Register here for 404 Festival 2026.

DAY 1

WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST

Conference at Northumbria School of Design
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oHtAsnrY19pbqz6T7
ALL TALKS IN ROOM 011 (Presentation Hall)
10:00-10:30 – Welcome, coffee, etc – Gina Valenti and Steve Gibson
10:30-11:30 – Keynote 1 – Matt Black
11:30-12:30 – Talks 1
David Clark / Shelly Knotts
12:30-13:30 – Lunch break (lunch not provided)*
13:30-14:30 – Talks 2
Scott Hessels / Gina Valenti – Art & Technology
14:30–15:00 Break
15:00-16:00 – Talks 3 
Jeffu Warmouth / Yan Breuleux

Register here for Conference Day 1 (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

404 ART EXHIBITION VERNISSAGE: open 17:00-19:00
SUNDERLAND MUSEUM AND WINTER GARDENS
https://maps.app.goo.gl/D5RvunLe8sVeCD8B9

SCOTT HESSELS – Memorial Birdsong
SUNDERLAND MUSEUM AND WINTER GARDENS
https://maps.app.goo.gl/D5RvunLe8sVeCD8B9
OPEN TO PUBLIC: Friday, August 21 to 29 August open 10:00 to 17:00 except Sunday

404 ART EXHIBITION VERNISSAGE: Wednesday, August 26 open 17:00-19:00
CLOSING DAY: Saturday, 29 August open from 10:00 to 16:00

NORTHERN DANCE PERFORMANCES AND BOOK LAUNCH 19:30-21:30
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EjHhDw1TeYxdvZts6
JO HYDE – Signal to Noise (Live A/V)
THE LIGHT SURGEONS – Atemporal 2.0 (Live Cinema/Live A/V)
AUDIO-VISUALISM BOOK LAUNCH
AUDIO-VISUALISM:
Reframing Relationships Between Sound & Image
Edited by Steve Gibson, Yan Breuleux, Joseph Hyde and Donna Leishman
Books will be available for purchase at a reduced rate

Register here for Northern Dance 26th August (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

DAY 2

THURSDAY 27 AUGUST

Conference at Northumbria School of Design
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oHtAsnrY19pbqz6T7
ALL TALKS IN ROOM 011 (Presentation Hall)
10:00-10:30 – Welcome, coffee, etc – Gina Valenti and Steve Gibson
10:30-11:30 – Keynote 2 – Joshua Meyrowitz
11:30-12:30 – Talks 4
Sadam Fujioka / Hsin-Chien Huang (via Teams)
12:30-13:30 – Lunch break (lunch not provided)*
13:30-14:30 – Talks 5
Chris Allen (The Light Surgeons) / Matt Roberts
14:30-15:00 – Break
15:00-16:30 – Talks 6
Tim Cowie / Jean-Philippe Cô / Jo Hyde

Register here for Conference Day 2 (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

EXHIBITON OPENING 19:00-22:00
GALLERY NORTH, NORTHUMBRIA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y43ApYPzyZmD6UQJA
Exhibition runs daily from 09:00-17:00, 28 Aug-1 Sept with the exception of bank holiday Mon 31
August
JEFFU WARMOUTH – Better Living Through Antagonistic Acoustics
JEAN-PHILIPPE CÔ – Panégoptique
NIKA OBLAK & PRIMOZ NOVAK – SQUARE SLIDE Video Installation, 2025

Register here for Exhibition Opening @ Gallery North (Tickets are fee, but seats are limited)

NORTHUMBRIA SCHOOL OF DESIGN
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oHtAsnrY19pbqz6T7
Exhibition runs daily from 09:00-17:00, 28 Aug-1 Sept with the exception of Mon 31 August
KINEMA IKON – antiVorspann, Chronicles of Stillness: A Journey Through Time, 1970-2025-2070
MEZ BREEZE – Digital T[H]Readings [1994–2025]
BALANDINO DI DONATO – Listening to the Highlands: A Journey Through Scottish Mountain Soundscapes

Register here for Exhibition Opening @ Northumbria School of Design (Tickets are fee, but seats are limited)

EXHIBITION OPENING 19:00-22:00
NEWCASTLE CONTEMPORARY ART (NCA)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y5nxJ1pmNkXHDEFu8
Exhibition runs daily from 12:00-17:00, 28 Aug-1 Sept with the exception of bank holiday Mon 31 August
MATÚŠ ASTRAB – Harvest
DAVID CLARK – Victory Over the Sun
MATT ROBERTS – Invasive Species Archives
GUSTAVO ROMANO – Shadowgrams
YAN BREULEUX – The Enigma
D-FUSE – Nine Earths
PAUL DOLAN – Soft Launch

