Hyperlink

On Saturday, June 14, Waag Futurelab and PublicSpaces are hosting Hyperlink - where you can make, discover and contribute ideas on how we can make a better internet together. You will learn in an Augmented Reality (AR) game how to recognise fake news, you can fix your data-guzzling phone, make your own smart doorbell, and more!

Programme

From 14:00 hrs you are welcome at the Waag for various exhibitions and workshops. Starting at 16:00 hrs, you can also join different talks.

Workshops

The smartest doorbell

Create a smart doorbell that's actually smart - maybe one that respects privacy laws - with artist Roos Groothuizen.

Escape Fake AR game

Play the award-winning AR game Escape Fake! Navigate through a digital escape room in order to fix the future by debunking fake news.

Fix Your Phone ShopFix Your Phone Shop

You smartphone is broken - and it's not just a cracked screen. Fix your phone into a device that feels good and works better, for your health, your privacy and the planet.

Social Socials Helpdesk

Would you like to move away from Facebook and Instagram, on to more social socials like Mastodon, Pixelfed and Peertube? Learn how and discover alternative social media.

Build a Network They Can't Shut Down

No internet? No problem. In this hands-on workshop you'll explore how we can connect without centralised systems — using radios, mesh networks, and collective imagination.

Exhibitions

Acid Clouds

In the project Acid Clouds, Niels Schrader and Roel Backaert explore what our internet physically looks like now, with a photo series of data centres in the Netherlands.

Electric Garden, Sunjoo LeeRegenerative Tech

How can we build a digital world that also supports our planet? Artists, designers and researchers show how it can be done! With Leanne Wijnsma, Lukas Engelhardt, Rein van der Woerd and Sunjoo Lee.

Generative Things

What do you get when generative AI and so-called 'smart devices' of the Internet of Things meet? Thingcon shows us with their 'provotypes' in Generative Things.

Talks

Beyond the screens of our phones
16:00 hrs - VPRO Tegenlicht mini-meetup with Chris Vijn (Dutch)

In the VPRO Tegenlicht mini-meetup, based on the episode ‘How to liberate your smartphone from big tech according to Marleen Stikker’, director Chris Vijn talks about how to visualise the digital world.

Acid Clouds, Niels Schrader & Roel BackaertThe physcial form of the digital cloud
17:00 uur - Niels Schrader & Judith Veenkamp (Dutch)

Judith Veenkamp (Waag Futurelab) and Niels Schrader discuss the physical characteristics of the internet and what we would like it to look like.

Infrastructure is a Verb
18:00 uur - Radical Data Collective & Pourya Omidi

We’re told digital infrastructure is too big, too complex, too technical to touch. But it’s not. It’s cables, radios, code, and politics. Learn how the internet became a tool of control, and why now is the time to organise, imagine, and build alternatives.

How generative AI is infiltrating our lives
19:00 hrs - Laurence Scherz & Ola Bonati

What happens now that AI is taking deep root in our texts, images and even social lives?

Towards a better internet

What is your first memory of ‘the internet’? Visiting the De Digitale Stad (DDS) via a Telnet connection, the dancing banana of Hyves, chatting on MSN, or downloading music on Napster and Limewire for your mp3-player or diskman.

Whatever your memory may be: chances are your first memory will feel better than the internet you now use every day. We pay with our data, are addicted to scrolling and are increasingly exposed to disinformation, hate speech and political manipulation on social media platforms. Today's internet is characterised by a few big tech companies setting the rules. We depend on big tech social media platforms more than ever, and those companies are becoming increasingly intertwined with political power. Things must and can be different - join us at Hyperlink to find out how!

Accessibility

If you are tight on funds and want to participate in this event, please get in touch with claudia [@] waag [dot] org.

PublicSpaces Conference 2025: Shaping our Digital Future

Do you want to delve deeper into the design of a better internet? Join us at Pakhuis de Zwijger on Friday 13 June for the fifth edition of the PublicSpaces Conference!

This event is part of the Toekomsttiendaagse (FutureFest) from 12 to 21 June 2025, a programme that is taking place as part of the celebration of Amsterdam 750 years.