Keynote: Rethinking Ecological Intelligences with James Bridle (Livestream)

What if intelligence is not limited to humans—or even machines?

In this thought-provoking keynote, artist, writer, and technologist James Bridle explores the shifting boundaries of knowledge and perception, asking what we might learn from the rich intelligences of animals, plants, and natural systems. As artificial intelligence reveals its own strange logics, Bridle turns our attention toward other, often-overlooked forms of sentience—inviting us to listen differently to the world around us.

Responding to the festival theme Ecology as Becoming, this keynote is a meditation on wonder, entanglement, and the urgent need to rethink our place within a more-than-human planet.

In keeping with the spirit of technological play and ecological care, this keynote will be livestreamed, with Bridle joining us live from Athens—an intentional act of connection across time and space that reflects the ideas at the heart of their work.

Purchase a single event for $15 or $20 for bundle deal with Machine Intelligence in Action: A Tech-shop workshop. Only 20 bundles avaliable.

* The livestream itself embodies the keynote’s themes of connection, technology, and ecological mindfulness

Speaker Bio

James Bridle is a writer, artist, and technologist. Their artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions and exhibited worldwide and on the internet. Their writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including Wired, the Atlantic, the New Statesman, the Guardian, and the Financial Times. They are the author of 'New Dark Age' (2018) and 'Ways of Being' (2022), and they wrote and presented "New Ways of Seeing" for BBC Radio 4 in 2019. Their work can be found at http://jamesbridle.com.

ABOUT THE STORY WORLDS FESTIVAL

Story Worlds is a new festival that invites audiences to experience storytelling as a rich, interconnected practice—through the written word, material culture, and oral traditions. Explore the programme, which stretches across Puke Ariki Museum, Libraries, and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre for four days of sessions that celebrate storytelling in all its forms and honour the ways stories help us make sense of ourselves, each other, and the world we share.

At Puke Ariki accessibility is very important to us. We want everyone in the community to be able to enjoy our museum and libraries. A lift goes from the St Aubyn Street car park to the museum entrance. There are three lifts inside Puke Ariki that will get you to all parts of the building.

This event will be held in the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre Cinema.

Host or Publisher Cultural Experiences: Puke Ariki Museum and Libraries & Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre