After one and a half years of collaboration, experimentation and hard work, Open Culture Tech 2.0 has officially come to an end. What started as an ambitious project to explore the intersection of music, technology, and public values grew into a vibrant community of artists, technologists, and audiences eager to discover what the future of live performance could look like. In our previous updates (M6 and M12), we shared the first milestones of the project: from introducing our six resident artists to highlighting workshops and early media coverage. Since then, the project has reached its most exciting phase: live performances and new open-source tools. Let’s look back on the past months in our final blog.

 

 

Six artists, six unique performances

 

At the heart of Open Culture Tech are six musicians who each spent months developing an innovative live concept alongside one of our technology partners. The result? Six performances that pushed the boundaries between music, technology, and audience experience. Earlier this year, we already shared the first performances by Might Delete Later and Rafaele Andrade. During the spring, the four remaining residents brought their projects to the stage:

 

 

Mathilde Nobel

Together with artist and creative technologist Chagall, Mathilde Nobel explored how the body itself can become an instrument. Using tools like the Genki Wave Ring (a motion capture controller), she transformed movement into an interface where sound, visuals, and performance merged into one fluid experience. The result was an immersive live performance presented on April 2, 2026, at Cinetol in Amsterdam.

https://www.thunderboomrecords.com/posts/mathilde-nobel-live-at-cinetol 

 

 

Jeroen Ermens

What happens when your newest band member is artificial intelligence? For his residency, Jeroen Ermens collaborated with design agency Bureau Moeilijke Dingen to create an AI-powered musical counterpart. During Signal Interference, performed on May 22, 2026 at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Jeroen literally battled his Hammond organ against AI in a fascinating live experiment that questioned creativity, improvisation, and authorship.

https://www.thunderboomrecords.com/posts/jeroen-ermens-live-at-muziekgebouw-eindhoven

Mihir Raina (Lacuna)

Together with AIxDESIGN and creative technologist Moisés Horta Valenzuela (Hexorcismos), Mihir Raina (better known as Lacuna) investigated how AI could support a musical workflow rooted in oral histories from his home region of Kashmir. Moisés built the generative models and the tool itself, trained on archival audio recordings, creating an experimental bridge between cultural heritage and contemporary electronic music. Their performance, Saz-e-Yaad, premiered on May 30, 2026 at De Helling in Utrecht.

https://www.thunderboomrecords.com/posts/mihir-raina-live-at-de-helling-with-saz-e-yaad

 

RBDjan

Dutch rap artist RBDjan presented one of the project's most theatrical performances. Developed with creative technologist Wesley Hartogs, the show combined music, storytelling, and AI-driven visuals to reveal the literary qualities of rap lyrics. Dynamic projections transformed words into immersive visual landscapes, giving audiences a completely new way to experience spoken language. The performance took place on June 2, 2026 at Cinetol in Amsterdam.

 

 

Measuring the audience experience

 

Open Culture Tech wasn't just about experimenting with technology, it was about understanding whether these innovations genuinely enrich the live music experience. Throughout the performances, our team conducted audience interviews to gather feedback on the technologies used during each show. These conversations offered valuable insights into how audiences experienced immersive visuals, AI-powered interactions, and new forms of artist-audience engagement. The full results of the audience research can be found here.

 

 

From experiments to open tools: Open Culture Tech toolkit

 

One of the project's biggest ambitions was to ensure that the knowledge developed during the residencies wouldn't disappear once the performances ended. The technologies created throughout the project have now been transformed into practical toolkits that other artists can explore and build upon. Developed with public values at their core, these tools prioritize transparency, inclusivity, user privacy, and protection of intellectual property, making innovation more accessible for the wider creative community.

 

Among the newly developed tools are:

• Saz-e-yaad - an AI-powered music-making tool that explores archives of Kashmiri music for creative inspiration rather than production efficiency, built with public values (consent, provenance, transparency) at its core.

• W.O.L.K.

