​What do we gain, and what do we lose, when nations decide to preserve their heritage through digitization under the pressure of ecological crisis, and robots start producing experiences and become active agents? Join us at Swissnex in San Francisco for the second day of REFRESH 2026.

​REFRESH 2026 is a 4-day festival featuring keynotes, masterclasses and an exhibition running until April 12, bringing together acclaimed designers, artists, and researchers from Switzerland and the US to envision possible futures and new fields of action for design and the arts.

​Discover all REFRESH Festival events:
REFRESH Luma Calendar - Register here for all Festival events
REFRESH Festival Overview - Read more about the artists and artwork

​Program

​6:00pm // Doors Open

​6:30pm // Ecology Data Mourning
Keynote by Marina Otero Verzier, Lecturer in Architecture, Graduate School of Design at Harvard University

​This keynote presentation analyzes the case of Tuvalu and its plans to become a fully virtual and digitized nation. Amid the unraveling of worlds, the possibility of Tuvalu’s digital twin opens questions on how to address the fragility of environments and communities, their care, custodianship, preservation, and eventual loss in the face of the climate catastrophe. Otero will delve into the inherent tension between digital custodianship and the unsustainable practices of the data storage industry and explore notions of preservation, proliferation, and decay.

​7pm // Big Players
Keynote by Thibault Brevet, AATB Studio

​AATB treat robotics like a material—flexible, unpredictable, almost tender. The duo, Andrea Anner and Thibault Brevet, pushes industrial automation far beyond factory logic, transforming robotic arms into performers, collaborators, and sometimes awkward companions. Their practice merges engineering with choreography: software becomes gesture, precision machining becomes play, and human–machine interaction turns into a staged, slightly uncanny intimacy. By placing robots in everyday, non-industrial contexts, AATB reveal how deeply automation already choreographs our movements and desires. Their work asks a simple, radical question: what happens when machines stop producing things—and start producing experiences?

​7:30pm // Networking, Drinks & Appetizers

​8:30pm // Doors Close

​Speakers

• ​Marina Otero Verzier, Lecturer in Architecture, Graduate School of Design at Harvard University

• ​Thibault Brevet, Co-Founder AATB

​About REFRESH 2026

​REFRESH 2026 is a partnership between the Department of Design and the Immersive Arts Space of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), and Swissnex in San Francisco.

​The festival is an initiative of the Department of Design and the Immersive Arts Space of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), and is traveling to the US for the first time.

​This 7th edition of REFRESH focuses on “Algorithmic Entanglements”, reflecting the impact of digital technologies on society and the planetary well-being. The line up highlights the crucial role of creative practitioners and thinkers engaging critically and responsibly with digital transformation.

​Identity / Motion Design: Abhash Mittal. © ZHdK

​About Swissnex in San Francisco

​Swissnex in San Francisco is an initiative of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Our vision at Swissnex in San Francisco is to connect tomorrow by empowering the next generation of innovators to collaborate and create futures where the planet and society thrive.

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