Varvara & Mar is an artist duo formed by Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet in 2009. Often duo’s work is inspired by the digital age. In their practice, they confront social changes and the impact of the technological era. In addition to that, Varvara & Mar are fascinated by artificial intelligence, kinetics, audience participation, and digital fabrication, which are integral parts of their work.

The artist duo has exhibited their art pieces in a number of international shows and festivals. Varvara & Mar has exhibited at MAD in New York, FACT in Liverpool, Santa Monica in Barcelona, Barbican and V&A Museum in London, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica museum in Linz, ZKM in Karlsruhe, etc.

In addition to that, the duo has completed various commissions, like Neuronal Landscapes (2018) for Estonian History Museum, Wishing Wall (2014) for Google and Barbican in frames of Digital Revolution exhibition, and more. In 2017 they have completed a public art commission in Tallinn for NUKU Theatre and have been awarded several times the 2nd and the 3rd prizes for public art in Estonia.

Varvara (born in Tartu, Estonia) holds the position of Assistant Professor in Computational Media and Arts at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (GZ). Previously she has held positions at the Estonian Academy of Arts and ELISAVA School of Design in Barcelona. Varvara has a PhD in art from the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her dissertation “From interaction to post-participation: the disappearing role of the active participant” can be found here. Varvara has also a master’s degree in digital media from ISNM in Germany and a bachelor’s degree in IT from Estonian IT College.

Mar (born in Barcelona) is PhD candidate in BFM at Tallinn University and a research fellow at Cudan Open Lab. He has two degrees: in art and design from ESDI in Barcelona and in computer game development from University Central Lancashire in UK. He also has gained a master’s degree from Interface Cultures at the University of Art and Design Linz. In addition to that, Mar is a co-founder of Derivart and Lummo.

Varvara and Mar are both members of the Estonian Artists Association.



GRANTS/AWARDS/RESIDENCIES


2023 residency Wild Bits, Maajaam, Estonia
2023 residency research project A Third Hand, ECAL, Lausanne, Swithcerland
2022 award Startup meets Artist for Time‑lapse migration project, Mediafutures, EU funding program S+T+ARTS
2022 residency, DDTLab in Trbovlje, Slovenia
2022 innovation award, Slovenian Ministry of Technology Development
2022 residency, Espacio Open, Bilbao, Spain
2021 acquisition by the National Collection of Contemporary Art of the Generalitat de Catalunya
2021 one of the winning works of Voronja Gallery Sculpture Garden competition
2021 residency, Abello Museum, Mollet del Valles, Spain
2021 residency, Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture, San Sebastian, Spain
2021 6 months artistic practice grant by Cultural Endowment of Estonia
2021 best creative project of Tallinn University 2021 for NeuroKnitting Beethoven project
2021 RUK residency at DDTLab in Trbovlje, Slovenia
2020 2nd prize, public art competition VITA building by Tallinn University, Estonia
2019 Finalists of Boyce-Gyro Beach Park Public Art Stage Two by City of Kelowna, Canada
2019 WasteArt residency, Latvia and Estonia
2019 JustMad residency in Espacio Oculto (Madrid), Spain
2018 2nd prize, public art competition Fat Margaret by Marine Museum of Estonia
2018 Maajaam residency, Estonia
2017/18 3angled residency in hTh – CDN de Montpellier (Montpellier, France), Eufònic (Tierras del Ebro, Cataluña), Addaya Centre d’Art Contemporani (Mallorca)
2017 A.I.R. Blekinge Baltic One residency, Sweden
2017 SPUR residency at Bolit Contemporary Art Centre, Girona, Catalonia.
2017 12 months artistic practice grant by Cultural Endowment of Estonia
2017 FAM residency, Fab Lab Limerick, Ireland
2016 12 Miradas Riverside residency in Riveira Sacra
2016 3rd prize, public art competition of Põlva Gümnaasium by RKAS, Estonia
2016 1st prize, public art competition NUKU Theatre by RKAS, Estonia
2016 3rd prize, public art competition Pronksi 12 by RKAS, Estonia
2016 3 months artistic practice grant by Cultural Endowment of Estonia
2016 Rambleta art production and research grant, Valencia, Spain.
2015/16 Finalists of Green Square Library and Plaza Public Art Stage Two by City of Sydney
2015 FabAwards 3rd prize
2015 1st prize of Instructables 3D Printing Contest
2013 SUBNET AIR residency in Salzburg, Austria
2013 FLOSS residency at Constant Variable, Brussels, Belgium
2012/13 residency at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, Seoul, Korea
2012 residency at Marginalia+Lab, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2012 award of Baltic Goes Digital contest, Gdansk, Poland
2012 residency at Verbeke Foundation, Belgium
2012 M4m Artist in Residency at MU Gallery, Eindhoven, NL
2011 Artist in Residency at Crida, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2011 EMARE Artist in Residency at FACT Liverpool, UK
2011 Collaborative Research Residency at FFKD in Copenhagen
2010 Jury Prize for media art installation at 23rd Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Germany


