The Visual Imaginaries of Gender project investigates the potentials and limitations of Generative AI (GenAI) for image generation. It goes beyond the known findings of biases in who is represented in generated images by deepening our understanding of GenAI’s artistic reimaginations of gender. During this evening we explore how the different scientific and artistic research perspectives brought together in the project intertwine and collide in three talks: 

Piera Riccio will present her work through four key perspectives. First, she examines GenAI as a widespread cultural phenomenon, exploring how users attribute sexualized and emotional connotations to fictional female characters. Second, how gendered artifacts from historical artistic styles are reproduced and amplified. Third, on continuities between existing digital beautification practices and AI portrait aesthetics, where users employ generative tools to “enhance” their appearance. Finally, she reflects on the circulation of abusive depictions of women on social media, highlighting tensions between freedom of expression, content moderation, and the prevention of gender-based violence in the age of generative AI. 

Eftychia Stamkou will explore how visual culture reflects but also shapes dominant cultural narratives. Using AI to analyze a large collection of paintings and film scripts, she asks: How has the representation of female artists shifted over time and across cultures? Does a female director guarantee a female voice on screen? And are women in paintings depicted as active agents or passive muses? 

Melvin Wevers will discuss how AI models encode temporal patterns. Drawing on his research analyzing visual markers in historical photographs, he explores how AI learns associations between time periods and gender. From a historian’s perspective, he asks: what do these models reveal about how we collectively remember and visualize the past? These models don’t just generate images of the past, but actively construct which versions of gendered history become visible and reproducible.  

The evening will conclude with a panel discussion led by Maarten Wijntjes.