31.08.2025 Welcome event @Weltecho Chemnitz
Time: starting at 18:00
Location: Weltecho Chemnitz, Annaberger Strasse 24, 09111 Chemnitz
Description: Performance and exhibition
Food and drink will be available on site but are not included
Performance
Soundscapes of Europe: Babel 2 (work-in-progress performance)
Language composition by Ellen Fricke (1998/2025) for solo female voices and choir, incorporating all European languages. Concerts and concert installations featuring both human and AI performers, created by Babelmanufaktur.
The original core concept of ‘Babel 1’ (1998) for human performers was to hear the abstract language system within the act of speaking. The new core concept for AI performers is to perceive the language model and its limitations through speech. (www.ellenfricke.de/texte/babel1).
The Babel Cycle 1–n, which originated in Chemnitz during its tenure as the European Capital of Culture in 2025, is intended for subsequent European Capital of Culture programs. The cycle will end when each European language’s AI performer is replaced by a human performer.
MuC 2025 performers include: Natalia Pschenitschnikova (Berlin), Ellen Fricke (Chemnitz) and an AI choir for Romance languages.
Natalia Pschenitschnikova is a singer, composer and performer of experimental and contemporary music with an impressive portfolio of premieres. She was also part of the original performance of Babel 1 in Berlin in 1998. www.natalia-pschenitschnikova.com
Ellen Fricke is a professor of German linguistics, semiotics and multimodal communication at Chemnitz University of Technology. She has composed and performed contemporary music and was a member of the Berlin Ensemble Zwischentöne from 1988 to 2002. www.ellenfricke.de.
Special thanks to: Maximilian Paolucci and Timo Freye, members of the Babelmanufaktur design team.
The Babel Cycle is dedicated to the Austrian composer Peter Ablinger (1959–2025).
This European Capital of Culture project is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and Chemnitz University of Technology.
Exhibition for Mensch und Computer 2025 – curated by Susan Strebe
As part of Mensch und Computer 2025, Susan Strebe is realising an exhibition that addresses current developments at the interface of technology, society and design. The curated
works address human-computer interaction in artistic, creative and reflective ways – from the application of artificial intelligence to body-related interfaces and speculative design projects.
The exhibition sees itself as a complementary format to the scientific conference: it brings together interdisciplinary positions that expand the conference discourse to include aesthetic, social and experimental dimensions. It not only presents results, but also visualises the processes and methods of design.
In her work, curator Susan Strebe combines technical expertise with creative thinking: as a student of computer science and communication sciences, computer science teacher, founder of Digitales Chemnitz and the Offene Blende Studio and as a board member of Kreatives Chemnitz, she is committed to promoting digital competence, creative self-efficacy and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her curatorial practice is characterised by a deep understanding of the social and cultural issues of digital transformation.
A contribution to the question of how we want to live with technology – and what it menas today to be human.
01.09.2025 Poster & Demo night
Time: 18:00 – 21:00
Location: Orangerie (outside area)
Drinks are provided, food can be bought from food trucks
02.09.2025 Networking Dinner @Kraftverkehr
Time: starting at 18:00
Location: Kraftverkehr, Fraunhoferstraße 60, 09120 Chemnitz
Live act: Prof. Bertolt Meyer (18:15 – 19:00)
After dinner DJ session: Bertolt Meyer & Giuseppe Sanseverino
Live Act: Bertolt Meyer
Bertolt Meyer is a professor at the Institute of Psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology. He is also a DJ, producer, and avowed modular enthusiast.
As an artist, Meyer makes dynamic, emotive house and techno with dancefloors in mind. He releases on the Berlin-based label DESSERT and his tracks have been remixed by the likes of Hannes Bieger and Mala Ika. As a DJ, he is a resident at his labels’ party at ://about:blank.
In creative terms, Bertolt Meyer prefers the controlled limitations of the modular over the overwhelmingly open-ended possibilities of a DAW. What makes his relationship with his modular setup unique is that Meyers is not only controlling it – he is an essential part of it: Meyer was born without his lower left arm. Instead of allowing this to hinder his creative pursuits, he hacked a prosthetic to create something truly special. His ‘Synlimb’ – a hacked prosthetic built with the help of Christian Zollner at KOMA Elektronik and his husband Daniel Theiler – allows Meyer to control some parameters of his modular setup with muscular signals sent directly from his mind.
Through his live performances and creative output, Meyers highlights the possibilities of creating and controlling music using the mind as a direct source of input. He is an artist who embodies the inclusive potential at the intersection of technology and human creativity.