SOLO EXHIBITIONS


2023 Abello, Imaginary Landscape, Abello Museum, Mollet del Valles, Spain
2022 After Everyone Left for Planet B, Kanal Gallery, Võru, Estonia
2022 Psychedelic Trips, Alalimon Gallery, part of ISEA 2022 and Barcelona Gallery Weekend programs
2022 Synthetic Landscapes, Digitaliseum, Malmö, Sweden
2021/22 Dream Painter, Tabakalera, San Sebastian, Spain
2020 NeuroKnitting Beethoven, telematic performance curated by Susa Pop, Hong Kong Art Centre and Art Center Nabi in Seoul with Goethe Insitute
2020 We Are the Clouds, UrbanScreen, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, Canada
2019 Chameleon, New Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2018 Surveillance Capitalism, Sodų 4 gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2018 Chameleon, Tallinn Art Hall Gallery, Estonia
2018 Digital Stitches, Narva Art Residency, Estonia
2018 Super Documentation, Addaya Contemporary Art Centre, Mallorca, Spain
2017 Chameleon, Abello Museum, Mollet del Valles, Spain
2017 Data Soup, ArtDealProject Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2017 Knitting Experiments, Draakoni Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
2017 Data Soup, Digitaliseum, Malmö, Sweden
2016 Chameleon, Rambleta art centre, Valencia, Spain
2016 #digitallandscapes, Lo Pati Art Centre, Spain
2015 Tree of Hands, curated by Oyuki Matsumoto, Malmö Live concert hall, Sweden (22nd Oct – 22nd Nov).
2015 KnitFabSuper Surface Space Moscow, Russia (28th Sept – 16th Oct)
2014 Knitting Experiments, curated by Jerneja Rebnak, Maribor City Gallery, Slovenia (29th Aug – 28th Sept)
2014 Traveling Fish, Design and Architecture Gallery in Tallinn, Estonia (13th – 22nd March)
2012 SPAMpoetrySTPLN, Malmö, Sweden (11th – 18th May solo show,)
2011 Execution #X, IAMAS OS, Ogaki, Japan (17th-21st June)


