Manuela Naveau, PhD is a university professor, an independent curator and an art-based researcher. For almost 18 years she worked as head of Ars Electronica Export, curator and developed the Ars Electronica Export department, which she led operationally since its inception. Since 2020, Manuela Naveau has been a university professor for Critical Data at the Interface Cultures Department / Institute of Media at the University of Arts Linz, which she is heading since February 2023 and initiated the Critical Data Research Group since then. Her monograph Crowd and Art – Kunst und Partizipation im Internet was published by transcript Verlag (Germany) in 2015. Since then, her research and writing have focused on participation, interaction, and collaborative, practices in Media- and Digital Art, Critical Data, and contemporary art, resulting in numerous academic publications, essays, and curatorial texts.
Manuela Naveau, PhD (*Linz/AT) ist Universitätsprofessorin, unabhängige Kuratorin und künstlerisch-forschend tätig. Fast 18 Jahre lang war sie bei Ars Electronica Linz tätig, wo sie den Bereich Ars Electronica Export konzipierte, aufbaute und von Beginn an operativ leitete. Seit 2020 ist sie Universitätsprofessorin für Critical Data am Studiengang Interface Cultures des Instituts für Medien der Kunstuniversität Linz. Seit Februar 2023 leitet sie den Studiengang und initiierte in diesem Zusammenhang die Critical Data Research Group. Ihre Monografie Crowd and Art – Kunst und Partizipation im Internet erschien 2015 im transcript Verlag. Seither widmen sich ihre Forschung und Publikationstätigkeit den Themen Partizipation, Interaktion und kollaborative Praktiken in der Medien- und Digitalen Kunst, Critical Data sowie der zeitgenössischen Kunst. Ihre Arbeiten begleiten und umfassen zahlreiche wissenschaftliche Publikationen, Essays und kuratorische Texte.
CURRENT POSITIONS
Since February 2023: Head of the Department Interface Cultures,
2023 – 2025: Deputy Head of Institute of Media, University of Arts Linz, Austria
Since October 2020: Univ.-Prof. for Critical Data, Institute of Media, Department Interface Cultures, University of Arts Linz, Austria
COMMITEE WORK
2021 – 2026: Deputy Chair of the AKG – Working Group on Equal Opportunities at the University of Arts Linz
Since October 2021: Vice President OÖ Kunstverein
Since 2023 Advisory Board Arteconomy
2020 – 2024 Kuratoriumsmitglied Kulturfonds Stadt Salzburg
2017 – 2021 Steering Board: WORTH Partnership Project
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2003–2020 Director and Curator, Ars Electronica Export, Linz/Austria
2021 Lecturer at Tfanen Takwin School, Tunisia (via BMEIA)
2021 Guestprofessor, TU Vienna /Technical University Vienna (future.lab)
2019 Guestprofessor, Institute of Media, Department Interface
Cultures, University of Art and Design Linz, Austria
2018 Lecturer at Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Kommunikationswissenschaften
2017–2018 Lecturer at Danube University Krems, Bildwissenschaften
MAIN RESEARCH AREAS AND RESULTS
Research Area: Media & Digital Art, processes of computer-based participation and interaction.
Important Results: Participation in Art is well researched, however Media Art and Digital Art have a long tradition in participatory processes that have not been taken into account by contemporary art critics and art theoreticians.
Research Area: Critical Data, Art & AI
Important Results: Artists working with data have a different approach to ethical and non-discriminatory data and data processing systems. They question notions of participation and appropriation and generate extremely valuable questions that are relevant to data scientists, computer scientists, or any other researchers working with data and data processing systems.
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE (SELECTION)
2024/25 Consultant/ FFG (Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft/Austrian Research Promotion Agency)
2023 FeministAI – Public Lecture Series, initiator and curator
2023 ISEA2023 paper presentation (blind peer reviewed); Le Comité international de programmation (CIP); Paris
2022 ICPT2022, Member of the Scientific Committee; Nicosia/Cyprus
2022 Keynote ICPT 2022 with Joanna Zylinska and Jahna Otterbacher
2021 Keynote, BNAIC on „CRITICAL DATA and the arts – artistic works in a
calculated world“, Luxembourg University
2021 TEI Conference – 15th annual conference on tangible,
embedded, and embodied interaction; Art Chair
Since 2020, ISEA, Member of the International Programme Committee
Since 2016 XCOAX – Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X; Member of the Scientific Committee
AWARDS AND HONORS
2016 Award of Excellence; Bundesministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft Austria