Maja Smrekar’s work work has been established in the international art and science milieu, exploring technologically and scientifically rooted processes and materials in the fields of biotechnology, ethology, ecology, artificial intelligence, etc. Her practice has allowed her to lead strong collaborations in developing cross conceptual productions (hybrid arts, performance, installations, site specific public art, video and sound) as well as contributions to knowledge exchanged within lectures, talks and texts. She has been a guest Artistic Teacher at The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana; The Faculty of Fine Arts, Belgrade; The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. For various years she has been an artistic associate of production platforms, such as Kapelica Gallery / Kersnikova Institute (SI), The Culture Yard (DK), Cultivamos Cultura (PT), Quo Artis Foundation (ES), etc. Selected awards: 1st Prize at the Cynetart festival 2012, European Centre for Arts Hellerau (Dresden/Germany), Honorary mention at the Ars Electronica festival 2013 and Prix Ars Electronica - Golden Nica 2017 in Hybrid Art (Linz/Austria). In 2018 she was awarded Prešeren Foundation Award - the highest national award for artistic achivements by the Republic of Slovenia. In 2020 she was selected as the Science Breakthrough of the Year 2020 Finalist by the Falling Walls Foundation (Berlin, Germany).
Daisy Hildyard is an author and academic based in the north of England. Her latest book The Second Body is an essay on the experiences of human-nonhuman relationships in the Anthropocene. Her novel Hunters in the Snow, about a historian and a farmer, won a Somerset Maugham Award and a ‘5 Under 35’ honorarium at the USA National Book Awards. From 2015-9 she ran a research project exploring how fictional forms might approach animality. She is currently working on a multispecies novel.
