June 21-28.

Free Admission.
SNFCC. Athens.

An ETH Zurich Project

Created for Nostos 2026

With exclusive support from the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Exhibition Location:
The Lobby GNO;
Stavros Niarchos
Cultural Center (SNFCC)
GoogleMaps

ARTEFACTS
OF THE FUTURE

Medical Echoes in Medicine

ARTEFACTS

Speculative Future Medical Technologies

Produced by: Nikolas Athanasopoulos, Richard Beckett, Jan Contala, Erzë Dinarama, Olaf Egner, Johanna Jonsson, Jessica Lundin, Iacopo Neri, Pietro Odaglia, Levent Ozruh, Massimiliano Pelletti, and Hangchuan Wei

As emerging technologies reshape what it means to be human, how should we respond?

On low black plinths sits a collection of speculative objects; sculptures that look like eroded ancient ruins, but actually represent technologies that don't yet exist. Crafted by European artists in collaboration with ETH Zurich scientists, these sculptures merge classical aesthetics with cutting-edge 3D printing, marble dust, and living matter. From artificial wombs to neural implants, the collection spans the trajectory of human life, challenging us to confront the boundaries of biotechnology, identity, and the human body before the "what if" becomes the "what is."

AI ECHO

Ethical Deliberation and Visualisation

Developed by: Rita Sevastjanova, Kirill Heitzler, Menna El-Assady, in partnership with ElevenLabs

Curious about the worlds these artefacts come from?

The artefacts do not remain silent. Using a bespoke AI tool developed by ETH Zurich's Interactive Visualization & Intelligence Augmentation Lab (IVIA) in collaboration with the Health Ethics & Policy Labs, you can step into a live conversation with each sculpture.

Through interactive dialogue, you will uncover the "memories" of these future relics and unearth the ethical tensions behind their promises.

As you chat, the system maps your responses to generate your personalized Ethical Aura, a unique visual summary of the values, uncertainties, and perspectives that shape your view of tomorrow's technology.

Speak with the Artefacts

CREDITS

Acknowledgements

Director
Effy Vayena

Artistic Director and Curator
Joanna Sleigh

Conceptual Development and Curation
Alessandro Blasimme; Eirini Petrou

Chatbot Development
Rita Sevastjanova, Kirill Heitzler, Menna El-Assady, in partnership with ElevenLabs

Artists and Artefact Producers
Nikolas Athanasopoulos, Richard Beckett, Jan Contala, Erzë Dinarama, Olaf Egner, Johanna Jonsson, Jessica Lundin, Iacopo Neri, Pietro Odaglia, Levent Ozruh, Massimiliano Pelletti, and Hangchuan Wei

Scenography
Burri Mahlknecht Szenografen

Graphic Design
Tommaso Prinetti

A Project by
ETH Zurich

Created for
SNF Nostos 2026, with exclusive support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Acknowledgements
Alessandro Arganese, Zakharii Bolotnikov, Oliver Buchholz, Dimitris Chasiotis, Malte Dömer, Sunniva Flück, Matthias Gabathuler, Roger Gassert, Soroya Glutz, Arthur Heck, Yifei Huang, Heidi Lee, Matthäus Leidenfrost, Vagelis Louzis, Yullie Matsouka, Claire McBride, Eric Owens, Androniki Petrou, Eri Pyrgidi, André Teixeira, Derme Tiziano, Noel Ullreich, Henry Welch, Oliver Zgraggen, and all others who made this project possible. With special thanks to the SNF Nostos 2026 team.

Nostos 2026

SNF Nostos is a gathering free and open to all organized by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), an international grantmaking organization. A multifaceted event filled with conversation, art, bold ideas, music, dance, performance, and athletics, it runs from June 21 to 28 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), a world-class, fully accessible public space in Athens created at SNF’s initiative and through its exclusive support and given to the Greek state in 2017. SNF Nostos 2026 is organized in partnership with SNF’s close collaborators from the nonprofit journalism iMEdD (Incubator for Media Education and Development) and this year we are celebrating SNF's 30th anniversary, together with our partners from around the world.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which is celebrating 30 years of grantmaking in 2026, is one of the world’s leading private international philanthropic organizations, making grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare. SNF supports organizations and programs worldwide that aim to achieve a broad, lasting, and positive impact for society at large and exhibit strong leadership and sound management. The Foundation also seeks to support projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as an effective means for serving public welfare. Since 1996, SNF has committed almost $4 billion to more than 3,100 grantee-partner organizations in 137 countries around the world. Find out more at snf.org

ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities for science and technology, defined by an institutional mandate to drive pioneering research and develop sustainable solutions for global challenges. This project directly manifests that mission by uniting specialised expertise across three of its departments: bioethics from D-HEST, interactive human-AI visualisation from D-INFK, and future fabrication from D-ARCH. By bridging these computational, material, and ethical disciplines through speculative design, the exhibition serves as an active laboratory for public engagement, thereby transforming academic knowledge into a tangible dialogue about the future of emerging technologies.

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