GROUP EXHIBITIONS


2024 Visions of Destruction, TEI 2024 Art Gallery, Cork School of Music, Ireland
2023 Various works, in group show Cultural Analysis & Synthesis curated by Mar Canet, Cultural Data Analytics Conference 2023, Tallinn University, Estonia
2023 Visions of Destruction, Unruly Times, Art Gallery SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, Sydney, Australia
2023 Beneath the Cloud, group show Loading Ceramics curated by Martin Melioranski and Lauri Kilusk, Estonian Museum of Architecture, Tallinn, Estonia
2023 Keep Smiling, Panoràmic Festival, Fundació Lluís Coromina – Espai Isern Dalmau, Barcelona
2023 Interactive NeuroKnitting, ACM VINCI Art Gallery Ripples Across The Latent Space, HKUST(GZ), Guangzhou, China
2023 Synthetic Landscapes, ISEA2023 Paris, curated by Vincent Auvray, Digitale Zone in Marseille and Caen, France 
2023 WiFipedia Buenos Aires, group exhibition Asuntos de nuestro espacio curated by Cristian Reynaga, EAC Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo, Montevideo, Uruguay
2023 Psychedelic Forms, ACM TEI Art Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2023 Circular Knitic, group exhibition Fait Machine curated by Noëlig Le Roux & Margherita Balzerani, MIAM museum, Sete, France
2022 Keep Smiling, SIGGRAPH Asia 2022 art gallery, Daegu, South Korea
2022 NeuroKnitting Beethoven, VISAP, VIS IEEE 2022, Oklahoma City, USA
2022 Dream Painter, ACM Multimedia conference art gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
2022 Keep Smiling, DRHA conference art gallery curated by Bill Balaskas, Stanley Picker Gallery
2022 Keep Smiling, xCoAx conference art gallery, Coimbra, Portugal
2022 Synthetic-scapes of Tartu, group exhibition VAIM curated by Reet Varblande and Mare Taska,Tartu University Museum
2022 Psychedelic forms, group exhibition Art Mesh curated by Torun Ekstrand, Cultural Center Ronneby Art Gallery, Sweden
2021/22 HUMANS NEED NOT TO COUNT, group show Decision Making curated by Dominique Moulon and Alain Thibault, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France
2021/22 Keep Smiling, group show El desempleo tecnológico curated by Adonay Bermúdez, Tabakalera, San Sebastian, Spain
2021 NFT Shop, Crypto Roots curated by Albert Barqué part of the Sónar Festival Sonar Plus
2021 POSTcard Landscapes from Lanzarote I, II at DA Fest (International Digital Art Festival) curated by Venelin Shurelov and Galina Dimitrova-Dimova in Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 NeuroKnitting, group exhibition Soft Negotiations curated by Varvara Guljajeva and Textile Department of EKA, EKA Gallery, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn
2021 Hidden Dimensions, group show Quantum Critic curated by Natalia Alekseeva, Ramiro Camelo, Timo Tuhkanen, Myymälä2 pop-up gallery, Helsinki and at Masters art school, St.Petersburg.
2021 Drawing Automata and I, Human and Eva, festival Speculum Atrium, Trbovlje, Slovenia
2021 Signal of the World, online group show Instructions Instructions Follow curated by Pau Waelder at Feral File
2021 NFT Shop, UIT festival curated by Kadri Lind and Marie Kliiman, Tartu, Estonia
2021 SPAMpoetry, group show Linz: City of Media Arts – The Art of Interface curated by Christa Sommerer and Cesar Escudero Andaluz, Macao International Art Biennale 2021, Chief Curator Yao Feng, Mong-Ha Villas, Macao
2021 Rescue Plan, group show Life in Decline curated by Francisco Martinez, Estonian Mining Museum in Kohtla-Nõmme, Estonia
2021 Phantom Landscapes of Buenos Aires, +CODE Festival curated by Tania Puente and Cristian Reynaga in Buenos Aires, Argentina
2021 POSTcard Landscape from Lanzarote I, II, art gallery CONSTRUCTING CONTEXTS of the Symposium Art Machines 2.0 curated by Tobias Klein and Rodrigo Guzman-Serrano, in City University Hong Kong
2020 POSTcard Landscape from Lanzarote I, II, group show Expeditions curated by Victor G. Moreno, festival Veintinueve trece, Lanzarote, Spain
2020 Under the Water, group show Ecodata-Ecomedia-Ecoaesthetics curated by Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits and Yvonne Volkart, RIXC Art Science Festival, NationalLibrary of Latvia, Riga
2020 Data Shop, group show BIG D@T@! BIG MON€Y! curated by Michael Arzt, HALLE 14 in Leipzig, Germany
2020 The Rhythm of Heart, group show Data are emotions | Emotions are data curated by Joanna Rutkowska and Magda Kochanowska, Gdynia Design Days, Poland
2020 Data Shop, group show E scap ES, Association of Electronic Art and Experimental, Centro C. Galileo, Madrid, Spain
2019/20 Binoculars to…Binoculars from…, group show Open Codes by ZKM curated by Blanca Giménez, Rakel Esparza, Fernando Pérez, Jaime de los Ríos at Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Spain
2019/20 PlasticLand, traveling exhibition “NOT out of sight, NOT out of mind” in frames of WasteArt project in Latvia and southern Estonia for 2 years
2019 Wifipedia of Buenos Aires, group show Asuntos de nuestro espacio curated by Cristian Reynaga, Centro Cultural Rojas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2019 Data Shop, Nemo biennale “Autonomie Zero” curated by Gilles Alvarez and Dominique Moulon, Cité internationale des arts Paris, France.
2019 The Rhythm of Heart, symposium Unboxing e-Realities curated by Christiane Kühl, Goethe Insitute Estland, in Vaba Lava, Tallinn, Estonia
2019 Data Shop, group show Breaking the 5th Wall, Pixelache festival, Helsinki, Finland
2019 Fantasy of Escape, group show Wunderkammer: Utopic Objects curated by Ricardo Iglesias, Library Fine arts of the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
2019 HUMANS NEED NOT TO COUNT , group show Objects of Attention curated by Francisco Martínez, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn
2018/19 Detecting alcoholism, Not just us, Small Addicts, group show HOOKED curated by Hannah Redler Hawes, Science Gallery London
2018/19 HUMANS NEED NOT TO COUNT group show Open Codes curated by Peter Weibel et al., ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
2018 WifiPedia and Data Drops, group show OOPS curated by Julian Stadon, Gallery University of Hertfordshire Arts, Hatfield, UK
2018 Data Shop, Digital Design Weekend, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
2018 Wishing Well, group show “Eesti kui mõtteline ruum” (part of EV100 art program) curated by Kairi Orgusaar, Rapla County Contemporary Art Centre, Estonia
2018 Sunday Painter, group exhibition Wild Bits curated by Timo Toots, Taavi Suisalu, Kadri Lind, and Marie Kliiman, Maajaam
2018 Binoculars to… Binoculars from… , Ghent Light Festival, Belgium
2017 The Rhythm of HeartThe Big OtherEufònic Festival, Museu de la Mar, Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Spain
2017 The Rhythm of Heart, The Big OtherMEQ Festival, hTh, Montpellier, France
2017 Smile, Maintenant Festival, Rennes, France
2017 Tree of HandsCulture Festival SÄRIN, Rapla County Contemporary Art Centre, Estonia