• Add more examples + links to online toolkit

 

 

Learning together: Open Culture Tech workshops

 

Sharing knowledge has always been an essential part of Open Culture Tech. This spring, several hands-on workshops invited artists and creatives to explore emerging technologies for themselves:

 

(Sound)Making with Nervous Systems & Neural Networks

On May 7, 2026, artist and technologist Jak Woda (Mateusz Mieciek) challenged participants to rethink the relationship between body, sound, and AI. Using gestures, movement, and voice as musical input, participants experimented with AI systems that transformed these signals into entirely new textures, rhythms, and sonic landscapes.

 

Audio Flows: Train Your Own Real-Time Generative Audio Model with Hexorcismos (Moisés Horta Valenzuela)
Hosted 10 June 2026, online. The closing session of the series, where participants used the open-source CoDiCodec-Flow pipeline to train their own real-time generative audio model.

 

Songwriting & AI

On May 11, 2026, Thunderboom founder Max guided participants through the creative possibilities and limitations of AI in music production. The workshop explored practical applications for songwriting, sound design, and production while also encouraging thoughtful discussion around ethics, copyright, creativity, and privacy in the age of generative AI.

 

 

Building on what came before

 

Open Culture Tech 2.0 continued on the foundations of the first edition of the project. Open Culture Tech 1.0 (2022–2024) delivered three open-source tools designed to help musicians experiment with emerging technologies in their own practice. Rather than leaving these tools on the shelf, we wanted to see what would happen when they landed in the hands of new creators.

 

Through an open call, we invited artists to put the toolkit to the test in their own residencies. Three artists were selected, each bringing a completely different artistic vision. Drag performance artist LASHAAAWN used the Avatar Mixer to imagine God as a Surinamese auntie. Performance maker BASJE further developed PopGPT, a theatre-pop performance in which audiences help shape both a digital avatar and the narrative unfolding on stage. Meanwhile, Rotterdam-based audiovisual duo NDA explored how the AR Synth could add an interactive layer to their live show, allowing audiences to engage with their performance through augmented reality.

 

These residencies perfectly captured the spirit of Open Culture Tech: technology is only as exciting as the stories artists tell with it. By opening up the toolkit to new creators, the project demonstrated that these tools are not fixed products, but starting points for entirely new artistic possibilities.

 

 

Publication: Opening the Code, Expanding the Stage

 

Beyond the performances and technologies, Open Culture Tech also resulted in a new publication that captures the project's broader impact. Opening the Code, Expanding the Stage brings together interviews with eight participating artists to explore how open-source technologies influence artistic practice, creative workflows, and the future of live performance.

 

Artists including Rafaele Andrade, Jan Modaal, Jeroen Ermens, Mark IJzerman, BASJE, Mathilde Nobel, artist duo Den Ree and Niki Scheijen reflect on their experiences experimenting with technology and share practical insights for fellow creators interested in working with open tools.

 

The publication aims to inspire artists who are curious about technology but unsure where to begin, offering both personal stories and practical lessons learned throughout the project. Read the publication here.

 

 

Closing with a final Show & Tell

 

Every great journey deserves a proper ending. On June 24, 2026, partners, artists, and collaborators gathered for a small closing event to celebrate everything Open Culture Tech 2.0 has achieved. The afternoon featured demonstrations from BASJE and NDA, conversations with our technology partners, a listening session by Rafaele Andrade, presentations from AIxDESIGN, and plenty of opportunities to reflect on the collaborations that made the project possible. More than a closing event, it was a celebration of an incredible year and a half of experimentation, creativity, and shared curiosity.

Photos: https://annereitsma.smugmug.com/Beeld-en-Geluid 

 

 

Looking ahead

 

Although Open Culture Tech 2.0 has officially crossed the finish line, its impact is only just beginning. The performances may have ended, but the tools remain available, the knowledge has been documented, and the collaborations have sparked new ideas that will continue to shape the future of music and technology. To everyone who participated - artists, technologists, partners, and supporters - thank you for helping us imagine what live performance can become.