Servus.at Newsletter // März │March 2026  📯

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English version below▼

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[DE]

Liebes Servus-Mitglied,

dieses Monat haben wir nur die englische Fassung unserer Newsletter :/ 

Und eigentlich: welcher Sprache & Styl findet ihr für diese Newsletter am besten? ein kleine Umfrage (max 20 sekunden!) https://k4.servus.at/apps/polls/s/899dXZ9o

Ab nächsten Monat wieder zweisprachig!

 

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[EN]

Dear Servus members,

we have a lot going on in the office, this month we only send the english version of our Newsletter :/

& by the way: which language and style do you prefer / suggest for this newsletter? take the poll (will take 20 seconds or so!): https://k4.servus.at/apps/polls/s/899dXZ9o

 

A quick overview:

→ Next Thursday! 26/3 AI Café #3 // Their Machines, their Rules? - Legality, Rights and Accountability in Algorithmic Society // with Kristina Tica, Raphael Albert & Joaquín Santuber
→ Amro updates: Hosting needed, helping hands, & Festival Supporter Ticket
→ Things to read
→ Headsup Noiselab, Digital Independence Day, LINZ FMR
→ & the Community News from the Network.

enjoy and see you soon!

your servus team

 

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→ Next Thursday 26th March! AI Café #3
Their Machines, their Rules? - Legality, Rights and Accountability in Algorithmic Society // with Kristina Tica, Raphael Albert & Joaquín Santuber

Thursday 26^th March 2026, 18:00–19:30
servus.at office, c/o 2.OG Stadtwerkstatt, Kirchengasse 4, 4040 Linz

This third appointment in the series of the AI Cafés looks at algorithms, machine learning and AI and their impact on personal data, as well as the responsibility over automatic decision making processes. The participants will address AI Act and Digital Omnibus, current attempts of european institutions to regulate the industry around AI and yet leave enough room for economic activity.

Raphael Albert will discuss how generative models interfere with our fundamental right to digital privacy and whether the current legal framework on data protection provides sufficient protection against such interference.

Kristina Tica and Joaquín Santuber will provide insights into understanding the concept of Human Oversight, as introduced in Article 14 of the EU AI Act. The critique of this act focuses on the ambiguity and limitations of human decision-making and agency in overseeing, controlling, and intervening in high-risk AI systems, which can affect fundamental rights. Her approach comes from media arts, where along Joaquín Santuber, they developed an interactive artwork HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT: THE OPS ROOM.

Kristina Tica is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher, with most recent practice centred on the artistic and theoretical exploration of the aesthetics and ethics of machine learning applications in visual computational processes. Currently pursuing her practical and theoretical PhD research at the intersection of critical AI, computational image and its aesth-ethics, media theory and law, between the Department of Media Theory at the University of Applied Arts (die Angewandte) Vienna and the Metaverse Lab [LIFT_C] at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. https://ticakristina.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ticakristina

Raphael Albert is a digital privacy professional, advocate, and activist based in Linz, Austria. Coming from a background in law and economics, he began working on privacy-related issues in 2018. Since then, he has worked in different settings and filled different roles. Of his many roles, he had always liked those the most which allowed him to share what he has learned about protecting our digital privacy with others. To focus on sharing knowledge and outreach, he started PRIVACY MINDED in 2023.

Joaquín Santuber is a lawyer and obtained his PhD in Design and IT-Systems from the Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam, Germany on the topic of designing for digital justice. As a research group lead of Metaverse Lab at the LIFT_C, JKU Linz, he works with art-based and design approaches to legality in digital environments, as well as critical approaches to public and judicial innovation.

About AI Café series

The AI Café is part of the cooperation project “Critical digitization for art and culture / Theater Phoenix x servus.at”, in which database-supported, automated, and algorithmic processes in theater operations are being explored. The project combines a critical examination of AI systems with their actual application in daily workflows. Part of the project, “KI Café” – a public event series in which different experiences and approaches to AI in cultural production are collected and discussed.

 

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AMRO updates!

Community help for AMRO!

Dear linz & servus community!
we are looking for private stays for the AMRO festival guests (Festival dates 13.—16.05.2026).

If you live in Linz and have a spare room between 10th and 17th of May 2026, want to support us and want to get to know an artist of the festival, please fill this form!

https://k4.servus.at/apps/forms/s/J8xx8dnkFrWzkbnkqn5zqKae

✅ We are looking ideally for private rooms, not to far from the center.