2017 Data Shop, group exhibition PERRO curated by Javier Galan, Hobusepea gallery,Tallinn, Estonia
2017 Flat Knitic, group show Future Makers, Fab Lab Limerick, Ireland
2017 SmileGLOW Winter Light Festival, Calgary, Canada
2017 HUMANS NEED NOT TO COUNT, group show HUMANS NEED NOT APPLY curated by Amber Case and William Myers, Science Gallery Dublin, Ireland
2016 SmileTAVA Tartu Light Festival, Estonia
2016 Detecting alcoholism. Not just us, small addictsIngravid Festival, Santa-Monica, Barcelona and Museum of L’Emporda, Spain
2016 The Rhythm of Wind, exhibition Arts in Nature Horizons 2016, Sancy natural park, France
2016 Data Drops, group show Reverberadas, ETOPIA, Zaragoza, Spain
2016 SmileTree of Hands, Glitch’d Hit, group show Remote Signals curated by Pau Waelder, ARS building in frames of Iberofest, Tallinn, Estonia (14th-20th March)
2016 Speed of Markets, group exhibition In Time (The Rhythm of the Workshop) curated by Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator Shannon R. Stratton at MAD, New York (22nd Feb – 22nd May)
2016 Wishing Wall, group exhibition Digital Revolution curated by Conrad Bodman, Zorlu Centre, Istanbul, Turkey (16th Feb – 12th June)
2016 Smile Tallinn Winter Festival, Estonia (5th – 7th Feb)
2016 Rhythm of City, group exhibition Real Time curated by Pau WaelderArts Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain (28th Jan to 10th April)
2016 WifiPedia, group show Väljavaade curated by Keret Altpere, Gallery Noorus, Tatru, Estonia (28th Jan – 13th Feb)
2016 SPAMpoetry, TADAEX festival, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran (1st – 8th Jan)
2015 Data DropsDTL 2015, MIT Media Lab, Boston, USA (16th – 17th Nov)
2015/16 Wishing Wall, group exhibition Digital Revolution curated by Conrad Bodman, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, Greece (19th Oct’15 – 10th Jan)
2015 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from…Aurora Festival, Dallas, Texas, USA (16th Oct)
2015 Circular KniticLondon Design FestivalV&A Museum, London, UK (26th-27th Sept)
2015 WiFipedia, group show TL;DR curated by Stacey KooselTallinna Kunstihoone Gallery (31st July – 23rd Aug)
2014/15 Circular Knitic, group show DOERS curated by David Cuartielles, Etopia, Zaragoza, Spain (Dec’14 – July)
2014/15 Wishing Wall, group exhibition Digital Revolution curated by Conrad Bodman, Tekniska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (Oct 14 – Aug)
2014 The Highest Human Tower (Mobile World Capital commission), Music+Art exhibition in Mobile World Centre, Barcelona, Spain (21st Oct-13th Dec)
2014 Wireless Poetry and Revealing Digital Landscape, group show Systema curated by Aja Martin, Zhulong gallery, Dallas, TX, USA (25th Oct-29th Nov)
2014 The Rhythm of City, group exhibition Digital City curated by Daniel Artamendi, Donostia Kultura, San Sebastian, Spain(17th Oct-15th Dec)
2014 Shopping in 1 MinuteSuur-Lasnamae Urban Art Event, Tallinn, Estonia (24th Sept – 9th Nov)
2014 Wishing Wall, a commissioned piece by Google and Barbican Centre, group exhibition Digital Revolution curated by Conrad Bodman, Barbican Centre, London, UK (3rd July – 14th Sept)
2014  NeuroKnitting, group exhibition CornerArtDealProject gallery, Barcelona, Spain, (19th June – 17th Aug)
2014 The Rhythm of CityFestival CTI, Barcelona, Spain (14 – 29th June)
2014 Wireless Poetry and Revealing Digital Landscape, group show The Hypnotist Collector curated by Stacey Koosel, Nauart gallery, Barcelona, Spain (6th-27th June)
2014  The Rhythm of City, group show Hybrid Artthe Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn, Estonia (29th May – 24th Aug)
2014 NeuroKnitting, group show Klanghypothesen subnet AIR, Stadtgalerie Lehen, Salzburg, Austria (6th-22nd March)
2013 The Rhythm of City, group show Transreal Topologies curated by Julian Stadon, Adelaine, Australia
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at iMal in Brussels in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at Federal Square Melbourne, Australia  in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at Riga2014 in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at MediaLab Prado Madrid  in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at CHB in Berlin in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at Bauhaus Fest in Dessau  in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at Ars Electronica museum  in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at FACT Liverpool in frames of Connecting Cities
2013 Binoculars to.. Binoculars from… at Media Facade Festival Helsinki (part of Connecting Cities)
2013 SPAMpoetry, group show Technical Textiles, Berlin, Germany (11th-13th April)
2013  The Rhythm of Sao Paulo, The celebrations of Sao Paulo city , FIESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil (24th -27th Jan )
2012 The Rhythm of Sao PauloSP_Urban Digital Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil (09th-12th Dec)
2012 The Rhythm of CityEl Centro San Martin, Buenas Aires, Argentina (29th Nov-10th Dec)
2012 Kombi and Knitic, group show Marginalia+Lab, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (28th Nov-02nd Dec)
2012/13 Shopping in 1 Minute, group exhibition DIY, DASA, Dortmund, Germany (Sept-April)
2012 Baltic Sea Radio, Baltic Goes Digital award show, Gdansk City Gallery, Poland (14th Sept-04th Nov)
2012 SPAMpoetryMalmö Festivalen, Malmö, Sweden (17th-24th Aug)
2012 SPAMpoetryIncubarte Festival, Valencia, Spain (21st-23rd June)
2012 Echinodermata, Flux of Sea, Sonima, group show Naturalezas: hiper-vidas y micro-relatos, MOB, Barcelona, Spain (13th March-13th April)
2012 EchinodermataJUSTMAD3 Art Fair,Madrid, Spain (16th-19th Feb)
2011/12 Shopping in 1 Minute, group exhibition DIY, Frankfurt and Berlin Communication Museums (Aug 2011 – Aug 2012)
2011 Flux of Sea, performance, Es Baluard Contemporary Art Museum of Palma, Palma, Spain (09th Dec)
2011 The Rhythm of CityElektronika Festival, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (12th-27th Nov)
2011 The Rhythm of CityLAB30 festival, Augsburg, Germany (27th-29th Oct)
2011 The Rhythm of CityVAD Festival, Girona, Spain (06th-15th Oct)
2011 Popcorn for CyclingAND Festival, Liverpool, UK (23rd Sept-02nd Oct)
2011 RepairStation, performance, FFKD, Copenhagen, Denmark (20th May)
2011 The Rhythm of CityEnter5 biennial, CIANT, Prague Czech Republic (14th-23rd April)
2011 Echinodermata and SonimaLiveHerring11 biennial, Saarijärvi, Finland(08th April-08th June)
2010 Shopping in 1 MinuteKiblix Festival, Kibla Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia (18th-28th Nov)
2010 Augmented PhotographyUAMO Festival, München, Germany (21st-24th Oct)
2010 Augmented Photography and My Name is 192.168.159.16, White Night, Skopje, Macedonia (2nd Oct)
2010 My Name is 192.168.159.1623rd Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Germany (20th-30th Jan)

