Intuitive floating orbs to Mars missions – meet the minds behind World Science Festival Brisbane’s must-see events
The countdown to the 2024 World Science Festival Brisbane is on, with some of the world’s greatest thinkers, dreamers and storytellers to descend on Brisbane from March 15–24 to push boundaries, fuel conversation and take science out of laboratories and into the streets. This year, the festival is rolling out the red carpet for some big-name science stars and international guests to help our minds decode everything from artificial intelligence to life on Mars. Here’s a rundown of who’s coming to town.
Karina Smigla-Bobinski
Acclaimed German-Polish open-media artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski will make her mark at the festival by bringing her ‘post-digital drawing machine’ ADA to Australia for the very first time. Premiering at World Science Festival Brisbane, ADA is an enormous floating orb and interactive sculpture that audiences are invited to pull, push and move within the white room it inhabits. Over days, drawings and stories accumulate as each human interaction leaves marks on the walls and floor – the most primal form of communication. Spotlighting the intersection of art and computer science, ADA is, according to Karina, like software. Constructed with plastic and gas, ADA responds to visitors’ input and cannot be controlled, drawing out intuitive responses and creating a deeply somatic experience for audiences. Karina has exhibited ADA at festivals, galleries and museums across the world, and will be in Brisbane to debut the groundbreaking installation at Queensland Museum’s Cultural Centre Forecourt from March 15–24. For tickets, jump to the festival website.
Professor Brian Greene
Professor Brian Greene co-founded the World Science Festival Brisbane with Emmy Award-winning journalist Tracy Day in New York back in 2008. Not only is he responsible for bringing together the greatest minds in science and the arts, Brian Greene is a world-renowned professor of physics and mathematics and a New York Times best-selling author – and he’s set to blow our curious minds when he takes to the stage for a series of unmissable In Conversation events. On Wednesday March 20 at QPAC’s Playhouse Theatre, Professor Greene will answer burning questions on how our solar system was born, how it evolved and how life emerged here on Earth in Space Rocks to Moon Rocks: Paths to Life in the Solar System. If the promise and perils of artificial intelligence are keeping you up at night, hear Professor Greene unpack it all on Thursday March 21 at must-see in-conversation event Decoding Thought: AI’s New Breakthroughs and Boundaries. Greene will moderate a world-class panel of experts to weigh in on AI’s broad adoption, its praise to boost capacity, and its potential for harm and existential threat. Tickets to both events are available now through the festival website.
Jorge Vago
Is there life on Mars? Well, there’s no one better to ask than Jorge Vago, the visionary behind the European Space Agency’s ExoMars project, who oversees space missions that answer that exact question. On Friday March 22, Jorge will bolster the Life on Mars event at QPAC with a special guest appearance to debunk myths and illuminate the mysteries of the universe. Hosted by seasoned science journalist and astrophysicist Graham Phillips, audiences can strap themselves in for a night of interstellar insights from a panel of experts including dark-universe virtuoso Professor Tamara Davis, world-leading expert in primitive microbial life Professor Kathleen Campbell and ancient-life research figure Professor Martin Van Kranendonk. If you’re intrigued by the marvel of Mars and are keen to hear what Jorge Vago and the European Space Agency are up to next (hint – they’re aiming to launch a rover to Mars in 2028), then jump here to grab your tickets.
World Science Festival will take over streets, galleries, museums and arts venues across Brisbane from March 15–24 with more than 50 free and ticketed events. To view the 2024 program and purchase tickets, head to the festival website.
To find out more about what’s on in Brisbane, head to our Event Guide.