✅ As "thank you" we offer 30€ / night / person

Become an AMRO supporter with a festival ticket

You can support us and our quest towards the Radical Openness by buying an AMRO26 Supporter Ticket! You can choose the a supporter ticket here: https://kupfticket.com/en/events/amro26-supporter-ticket

A large part of hard costs of the festival are covered by funders Bundesministerium, Land Oberösterreich and Linz Kultur, as well as by our sponsors — for now LINZAG and Arte Hotel (*thanks!)!
Supporter tickets are nevertheless also important! Anything helps us to cover further expenses and offer a wider program, provide fair(er) fees, and keep the program free to attend for its audience.

Helping Hands always welcome :)

if you can dedicate a few hours to support AMRO by volunteering before or during the event, please drop a line at amro26@servus.at

AMRO Newsletter

To get detailed updates from AMRO, consider subscribing the dedicated newsletter

https://listmonk.servus.at/subscription/form or

 

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Things to read

- in the current Versorgerin, a deep dive into AMRO’s Theme Becoming Unreadable https://versorgerin.stwst.at/artikel/03-2026/becoming-unreadable

- the 3^rd bulletin of the almanac.sh is out https://publications.servus.at/2026-almanac.sh/almanac.html

- as part of the Digital Ethics Group of the European Network of independent initiatives Reset! we wrote an editorial inviting cultural associations to Abandoning the Unsustainable Cloud. https://reset-network.eu/abandoning-the-unsustainable-cloud/

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Heads Up:

Digital Independence Day: each month, every first Sunday.

Servus joined last month the Digital independence Day network!
Every first Sunday of the month, we celebrate Digital Independence Day: We reclaim our freedom in the digital world, stop undermining democracy, and switch to democracy-friendly digital alternatives. And, step by step, we secure our digital independence!
The next DI.DAY will take place on April 5 – together with our friends at /dev/lol.
Check out https://termine.di.day/, the https://kulturkarte.servus.at/ or our mastodon account https://social.servus.at/@servus

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NANOLOOP: Game Boy Music Workshop

when: 4.4. from 2pm
where: STWST/servus.at, Kirchengasse 4, 4040 Linz

workshop fee: free donation
please register: noiselab.linz@gmail.com

Dive into the world of #lofi electronics in our #gameboy Music Workshop and discover how to craft hypnotic #chiptune soundscapes using #nanoloop
You’ll learn the essentials of sequencing on the classic handheld #console exploring how simple waveforms and intuitive pattern-building can transform the Game Boy into a fully expressive instrument for your own sonic experiments
No prior knowledge required. Bring your own Headphones and if you have, your own gameboy!

Evamaria Müller @gmorrk and Peter Paul Aufreiter @eoae meet somewhere between sound art and pop music, blurring expectations and creating a playground open to anyone curious to experiment. As former members of the GameBoy Music Club, they are lovers of collaborative formats and creating the unexpected.

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Heads up for LINZ FMR

FMR 26, Schlossberg Linz, Austria
Wednesday, 3 to Sunday, 7 June 2026
Opening: Wednesday, 3 June 2026, 6 pm
followed by Opening Tours and Opening Night

servus.at is founder and cooperation partner of LINZ FMR, the festival for art in digital contexts and public spaces. The next edition FMR 26 brings an exhibition to locations including the Schlosspark, the Schlossmuseum, the Friedrichstor, the Rudolfstor, the Schlossbergstollen, the Rosengarten, the Keplerwiese and the Martinskirche. Works by numerous national and international artists from the fields of media art, digital art and internet art will be on display.

The programme also features lectures and talks on topics such as “Digital Afterlife and Immortality“, “Future Archaeology and Digital Artifacts“, “Digital Deceleration, Isolation, and the New Idyll“ and “AI Societies, Power Structures, and Resistance“. The Opening Night on Wednesday, 3 June and the Concert Night on Friday, 5 June will feature live acts and DJ sets from the world of experimental electronic music. Daily performances by participating artists on the festival grounds, as well as guided tours with art educators and curators, complete the programme.

https://linzfmr.at

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From the network:

- Open Call STWST84x12 HAUNTED https://versorgerin.stwst.at/artikel/03-2026/stwst-open-call-haunted https://newcontext.stwst.at/projects/stwst_2026_haunted. Deadline: 20^th April 2026.

- Open Call Festival der Regionen 2027: Eintauchen / Diving Deeper https://fdr.at/en/open-call/

Deadline: 30^th April 2026

- Saturday, Apr 18, 11:00 AM-03:00 PM. Nullstellung Workshop: Toolbox für Unabhängiges Verlegen und Publizieren. https://kulturkarte.servus.at/event/nullstellung-workshop-toolbox-fur-unabhangiges-verlegen-und-publizieren