TALKS


2023 Conference presentation: Visions of Destruction at NeurIPS 2023 Workshop in New Orleans, USA
2023 Conference presentation: Visions of Destruction: Experiencing Climate Crisis through Interactive AI-aided Artwork at Cultural Data Analytics Conference 2023 / CUDAN 2023, Tallinn University, Estonia
2023 Conference presentation: Visions of Destruction at at Siggraph Asia 2023 in Sydney, Australia
2023 Panel discussion: The role of new technologies in the artistic creation from a critical perspective at Panoramic Festival, Barcelona
2023 Guest lecture: Artist talk at ITP MA at NYU Shanghai, China
2023 Invited talk: Neuro‑cosmology, in The Tao of Tai: Technoetic Aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence, Laser Talks at Roy Ascott Studio, Shanghai, China
2023 Guest lecture: Artist talk at Master of Arts in Interaction Design at SUPSI, Switzerland
2023 Guest lecture: Artist Guided Neural Network, School of Textiles in the University of Borås, Sweden
2023 Conference presentation: Exploring the Catastrophic Impact of Human Interaction on Nature: Navigating the Latent Space of Diffusion Models through the Gaze at the symposium Expanded Animation 2023 in Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria
2023 Poster presentation: Explaining CLIP through Co‑Creative Drawings and Interaction at the 14th International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC). 19–23 June, 2023, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada
2023 Invited conference presentation: AI‑aided Ceramic Sculptures: Bridging Deep Learning with Materiality at the conference Artistic Originality in the Age of AI, Estonian Academy of Art (15 June), Tallinn
2023 Invited presentation: AI‑aided Ceramic Sculptures: Bridging Deep Learning with Materiality at SAAI Workshop (10 June), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2023 Conference presentation: Artistic Strategies to Guide Neural Networks at ISEA2023 (16‑21 May), Paris
2023 Conference presentation: AI-Aided Ceramic Sculptures: Bridging Deep Learning with Materiality at EvoMUSART conference (12‑14 April), Brno
2023 Guest lecture: Artist talk at Ciclo Design + Multimedia CMD Talks, Doctoral program in Computational Media Design at the University of Coimbra, Portugal
2023 Guest lecture: Artist talk at The Swedish School of Textiles, University of Boras, Sweden
2022 Guest lecture: Artist Guided Neural Networks at Digital Design and Creative Technology department in the University of Lleida, Spain
2022 Guest lecture: Artist Guided Neural Networks at BAU Design School, Barcelona
2022 Conference presentation: Keep Smiling at SIGGRAPH Asia’22, Daegu, South Korea
2022 Conference presentation: Interactive NeuroKnitting Beethoven at IEEE VISAP’22, Oklahoma, USA
2022 Invited lecture at Computational Design, School of Architecture in Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA (14 Oct’22)
2022 Keynote: Artist Guided Neural Networks – automated creativity or tools for extending minds? at Artificial Intelligence – Intelligent Art? Human-Machine Interaction and Creative Practice conference in TU Braunschweig, Germany (7-9 Oct’22)
2022 Telematic Performance Forced by Pandemic: NeuroKnitting Beethoven, DRHA conference (4-7 Sep), London
2022 Making Sense of the NFT Art Market, DRHA conference (4-7 Sep), London
2022 NFT Shop and Making Sense of the NFT Art Market. Is NFT a blessing or a curse to digital art?, CAC.7 conference (1-2 Sep), Geneva, Switzerland
2022 Keep Smiling, xCoAx conference (6-9 July), Coimbra, Portugal
2022 Dream Painter: Exploring creative possibilities of AI-aided speech-to-image synthesis in the interactive art context, Siggraph conference, 8-11 Aug Vancouver
2022 Artist Guided Neural Networks – automated creativity or tools for extending minds?, Anthropology, AI and the Future of Human Society virtual conference (6 – 10 June 2022)
2022 Augmented creativity and labor, in frames of “Industry 4.0 Design Strategies” at LUCA School of Arts, Belgium.
2021 ENA – participative art forms in a time of pandemics, at CICA New Media Art Conference in Seoul, South Korea
2021 Synthetic Landscapes, artist talk,  +CODE Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina
2021 ENA – participative art forms in a time of pandemics, Hybrid Museum Experience Symposium in Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2021 artist talk, KIBLIX 2021, Slovenia
2020 Hardware for Artists, Maker Faire Bilbao, Spain
2020 The Role of Prototyping in the Media Art Practices, New media art week Update BACKUP at MPLab, Liepaja, Latvia
2020 Creative Use of AI and New Photography, festival Veintinueve trece, Lazarote, Spain
2020 keynote “Exploring Potentials and Risks of AI Technology from a Perspective of Creatives” at conference DECODING NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN ART AND DESIGN in Estonian Art Academy part of Ars Electronika Festival Garden program.
2019 Re-visiting connections, conference of exhibition Open Codes. We Are Data, Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Spain
2019 Soft Digital Fabrication, TED 20th Anniversary, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Colonization with LOVE, symposium Unboxing e-Realities curated by Christiane Kühl, Goethe Insitute Estland, in Vaba Lava, Tallinn, Estonia
2019 Artist talk, Emily Carr University, Vancouver, Canada
2018 The Age of Surveillance Capitalism and Dataveillance, RIXC conference, Riga, Latvia
2018 Surveillance Capitalism, Estonian Academy or Arts
2018 Artist talk, Bolit Contemporary Art Centre, Girona, Spain
2017 Beyond interactivity. The unsolved question of interactive art,  VIRTUALITIES AND REALITIES FIELDS conference in the frames of RIXC festival in Riga, Latvia
2017 Digital space, Tartu Art College, Estonia
2016 Creativity and Innovation, Tartu Art College, Estonia
2016 ‘Technology as tool for rethinking the world’, Tallinn University Summer School, Estonia (19th July)
2016 “From code to magic” at X-Studio in Istanbul (10th Feb’16)
2016 guest lecture at Master program of Visual Art + Multimedia in the University of Valencia (21st Jan’16)
2015 “From code to magic” guest lecture at Design and Computation group MIT
2015 “Soft Digital Fabrication” at Bau Design Forum in Barcelona
2015 “From code to magic”, Digital Media department of UPF, Barcelona, Spain
2015 “Soft Digital Fabrication”  at WeMake, Milan
2015 “From code to magic”, open lecture at SUPSI, Lugano, Switzerland
2014 “From code to magic”,  Etopia, Zaragoza, Spain
2014 “From code to magic”, Topconf, Tallinn, Estonia
2014 keynote at MIRA festival in Barcelona, Spain
2014 “City as data body”, Donostia Kultura, Spain
2014 artist talk, Ljudmila, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014 “Knitic – Soft Digital Fabrication”, Cipke, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014 artist talk at Bloomberg Art+Tech event, London, UK
2013 “Unexpected Ways How IT meets Art” at Estonian IT College
2013 “Knitic – Open Source Knitting Machine” at Toulouse Hacker Space Factory Conference (Toulouse, Fance)
2013 “Knitic – Open Source Knitting Machine” at Technical Textiles (Berlin, Germany)
2013 “Knitic – Open Source Knitting Machine” at Open Source Open Course at the Ecole de Recherche Graphique (Brussels, Belgium)
2012 “Development of Personal Manufacturing. Case Study: Knitic”, Mutamorphosis, CIANT, Prague, CZ
2012 “Development of Digital Fabrication. Case Study: knitting printer”, Prospectives’12, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
2012 “Development of Digital Fabrication. Case Study: knitting printer”, Open Knowledge Festival, Helsinki, Finland
2012 Artist talk, STPLN, Malmö, Sweden
2012 Artist talk + lecture, IDC, Howest University, Kortrijk, Belgium
2011 Paper presentation, ISEA2011, Istanbul, Turkey
2011 Artist talk, Hiroshima University, Japan
2011 Artist talk, IAMAS, Ogaki, Japan
2011 Artist talk, FFKD, Copenhagen, Denmark
2011 “The Rhythm of City”, Enter5 Symposium, Prague, CZ
2010 “The Rhythm of City”, Amber Conference, Istanbul Turkey


