve in the 21st century.
Panel Organiser - moderator: Coralie Doyen, Director, Wallifornia MusicTech
Panelist 1: Alber K (BE)
Panelist 2: Anthony Achille (UK) or Karim Fanous
Panelist 3: Amalie Briden (UK)
Panelist 4 : Stijn Verdonckt (BE)
5 PM – Digital Arts & Technologies
Description: A panel exploring how digital technologies are transforming the arts, through creative experimentation, immersive experiences, and cross-disciplinary innovation. From AI in curation to digital installations and new media formats, speakers will highlight pioneering practices from Belgium and the UK.
Panel Organiser - moderator: Marie Du Chastel, Art Curator & Artistic Director, KIKK Festival
Panelist 1: Kay Watson, Head of Art and Technology at Serpentine Galleries, UK
Panelist 2: Emmanuel Van der Auwera, artist from Belgium
Panelist 2: Barney Steele, Creative Director at Marshmallow Laser Feast, UK
6 PM onwards networking drinks and party with DJ sets
We’re hosting a festive evening as part of the Belgium House off-program — with drinks, Belgian DJs, good vibes, and of course… Belgian beers 🍻.
Dj sets by
Nathan Colinet - Music Producer and founder of Warmer People
Surfing Leons aka Mathieu Fonsny - Music producer and curator of Dour Festival and Fifty Lab festival in Belgium.