Register here for Exhibition Opening @ Newcastle Contemporary Art (Tickets are fee, but seats are limited)

DAY 3

FRIDAY 28 AUGUST

Conference at Northumbria School of Design
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oHtAsnrY19pbqz6T7

ALL TALKS IN ROOM 011 (Presentation Hall)
10:00-10:30 – Welcome, coffee, etc – Gina Valenti and Steve Gibson
10:30-11:30 – Talks 7 (2 x 15-20 minute talks with Q&A)
Primoz Novak / Steve Gibson
11:30-12:30 – Talks 8 (2 x 15-20 minute talks with Q&A)
Mike Faulkner / Matúš Astrab
12:30-13.30 – Lunch break (lunch not provided)*
13:30-14:00 Talks 9 (1 x 15-20 minute talks with Q&A)
Jorge Boehringer
14:00-15:00 Panel Discussion
Using Technology to Enhance Storytelling
Led by Tiny Dragon Productions, with Mike Faulkner (D-FUSE), Gina Valenti, and David Clark

Register here for Conference Day 3 (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

* CONFERENCE LUNCH OPTIONS
Lunch will not be provided, but there are options near the venue that will serve you quickly:
Shijo Japanese: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qh6kykiHpDhsPaws9
The Little Dumpling House: https://maps.app.goo.gl/aVsKogqqTxTZkuk37
Cafe Central https://maps.app.goo.gl/aVsKogqqTxTZkuk37
Pop Up Wok HQ: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QtwgEhxWftY1mfLPA
CCE Restaurant & Café: https://maps.app.goo.gl/buCWr2bFhbBQpvXe7
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Newcastle: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ENNBZdrZYshkYwdP9
Zapatista Burrito Bar: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GTiicDqrM23k4Q2S6
Frankie & Tony’s Sandwich Bar https://maps.app.goo.gl/6yDcbebLPNvezF4o8

DAY 4

SATURDAY 29 AUGUST

NORTHERN DANCE SCREENINGS AND PERFORMANCE 19:30-21:30
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EjHhDw1TeYxdvZts6

JAN BITZER (POLYNOID) SCREENING – Bye Bear (Film)
HSIN-CHIEN HUANG SCREENING – Ekholux – The Virtual Sanctuary
STEVE GIBSON AND PAUL GOODFELLOW – Control System Interference (Live A-V)

Register here for Northern Dance 29th August (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

DAY 5

SUNDAY 30 AUGUST

NORTHERN DANCE WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCES 16:00-21:30
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EjHhDw1TeYxdvZts6

19:30-21:30 – Evening performance/screenings
SADAM FUJIOKA – Sadmb (ANNO LAB) (Live Audio)
SONIC INTANGIBLES RESEARCH GROUP – Resonating Wonder, Sonifying the Intangible

Register here for Northern Dance 30th August (Tickets are free, but seats are limited)

DAY 6

SUNDAY 31 AUGUST

DAY TOUR OF EDINBURGH/ FREE TIME IN NEWCASTLE
Bank holiday in England
For trip to EDB with Steve Gibson, see details here.
For Free day in NCL ideas from Donna Leishman, see details listed here.

The Northern Dance Company is a contemporary dance and ballet company based in a converted warehouse in the creative Ouseburn district of Newcastle. We have created a very intimate space combining a large stage area with 20ft high ceiling, with lighting rig and a combination of LED and robot lights. We have space for around 80 people seated with additional standing room and side access to the stage area. We host working musicians and songwriters and have a sound system, mixing desk and a range of music instruments. Additionally, we have 3+ HD projectors and professional video/filming equipment (Blackmagic Ursa, Pocket, various Leica). Please visit www.northerndance.org.uk for more gallery images of the space.

Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA) is an experimental, risk-taking cultural hub where contemporary and modern art is accessible, inclusive, and transformative. Our goal is to support and promote regional talent while fostering cultural exchange on a national and international scale. By embedding sustainability, diversity, and artistic excellence into our core practices, we aspire to make contemporary art a vital and impactful force within society. Through exhibitions, workshops, and partnerships, we seek to engage diverse audiences, encourage critical discourse, challenge perspectives and contribute to the cultural enrichment of Newcastle and beyond. NCA is situated on the fourth floor of High Bridge Works in the city centre of Newcastle. The building is fully wheelchair accessible. Please visit www.visitnca.com for more information about the gallery and our programme.