TEACHING


9-14 June’23 Super Artistic AI workshop, SAAI Factory at L’Art Pur Gallery, Ryiadh
10 Jan’23 AI for Creatives workshop, School of Textiles, University of Boras, Sweden
17-18 Dec’22 Blockchain workshop, Bilbao Maker Faire, Spain
19.-20-12.20 (un)preci(a)se Robots workshop, Bilbao Makerfaire, Spain
10.-17.11.20 Open source hardware: from fibers to fabrics, Fabricademy
Nov – Dec’20 Invisible workshop, ESDAP, Catalunya
28.10.19 Wifipedia workshop, Baltic Road Trip, EUNIC, Valga, Estonia
07-10.10.19 Circular Knitic workshop, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
03.06.19 Introduction to Arduino, Latvian Art Academy, Riga, Latvia
25.05.19 Data Shop workshop, Pixelache festival, Helsinki, Finland
16.02.19 Data Shop workshop, group show Objects of Attention curated by Francisco Martínez, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn
27.01.19 One Flag Every Day workshop, solo show ChameleonTallinn Art Hall Gallery, Estonia (27th Jan’19)
13.11.18 Open source hardware: from fibers to fabrics, Fabricademy
19.05.18 Data Shop workshop, AMRO Festival, Linz, Austria
04.01.18 Data Shop workshopBolit Contemporary Art Centre, Girona, Spain
14.11.17 Open source hardware: from fibers to fabrics, Fabricademy
11.10.17 Circular Knitic workshop, festival Maintenant, Rennes, France
19.02.17 Throwies workshop, GLOW Winter Lights Festival, Calgary, Canada
18.02.17 Interactive Light workshop, GLOW Winter Lights Festival, Calgary, Canada
25.-28.10.16 Raspberry Pi workshopVarvara & Mar studio, Tallinn, Estonia
12.11.16 One Flag Every Day workshop, solo show Chameleon, Rambleta, Valencia, Spain
22.10.16 Interactive Light workshopTAVA Tartu Light Festival, Estonia
28.-29.12.15 3D printing workshop, Espai Erre, Barcelona, Spain
07-08.11.15 Animate with Code workshops for families and educators Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Greece
27-28.10 and 03-04.11.15 Arduino for beginners workshop, Varvara & Mar studio, Tallinn, Estonia
21-23.09.15 3D Printing workshop, Varvara & Mar studio, Tallinn, Estonia
04-12.08.15 Arduino for Beginners course at Mektory, Tallinn, Estonia
16-18.06.15 3D Printing workshop, Varvara & Mar studio, Tallinn, Estonia
12-14.06.15 Animate with Code workshop at Tekniska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden
12-14.05.15 Arduino for Beginners course at Textile department of Estonian Art Academy, Tallinn, Estonia
01.05.15 Circular Knitic workshop at  Espacio Open, Bilbao, Spain
28-29.04.15 Circular Knitic workshop at Ultra-Lab, Madrid, Spain
26.03 – 09.04.15 Arduino for Beginners course at Mektory, Tallinn, Estonia
07.02.15 Circular Knitic workshop at WeMake, Milan
14-18.07.14 Young Creators workshop facilitated by Google and Barbican (Barbican, London)
26–27.03.14 Urban Bees 2.0 (Abellas Urbanas 2.0) workshop together with Mar Canet and OpenSystems University of Barcelona (Hangar, Barcelona, Spain)
18.05.13 Knitic, workshop, PianoFabrique, Constant (Brussels, Belgium)
27.12.12 Kombi II, workshop, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon (Seoul, Korea)
12-13.05.12 Digital knitting fabrication, workshop, STPLN (Malmö, Sweden)
11.04.2012 Robotics with Arduino, workshop, Design Academy Eindhoven (NL)
22-23.03.12 Robotics + Digital Fabrication, workshop (MU & Impakt, NL)
14.03.2012 “Introduction to Robotics with Arduino” (MOB, Barcelona, SPAIN)
Aug 2011 ISA International Summer University (Ohrid, Macedonia)


