Project “Talking Heads” partners meet in Thessaloniki
From 20 to 23 October 2025, representatives of the Latvian National Museum of Art went on a business trip to Thessaloniki, Greece, where the third in-person meeting of the European Union’s “Creative Europe” co-funded project “Talking Heads” (Project No. 101174331 – CREA-CULT-2024-COOP) took place. This meeting was part of the project’s second phase – “Ethical and Responsible Use of Technology.”
The programme brought together partners from Georgia, North Macedonia, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, and remotely Ukraine, to discuss the project’s further development and to address topics related to the use of artificial intelligence solutions in the cultural and creative sectors, with a special focus on data collection and processing, user experience (UX/UI), and ethical aspects of technology use.
The first meeting session took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOMus). As part of the programme, participants took part in two discussions: “AI Scenarios in Cultural Organisations – The MOMus Case Study”, led by Epaminondas Christophilopoulos, UNESCO representative and President of MOMus, and “Responsible Implementation of Generative Artificial Intelligence”, led by PhD Stergios Tegos, Director of the company Enchatted. Both sessions explored the potential applications and challenges of generative artificial intelligence in the cultural sector. The visit concluded with a guided tour of the museum’s exhibition.
In the following days, participants worked in two working groups. The Data Collection and Processing Group discussed data selection, metadata structure, quality and ethical considerations, as well as the role of cultural institutions in data compilation during the project’s development. The second group, led by MAL-VI representatives – Panos Voulgaris, Zadom, and Maria Malindretou – focused on user experience and design aspects in the context of cultural technologies. The work of both groups concluded with joint discussions and presentations, highlighting the interconnection between data collection and user experience.
The meeting also included two thematic workshops demonstrating methods for testing AI models and writing prompts. These sessions were conducted remotely by project partners from Ukraine.
At the end of the visit, participants toured the NOESIS Science Center and Technology Museum, where interactive artificial intelligence projects were presented: “Conversations with Socrates” by Giannis Dimitriadis (ITI-CERTH), and “The Museum’s AI Assistant” by Vassilios Matsos, NOESIS R&D Director. During the visit, participants also took part in a guided city tour of Thessaloniki, discovering the city’s cultural and historical environment as well as its contemporary cultural scene.
The project “Talking Heads – Conversation with the Art from the Past” is implemented under Grant Agreement No. 101174331, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme (CREA-CULT-2024-COOP). The project duration is 36 months, starting from 1 November 2024.