Announcing A Strategic Partnership Between HUPR and Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence
We are delighted to announce the signing of a strategic partnership between the Research Centre for Human Potential – HUPR and Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence (LAI). The two research groups are united by a shared vision of innovation driven by artists and artistic methods. Since first meeting in 2025, the tremendous alignment between the two groups has led to the signing of an Official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate, learn from one another, and co-develop projects.
HUPR operates at the intersection of innovation, science, and the performing arts. Rooted in circus arts culture, HUPR holds a deep conviction in the transformative power of art.
“We are proud of this partnership with the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence,” says Emmanuel Bochud, Director of Development and Innovation at HUPR. “Collaborating with an organization that truly advocates for the power of artistic ways of thinking, being, knowing, and doing resonates deeply with our mission. Together, we foster communities where art is not only accessible, but meaningful and transformative.”
With this MOU, HUPR has also become a Founding Partner of Art/In Forum, the world’s first international forum for artistic intelligence, an initiative led by LAI. Since 2019, LAI has led singular transdisciplinary projects in art, research and consulting. After years of deep rumination about ‘how to scale’ this work, LAI launched Art/In Forum last year, which connects artists, scientists, educators, community workers, health professionals, urban experts, and more.
“Art/In Forum,” explains Helen Yung, Chief Artistic Officer of LAI, “’scales’ artistic intelligence relationally, through regular gatherings, workshops, and thematic residencies. We do the work the way artists do. And we are grateful that HUPR is partners with us in this vision of field-building. We are united in the belief that artistic intelligence, or ‘what art knows’ is essential to addressing today’s complex social, cultural, and human challenges.”
The HUPR-LAI partnership is underway, starting with the planning of co-programming under the auspices of Art/In Forum. The two partners will host regular Art/In Forum discussions for members to reflect on research insights, expand professional networks, and design and implement joint initiatives. Furthermore, HUPR and LAI are planning a practical ‘innovation through the lens of artistic intelligence’ seminar series for industry and SMEs.
“Artistic intelligence expands the space of what we can imagine and explore together,” says Julie Théberge, researcher in artistic methodologies and collaborative practices at HUPR. “By bringing artistic inquiry into dialogue with research and community knowledge, this partnership creates environments where new perspectives and possibilities can emerge.”
If you would like to learn more about this collaboration and explore how your organization could benefit from it, please subscribe to ART/IN Forum and direct inquiries to the contacts below.
About HUPR
Dedicated to advancing human potential and performance, we examine the conditions that enable people to thrive through applied research and innovation. Our work is grounded in a transdisciplinary approach, where art and science meet to push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation. We don’t think outside the box; we expand the box.
Recognized as a Possibility Studies Hub by the Possibility Studies Network (PSN), HUPR seeks to stimulate generative thinking and creative agency, while exploring how individuals, groups, and societies can envision and enact possible worlds and futures. Our projects engage complex challenges through arts-based processes. We refer to this way of thinking and working as artistic intelligence. By questioning challenges through artistic processes, we open new possibilities and perspectives, drawing strength from interdisciplinary collaboration.
HUPR’s ambition is not only to help the performing arts grow within society, but also to help society grow through the performing arts.
About LAI
The Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence is an artistic and social R&D organization that brings artists and artistic methods into areas of society where more imagination is needed. Specializing in consulting as creative intervention, LAI emphasizes diverse artistic methodologies as vital carriers of humanity’s intangible wisdoms. At a time when technocratic values increasingly dominate contemporary life, LAI remains attentive to what art knows and what it can teach us.
The term ‘artistic intelligence’ was first used by the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence in 2019 to describe the practice of bringing artists and artistic methods to address complex public and social challenges. Artistic intelligence is an applied practice, a human technology matching cultural knowledge to social need. Artistic intelligence interfaces between civil society and arts, culture, and heritage – between the structural and intangible, between the material and ineffable dimensions of life.
Inquiries
HUPR: hupr.ca
Amina Mohamed, Art/In Forum Project Coordinator
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