Soooo cute ~૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა~

Cuteness has always been part of the internet, lately appearing on even more screens than before.

From the self-infantilisation trends we explored last year, like the viral phrase This is who you’re being mean to accompanied by a cute animal, to viral capybaras, baby cats, and uwu-filters, cuteness is everywhere. How does it work so well online, and what does it do with us?

In their book Cute Accelerationism (2024), Amy Ireland and Maya B. Kronic describe cute as a powerful force that seduces us through softness. Cuteness offers another way of thinking through change, through pleasure, vulnerability, and shared joy as opposed to apocalypse and collapse.

We’re excited to welcome Amy and Maya to Amsterdam for a workshop, followed by a performance-lecture. We’ll be exploring a deceptively simple question: how is cuteness so powerful, and what does it do with us?

Defining cute: a workshop

This hands-on workshop revolves around a central question: How can we define cute? How many forms can it take and to what sensory domains does it belong? And where does it begin and end?

We will map how cuteness moves through bodies, images, sounds, and emotions through listening exercises, participatory drawing, and collective reflections.

The power of cute: a performance-lecture

In an A/V performance based on Cute Accelerationism, Amy and Maya dive deep into the strange life of cute — its history, biology, psychology, and cultural power. They explore cute as a feeling, visual style, social strategy, and a seductive force giving shape to contemporary culture. Moving through its sensory, erotic, and symbolic dimensions, they open up the hidden spaces behind the phenomenon that has such an irresistible grip on the internet, and in turn, us.

Schedule