Beautiful Signals: Signals of life: messages from earth and beyond

How do we get ready for the unknown? This workshop takes the question to an astro-ecological scale, exploring the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) through the lens of justice.

Participants will learn about real-world messages sent from Earth, like the Arecibo Message and NASA’s Golden Record, and engage with four future scenarios developed by SETI researchers at the SETI Post-Detection Hub.

Through hands-on activities, storytelling, and the music of the Golden Record, the workshop invites experimentation with more-than-human messaging and creative technologies. Together, we will explore the entanglement of technology and intangible culture, crafting life-giving signals and reimagining how we prepare for unprecedented events through cosmic perspectives.

Drawing on insight from art and science, disaster studies and cultural research, the workshop considers technosignatures from Earth and beyond. How can we recognise rich signals of life? Can we imagine the cosmos as communicative? And, how can we craft beautiful signals that convey values like welcome, respect, and reciprocity?