OTHER ENGAGEMENTS


2022 co-curator and co-chair of CMA International Symposium and Exhibition Electric Dreams, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
2021 curator, group show of EKA Textile Department Soft Negotiations, Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) Gallery, Tallinn
2020 ENA (online generative chatbot as theatre experience) in collaboration with Roger Bernat, Teatro Lliure, Barcelona
2018 curators, out-door exhibition of TAVA Tartu Light Festival, Estonia
2018 curators and organisers, OPEN ARS: CONNECTORIUM, ARS Art Factory, Tallinn, Estonia


PUBLICATIONS


Guljajeva, Varvara, Canet Sola, Mar, Kuzmin, Iurii. 2023. Telematic Performance Enforced by the Pandemic: Neuroknitting Beethoven. In International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794713.2023.2270790

Guljajeva, Varvara and Canet Sola, Mar. 2023. Interactive NeuroKnitting: Knitting with Your Brain. Proceedings of the VINCI 2023, 22‑24 September, 2023, Guangzhou, China. Article No.:49, Pages 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3615522.3615573

Guljajeva, Varvara, Mar Canet Sola, and Isaac Joseph Clarke. “Artistic Strategies to Guide Neural Networks.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.07521 (2023).

Guljajeva, Varvara Canet Sola, Mar and Clarke, Isaac. 2023. Explaining CLIP through Co‑Creative Drawings and Interaction. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC). June 19 – June 23, 2023, at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.07429 

Guljajeva, Varvara, and Mar Canet Sola. “AI-Aided Ceramic Sculptures: Bridging Deep Learning with Materiality.” In Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design, 357–71. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29956-8_23

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2023. Psychedelic Forms – Ceramics and Physical Form in Conversation with Deep Learning. In Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 64, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3569009.3576191

Guljajeva, Varvara and Canet Sola, Mar. 2023. NFT Shop and Sense making of the NFT Art Market. Is NFT a blessing or a curse to digital art?. In Computer and Media Art at the Age of Metaverse and NFT, proceedings of CAC.7. Published as e‑book by Europia Productions, Paris (https://europia.fr), ISBN 979‑10‑90094‑58‑1

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. NeuroKnitting Beethoven: Visualising Emotional State through the Knitting Process. 2022 IEEE VIS Arts Program (VISAP), 2022, pp. 1-2, doi:10.1109/VISAP57411.2022.00005

Mar Canet Sola and Varvara Guljajeva. 2022. Dream Painter: Exploring creative possibilities of AI-aided speech-to-image synthesis in the interactive art context. Proc. ACM Comput. Graph. Interact. Tech. 5, 4, Article 33 (September 2022), 11 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3533386

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. Dream Painter: An Interactive Art Installation Bridging Audience Interaction, Robotics, and Creative AI. In Proceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Multimedia (MM ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 7235–7236. https://doi.org/10.1145/3503161.3549976

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. POSTcard Landscapes from Lanzarote. In Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 634–636. https://doi.org/10.1145/3527927.3531191

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. Sensemaking of NFT Art Market. In Digital Sustainability: From Resilience to Transformation. DRHA 2022 Conference Book of Abstracts. London: Kingston School of Art, 30.

Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet Sola, and Yuri Kuzmin. 2022. Telematic Performance Forced by Pandemic: NeuroKnitting Beethoven. In Digital Sustainability: From Resilience to Transformation. DRHA 2022 Conference Book of Abstracts. London: Kingston School of Art, 31.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. Keep Smiling. In xCoAx 2022, July 6-8, 2022. Coimbra, Portugal, 340-346. https://doi.org/10.24840/xCoAx_2022

Varvara Guljajeva. 2022. Synthetic Books. In 10th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts (ARTECH 2021). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 19, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3483529.3483663

Mar Canet Sola, Varvara Guljajeva, and Alvaro Cassinelli. 2022. The Beautiful Encounters. In 10th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts (ARTECH 2021). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 97, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1145/3483529.3483744

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2022. ENA. I’m stupid and I try to pretend like I know what I’m talking about, in Life Goes On: New Media Art 2022, Ed. Gain Han, Young Im Chae, CICA Press, Gimpo, Korea (2022) (ISBN 979-11-88671-20-5 03600)

Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, and Oliver Laas (Ed.). 2022. The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. Tallinn: Estonian Academy of Arts. 176 pages ISBN 978-9916-619-63-6 (print) ISBN 978-9916-619-64-3 (pdf)

Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, and Oliver Laas. 2022. Introduction. The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. In: Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, Oliver Laas (Ed.). The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. Tallinn: Estonian Academy of Arts, 5-10.

