Master of Research in Hybrid Arts - MARes

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program extended the applications for the Half-Tuition Waiver for Merit-Based Achievement. This initiative provides financial support covering 50% of the semester tuition fees (1,000€) for one (1) eligible student who demonstrates academic excellence. Application Deadline: March 8, 2026 — 11:55 pm (Athens time). More: https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34037/

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program (Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University) invites you to the public online defense of the Master’s thesis Ground truth - a view from somewhere by Sujata Majumdar, supervised by Emmanouil Rovithis, on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 — 6:00 pm (Athens time), via Zoom. More: https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34177/

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program (Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University) invites you to the public online defense of the Master’s thesis Re-thinking Neon: Beyond the Signifier by Angelina Almukhametova, supervised by Iannis Zannos, on Thursday, 5 March 2026 — 7:00 pm (Athens time), via Zoom. More https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34144/

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program (Dept. Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University) invites you to the public online defense of the Master’s thesis Bioelectric Signaling as Pre-linguistic Musicality: A compositional practice emerging from the agency of humans and weakly electric fish by Sophia Osbanova, supervised by Iannis Zannos, on Tuesday, 3 March 2026 — 3:00 pm (Athens time), via Zoom. More https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34131/

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program (Dept. Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University) invites you to the public online defense of the Master’s thesis Cyborg Balsamine 2.0 by Tatiana Yfanti, supervised by Maria Chalkou, on Tuesday, 3 March 2026, 7 pm (Athens time), via Zoom. https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34130/

The MARes in Hybrid Arts program (Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University) invites you to the public online defense of the Master’s thesis Doublespeeches by Nathalie Dubois Calero on Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 10:00 (Athens time), via Zoom. More https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/34084/

MARes in Hybrid Arts gladly shares the announcement of The Cyborg Balsamine 2.0, a video installation by Tatiana Ifanti at amaka Studio, developed as part of the artist’s master thesis, supervised by Assist. Prof. Maria Chalkou.

Inspired by Hannah Höch’s photomontages and Donna Haraway’s feminist theory, the work examines posthuman identity in the 21st century. Through moving image and archival references, the installation activates the cyborg as a political and poetic figure that unsettles hierarchies, gender binaries, and anthropocentric narratives.

Sunday, 25 January 2026 | From 3:00 PM
amaka Studio, 11 Ag. Nikolaou St., Koukaki
More: https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/33886/

Release of Human Germline Gene Editing is Bioart: An Open Letter to Lulu and Nana in Simplified Chinese by bioartist Adam Zaretsky, Visiting Professor in the MARes program, on January 1, 2026, by the Bioart Ethical Advisory Kommission (BEAK). https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/33871/

We’re excited to continue the MSG Talks, our online series where MARes postgraduate students share their ongoing research and artistic explorations with the wider community. This December, five MARes students present new developments from their current projects:

🌍 "Ground Truth – a view from somewhere" with Sujata Majumdar
📅 Thursday, December 4, 2025
⏰ 4:00 PM (Athens time)

🌍 "Sensus: An Artistic Exploration of Bioelectricity, Sound, and Chance as the Primordial Elements of Life" with Sofiya Barinova-Osbanova
📅 Monday, December 15, 2025
⏰ 4:00 PM (Athens time)

💧 "Where The Water Flows: Land, Identity, and Sustainability in a Changing Landscape" with Myrto Papadopoulos
📅 Tuesday, December 16, 2025
⏰ 5:00 PM (Athens time)

💧 "The Cyborg Balsamine 2.0" with Tatiana Yfanti
📅 Tuesday, December 16, 2025
⏰ 6:00 PM (Athens time)

🍄 "Mycelium messaging: Collaborative design fiction as a lens to develop communal learning structures" with Anne Vlaanderen
📅 Wednesday, December 17, 2025
⏰ 2:00 PM (Athens time)

For access, please check links here https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/33727/

📸 Photo credits: Quiet/Stilte, Witte Voet Galerie — exhibition by Sujata Majumdar, Tamar Rozenblat & Siobhan Wall.

The Winter School in Hybrid Arts Methodology has officially concluded its 2025–2026 edition at the Athens School of Fine Arts Annex in Hydra — a full week of interdisciplinary research, artistic experimentation, and collaborative learning.

Co-organized by the Interactive Arts Lab (InArts) of the Department of Audio & Visual Arts – Ionian University (on behalf of MARes) and the Third Sculpture Studio (ASFA), the Winter School brought together faculty and postgraduate students for an intensive series of seminars and workshops.

Program highlights included sessions by:
• Dalila Honorato — Hybrid Arts Methodology & Media Aesthetics
• Adam Zaretsky — Hybrid DNA Isolation Wet-Lab & Ethics in Bioart
• Emmanouel Rovithis — Sound Design I & II
• Ioannis Zannos — Media Archaeology & Hauntological Approaches
• Vassilis Diamantis — Drawing DNA

Participants also led sessions on microbiome performativity, collective mapping, zine-making, MRI data, human traffic, cognitive patterns, and analogies between Edo-period communication and contemporary social media. Fieldwork, collaborative research, and shared evenings shaped the Annex into a temporary research residency grounded in Social Ethics, respect, accessibility, and collective responsibility.

Participants

ASFA:
Lydia Mitsogianni • Georgia Lamari • Maria Kousofta • Georgia Nika • Maria Bolia • Foteini Palieraki • Panagiotis Porichis • Iannis Kalliakos • Maria Stavroulaki

Ionian University – MARes:
Nathalie Dubois Calero • Zoe Lomax • Nicolas Parise • Katinka van der Jagt • Jess Sullivan

The Winter School reaffirms the vital role of hybrid methodologies in connecting artistic practice with science, technology, ecology, and critical theory.
A warm thank-you to all faculty, students, and collaborators who shaped this year’s edition.
https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/news/33725/
📸 Photo: Nicolas Parise — Lecture-performance “Hybrid DNA Isolation Wet-Lab” by Adam Zaretsky, ASFA Annex Hydra, Winter School 2025–2026 (24 Nov 2025).

Meet our 2025-2026 Student: Foteini Vergidou
Foteini Vergidou is a curator, cultural project manager, and researcher based in Athens, Greece. Her work focuses on digital culture, advanced communication theory, cyberpsychology, and the impact of new technologies on both artistic production and everyday life. She holds a BA in Communication and Mass Media from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and an MA in Interactive Media: Critical Theory and Practice from Goldsmiths University in London.
Academic Advisor: Daphne Dragona
More: https://avarts.ionio.gr/mares/en/students/3408-vergidou/