The #rp25 Off Stage programme

Under the motto Generation XYZ, the Off Stage programme creates spaces for exchange and collective experiences. Away from the main stages, it offers installations, interventions, games, and participatory formats that transform the conference grounds into a vibrant social landscape. At its core are interactive formats that explore societal issues, imagine future scenarios, or critically examine technological developments such as artificial intelligence.

🧠 AI & Algorithms as Co-Players

Formats that deal with artificial intelligence, algorithms, and their role in society, everyday life, or artistic practice.

In Lasting Generation (Theresa Reiwer), AI systems take charge of a climate symposium — can they secure our survival? Generation Zero (CyberRäuber) sees AI-controlled humanoid robots roaming the site — a performative glimpse into the next evolutionary stage of generations. Commune AI (Interrobang Performance) invites you to live in fictional collectives with AI: manifestos are written, spin-the-bottle is played — exploring the potential of machines as flatmates. PARALLEXE (Pisarzowski) asks whether AI can help bridge political polarisation. In Mensch, Maschine (Spitz, Mosene et al.), teams tackle tricky puzzles and ethical dilemmas around human–machine interaction and the “human-in-the-loop” concept. Bias&Bias (Jo Tiffe) demonstrates how AI image systems distort reality and puts their blind spots up for debate.

👾 Digital Culture & Gaming 

Installations and actions exploring gaming, virtual objects, streaming, or social media.

In the Gaming Area (Games Ground), you can play classics from Generations X, Y, and Z each day — and try to claim the rp25 high score in Pac-Man. You can also challenge a gaming pro live on stage. Sacred & Super Rare (Piotter) explores the spiritual and economic dimensions of gaming worlds. LuckyLike (Kunzmann) combines social media and gambling in an interactive machine. The video game Truth Is... (Rauhut, Perri, Maliaras) simulates disinformation dynamics: your actions determine whether news becomes fake news. Window Arcade: Island Racer (Zweiling, Janssens) invites smartphone-controlled races on a big screen. In Live Web Banana Games (Mach), Twitch chat users control absurd multiplayer games. The format Public TikTok Viewing  (Studio JoHey!) brings TikTok trends to the big screen — steered by majority vote.

🎲 Games, Speculation & Social Intervention

Participatory formats exploring social issues — often low-threshold, analogue, humorous, or confrontational.

Change my mind: A folding table. Two chairs. Provocative theses. Alexander Prinz, the “Dark Parabelritter”, invites you to open debate. Dare to join in? What if?! (Wider, von Salomon, Mohr) uses the “Future Wheels” tool to explore alternative futures of equal opportunities together. The Future Generations Generator (Jacobi et al.) creates names and characteristics of future generations — a tool for speculative negotiation of the future. In Oh! wie Osten (Henschel, Schröder), social exchange becomes a parlour game. The Maypole of Generations (Schumann, Haas) carries visitors’ visions into the sky. The Required Fields installation (Campe, Klein) transforms data visualisation into a collective sticker-dot interaction. #rp25 is bringing back the ball pit! The Ball Pit Museum (Mrongowius) stages a fake news gallery where truth and lies blur. What do you think — was Kim Jong-un really in the ball pit?

🌍 Climate, Data & Ecology

Formats that creatively engage with environmental issues, data visualisation, and ecological scenarios.

Climate Data Aurora (Jablonski et al.) translates climate data into a visual light spectacle. The Energy Mobile (Dunkl) takes the energy transition on the road — as a mobile platform for exchange. The installation Talk to the Tree (Szugfil, Metz, Lücking, Ullrich) merges sensor technology and language AI: a talking tree becomes an interface between people, nature, and technology. Spiel mit Grenzen (playing with limits) (Lindauer et al.) playfully conveys knowledge of climate budgets.

🌀 Sound, Space & Perception

Artistic works that focus on sound, spatial installations, and sensory experience.

In Ambulation (Tim Shaw), the conference grounds become a soundscape: a live sound-walking performance extracts ambient sounds and makes space sensually tangible. Kinorbital Habitats (Brand, Auberg, Vey) visualises ecological utopias in floating bubbles. In SUPERPOSITION COMPOSITION (Lorenz et al.), quantum mechanics becomes musically tangible. And Scanning the Horizon (Busch) turns queer places of encounter in Berlin into a walkable 3D archive.

🧘 Encounter & Embodiment

In the Popticum — a triple bubble structure made of parachute fabric by the transdisciplinary collective of architects and designers of the same name — the following body-oriented formats will take place:

Ageing Trouble (Popticum, Schubert-Stegemann) asks in a performance: What clichés about ageing and femininity do we encounter? What do an ageing city and an ageing body have in common? Democracy Fitness (Merk, Jünemann) trains our democratic “muscles” through playful movement: disagreeing bravely, listening better, finding compromise, valuing conflict. Need to clear your mind before diving back into re:publica’s full-on content? No problem — with the daily meditation session led by Katharina Naumann. If you’re seeking the balance of clarity and movement, you can join a daily yoga session with rotating instructors. And in the kissing workshop (Nike Wessel) we learn how to communicate and consent together, how to respect boundaries and how to have genuine encounters.

🧵 DIY & Maker

Formats where visitors can craft, build, and create things themselves.

As part of the Makerspace, there are many more Off Stage activities that invite you to experiment and get hands-on!