Varvara Guljajeva. 2022. Synthetic books. The Text Between Reality and Dreams. In: Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, Oliver Laas (Ed.). The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. Tallinn: Estonian Academy of Arts, 12-15.

Mar Canet Sola. 2022. The Age of intelligent reproduction and machine learning creativity. In: Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, Oliver Laas (Ed.). The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. The Meaning of Creativity in the Age of AI. Tallinn: Estonian Academy of Arts, 59-70.

Raivo Kelomees, Varvara Guljajeva, and Oliver Laas. 2022. Strategies of Engagement and Attraction in Interactive Artworks. In: Rasa Smite, Jens Hauser, Kristin Bergaust, Raitis Smits (Ed.). Green Revisited. Encountering Emerging Naturecultures in Art and Research. (345−352). Riga: RIXC Center for New Media Culture, Riga, Latvia in collaboration in with FeLT – Futures of Living Technologies at Oslo MET, Norway, and MPLab – Art Research Lab at Liepaja University, Latvia. (Acoustic Space, Volume 19/Renewable Futures, Issue 4)

Varvara Guljajeva. 2021. From Interaction to Post-Participation: The Disappearing Role of the Active Participant. In Leonardo journal Vol.54, No. 5, Oct 2021. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02111

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2021. NeuroKnitting Beethoven in Sienna Solstice, Issue 04, Dec 2021, p.18-19 

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. 2021. ENA: Participative Art Forms During Pandemics. Ed. Livia Nolasco Rozsas and Borbala Kalman. In HyMEx 2021 (Hybrid Museum Experience Symposium Proceedings), Budapest, 77-82.

Varvara Guljajeva. 2021. I am not searching for an active participant. In Ethnographic Experiments with Artists, Designers and Boundary Objects. F. Martinez (eds). UCL Press, London. p. 89-91.

Kelomees, Raivo; Guljajeva, Varvara; Laas, Oliver; Montgomery, Sean (2020). Aesthetic and User Experience in Biofeedback Art. WHY SENTIENCE? 26th International Symposium on Electronic Art ISEA2020: 26th International Symposium on Electronic Art ISEA2020. Ed. Christine Ross, Chris Salter. Montreal: ISEA International, 837−842.

In Kepler’s Gardens. A global journey mapping the ‘new’ world. Edited by Gerfried Stocker, Christiane Schöpf, Hannes Leopoldseder. Ars Electronica 2020. Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag. 2020, p.136

Varvara Guljajeva. 2019. From interaction to post-participation: the disappearing role of the active participant. Introducing research framework of post-participation. In Park, J., Nam, J., and Wan Park, J. (eds) ISEA2019, Lux Aeterna. Gwangju, pp. 92–98.

Varvara Guljajeva. 2019. Beyond interactivity. The unsolved question of interactive art. In: Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits (Ed.). Virtualities and Realities. New Experiences, Art and Ecologies in Immersive Environments. (269−280). Riga: RIXC Center for New Media Culture (Riga, Latvia) in collaboration with LiepU MPLab – Art Research Lab of Liepaja University.

Varvara Guljajeva. 2018. From interaction to post-participation: the disappearing role of the active participant. Doctoral Thesis. Estonian Academy of Arts.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2015. An Example of Soft Digital Fabrication.  In: Crafting our Digital Futures, part of V&A Digital Design Weekend. Edited by Irini Papadimitriou, Andrew Prescott and Jon Rogers. Published by Uniform Communications Ltd.,2015, pp. 48-49.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2015. NeuroKnitting. First Steps Toward Neuro-Fabrication. In: RHIZOPE – Art & Science – Hybrid Art and Interdisciplinary Research. Editors: Piibe Pirma, Veronika Valk. Published by Estonian Academy of Arts, 2014. pp. 84-87.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2015. The Rhythm of City / Linnarütm. In RHIZOPE – Art & Science – Hybrid Art and Interdisciplinary Research. Editors: Piibe Pirma, Veronika Valk. Published by Estonian Academy of Arts, 2014. pp. 128-129.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2015. Interview.  In Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism. Edited by Betsy Greer, July 2014, pp. 69-75.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2013. Knitic Soft Digital Fabrication.In Social Fabric (strategic Creativity Series. Editor: Michelle Baggerman. Published by Design Academy Eindhoven, 2013, pp. 46-50.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2012.  Development of Personal Manufacturing. Case Study: Knitic. In Mutamorphosis conference, CIANT, Prague, CZ.

Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet, and Mike Subbs. 2012. The Conceptualisation of Urban Media: FACT’s ‘Disco Window. In Urban Media Cultures edited by Susa Pop, Ursula Stalder, Mirjam Struppek, Gernot Tscherteu. Avedition Gmbh,Csi.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet. 2011. The Rhythm of City. Geo-located Social Data as an Artistic Medium. In ISEA2011 conference (Istanbul).