Northumbria University is a research-intensive University that unlocks potential for all, changing lives regionally, nationally and internationally. Named UK University of the Year 2022 by Times Higher Education and Modern University of the Year 2025 by The Times and The Sunday Times, Northumbria University is based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Northumbria offers a range of cutting-edge conference and event facilities for all occasions. With a vibrant culture, rich history, and stunning architecture, Newcastle Upon Tyne offers a unique backdrop and renowned warm hospitality, perfect for any gathering. Hosting 404 Festival at Northumbria University opens up a world of connections to get you the best city centre hotel rates, exciting and engaging excursion/activities in and around the city centre. Visit https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/

Gallery North Northumbria is part of Programme Northumbria, the new public cultural programme from Northumbria University’s School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries. Our programme showcases research-driven projects undertaken across a broad range of creative fields by established academics, early-career artists, under-represented voices and talented students. Featured work spans global visual cultures, digital and material innovation, film and moving image, writing and performance, socially engaged art and design, and artistic practices that respond to our changing environmental realities. Please visit https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-schools/school-of-design-arts-and-creative-industries/gallery-north/ to see the various current and upcoming exhibitions.

Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens tells the story of Sunderland’s history, culture and industry. It features permanent displays on shipbuilding, mining, glassmaking and local heritage, alongside art collections, changing exhibitions and family activities. The Winter Gardens is home to over 2,000 tropical plants, providing a unique space for visitors to learn, explore and relax. Learn more at https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/sunderland-museum-winter-gardens

FALSE FAKE

Every technological problem is a human problem, but not every human problem is a technological problem.

Even though our behaviors suggest the opposite, technology and the real are and have always been antagonists.

In the progressive extinction of our convictions, and the fear of not being able to transform what seems inevitable, we have placed our organic trust in synthetic dens, controlled by a bunch of men, even more frightened, who look for destruction in order to take credit for any sort of salvation. 

We experience reality as a trick of the eye.

The fact that we can’t distinguish between something false from something true is indication that both concepts are met with the same distrust.

The notion of Deep Fake refers to content created through generative adversarial networks: it is a type of artificial intelligence that learns how to clone the appearance, voice, and gestures of a person to imitate them in a hyper realistic way.

False Fake is the name of a phenomenon that has become visible through new technologies and their application across contemporary instant media. We can say something is a False Fake when it has all the characteristics of something fake, but it is true.

On the opposite side of Deep Fake, when something true is so difficult to believe that it seems not to be happening, lies the crossroads of the False Fake.

The sense of sight has always been tied to reason. In the past, seeing something that others could not see used to be connected to the occult and madness.

The proliferation of digital cameras halted, for a while, the emergence of stories that lacked visual verification. Today, those who used to be dedicated to distinguishing between real and artificial images are starting to move their eyes away from the system to give them a more worthy mission.

To fabricate massive-impact lies, it used to be necessary to have a team of professionals with power and strategies applied to the timing of forms. Now, reality has outdone all of its own plots. What is plausible is built in a matter of seconds. Rumor has taken hold of us and it has become an unwavering force.

At the end of the 18th century, Charles Bonnet detected that people who suffered a significant sight loss experienced vivid and complex visual hallucinations, although they remained aware that what they were seeing was not real. This “empty cinema effect” happens when our brain tries to compensate for the lack of visual stimuli, it gets bored and it starts to play images stored in its own database. It is a visual equivalent to the pain of a ghost limb suffered by people who have suffered an amputation.

Nowadays, our eyes are not only directly connected with empirical facts or their snapshots. We lose the real stimulus of our tangible environment and, instead, we consume a constant stream of synthetic data.

When someone has Charles Bonnet syndrome, they know that what they are seeing is false, but they still experience it with complete physical realism. When we look at an image that was AI generated, although we know that its origin is synthetic, our perceptual system processes it as something real. The emotional reaction, the psychological impact and the spreading of the message happen with the same strength as if the event had actually happened.

In The Society of the Spectacle (1967), Guy Debord left us a warning of his time: “In a world truly inverted, the true is a moment of the false.” Today we can think that falsehood is a moment of truth.

Never has honesty faced such a malicious time.

There is a purpose behind everything we see and this time it is, again, organic. What has been changed for who. What evilness is numerical? What justice is exact?

This is a controlled demolition. A crusade as anti-realist as those who lie, justifying it to get a benefit.

But patience is the fifth horseman, with the symbolic strength of a clock.

When condescension is persuasion, lies become tradition and falsification, institution.

There are those who look for recognizable shapes in the clouds.

To achieve freedom, you must fake your own extinction.

Gina Valenti
Rosario, Argentina, July 2026. 

Translation: Belén Nimo (Arg).