Testing Grounds: The Kill Cloud, AI & Migration Control

The 38th Conference of the Disruption Network Lab, 27-29 NOVEMBER 2026. Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Marianneplatz 2, 10997 Berlin & Streaming Workshops at Stadtwerkstatt, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 11, 10178 Berlin Curated by Tatiana Bazzichelli (Director, Disruption Network Lab, IT/DE). With the active participation of the Disruption Network Institute Fellows and Advisors. Hosted by the Disruption Network Lab, this conference investigates how artificial intelligence and automated systems are transforming warfare, surveillance, and migration. Central to the discussion is the concept of the "Kill Cloud" - a term coined by whistleblowers Lisa Ling and Cian Westmoreland describing a warfare infrastructure spanning sea, land, air, space, and cyberspace that underpins modern drone programmes and beyond. The event features three Disruption Network Institute research fellows: Cian Westmoreland (former US Air Force Drone Technician), Namir Shabibi (independent investigative journalist), and Tiara Roxanne (scholar and artist), who present new investigatory research on AI-driven targeting, ubiquitous surveillance, and data extraction. The conference examines how war zones and borders serve as testing grounds for technologies later expanded to civil society - including facial recognition, predictive policing, and automated systems deployed in cities like Berlin. It addresses data capitalism, Big Tech monopolies, and the systematic repression of migrants and dissents. The event connects journalists, whistleblowers, researchers, activists, and artists to share knowledge and present tools for digital self-defence and grassroots empowerment. It serves as both research dissemination and a call to action for social and environmental justice in an era of increasing surveillance and human rights erosion. Join us to discuss and generate new possible routes of social and political action within the framework of social and environmental justice. Program: Friday 27 November 2026 17:00–17:10 · OPENING Tatiana Bazzichelli (Artistic Director, Disruption Network Lab, Director, Disruption Network Institute, IT/DE). 17:10 – 17:40 · PERFORMANCE: I cannot decolonize my body: Automated Extraction Tiara Roxanne (Scholar and Artist, US/DE) and Pablo Torres Gómez (Sound Artist & Anthropologist, HFBK Hamburg, CO/DE). 18:15 – 20:15 · KEYNOTE Cian Westmoreland (Whistleblower, Former US Air Force Drone Technician, US), Namir Shabibi (Independent Investigative Journalist, UK), Tiara Roxanne (Scholar and Artist, US/DE). Moderated by Thomas Drake (Whistleblower, former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency, US). Short video contribution: Ernest Cornel Oduor (Senior Communications Officer, Kenya Human Rights Commission-KHRC, KE). Saturday 28 November 2026 16:00 – 18:10 · PANEL Kay (Activist & Campaigner, Purge Palantir, US), Eslem Demirel (Activist and Organiser, ORCA), Tobi (Activist and Former AI Scientist, ORCA), Ramy Raoof (Technologist, Digital Security Advisor, EG/DE). Moderated by Jaya Klara Brekke (Writer and Technologist, Chief Strategy Officer, Nym SE/UK). 18:40 – 20:45 · VIDEO & PANEL VIDEO: Néstor Espinosa Robledo (Investigative Journalist & Historian, CO). Mais A.M. Qandeel (Associate Professor in Law and Technologies/International Law. University of Galway and Örebro University, SE), Dominik Winkler (Political Geographer and Communication Scholar, DE), Romain Lanneau (Researcher, Statewatch, Front-LEX, UK/NL). Moderated by Joana Moll (Artist, Professor of Networks at the KHM, ES/DE). Sunday 29 November 2025 · Workshop & Roundtable 12:00 – 14:00 · WORKSHOP: PURGE PALANTIR With: Kay (Activist & Campaigner, Purge Palantir, US), Jeff Ordower (Activist & Organiser, #teslatakedown, US). 15:00 – 17.00 · DISOBEDIENCE: On Reclaiming Agency Community Activation with: Eslem Demirel (ORCA) and Tobi (ORCA) At Stadtwerkstatt. With the active participation of the speakers and the audience. Funded by: Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt (Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion), The Reva and David Logan Foundation, Luminate, Re-Imagine Europe (Co-funded by the European Union). Disruption Network Lab is part of New Perspectives for Action (2023-2027). A project by Re-Imagine Europe, a collaboration between Paradiso and Sonic Acts (NL), Elevate Festival (Austria), A4 (SK), INA GRM (FR), Borealis (NO), KONTEJNER (HR), RUPERT (LT), Semibreve (PT), Parco d’Arte Vivente (IT), Disruption Network Lab (DE), BEK (NO), Kontrapunkt (MK) and Radio Web MACBA (ES). Co-funded by the European Union. In cooperation with Kunstraum Kreuzberg /Bethanien and Die Stadtwerkstatt​ More details: https://www.disruptionlab.org/testing-grounds