Catalan digital art lands in Ars Electronica

by | Sep 14, 2022

Tasmanian Tiger, d'Antoni Muntadas / Tom Mesic (Ars Electronica)

Tasmanian Tiger, d’Antoni Muntadas / Tom Mesic (Ars Electronica)

The Ars Electronica Festival 2022 has concluded its first post-pandemic edition, which featured prominent Catalan digital artists and attracted 71,000 visitors. Artists, researchers, and the public contributed to creating visions for global transformation through exhibitions, performances, talks, and workshops.

Under the title “Collaborative Ecosystems for a Sustainable World,” Hac Te, the Ramon Llull Institute, and the NewArtFoundation organized an exhibition that showcased pioneering Catalan digital art in Linz, Austria. The exhibition included six projects aligned with this year’s festival theme, “Welcome to Planet B”: “Tasmanian Tiger” by Antoni Muntadas, “Species I, II, and III” by Mónica Rikić, “Do Bodies Dream with Electromagnetics?” by Esther Rodríguez-Barbero, “Chemical Ecosystem” by Yolanda Uriz Elizalde, “FORMS – Screen Ensemble” by Santiago Vilanova – Playmodes, and “Tools for a Warming Planet” by Sara Dean, Beth Ferguson, and Marina Monsonís. Specifically, Antoni Muntadas’ piece was produced and presented exclusively with the collaboration of the NewArtFoundation, Hac Te, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), and the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia.

This edition featured the presence of the Ars Electronica Gardens, which took place in 2020 and 2021 in different locations worldwide and served as a way to decentralize the festival during the two pandemic years. In the case of Barcelona, in recent years, the Catalan capital has become one of the main venues of the festival outside of Austria, thanks to the support of Hac Te, the Ramon Llull Institute, the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Hangar – Artistic Production and Research Center, and the .BEEP Collection.

Alongside the exhibition, the festival also hosted a roundtable discussion on collaborative practices and how they can generate proposals for a sustainable world through knowledge sharing. The talk was moderated by Pau Alsina, co-director of Hac Te and professor and researcher at the UOC’s Arts and Humanities Studies. The panel included artist and UOC professor Mónica Rikić, winner of the National Culture Award 2021, architect and designer Sara Dean, designer and ecology educator Beth Ferguson, and artist and director of the MACBA Kitchen Laboratory Marina Monsonís.

Taula rodona sobre pràctiques col·laboratives / Institut Ramon Llull

Des de l’organització de l’Ars Electronica han qualificat aquesta edició com “un projecte col·laboratiu massiu”, destacant la participació en el programa d’un total de 953 persones de 76 països diferents i la cooperació de 337 socis que han fet possibles 425 esdeveniments. Així mateix, els organitzadors ja han avançat les dates de la propera edició, que tindrà lloc del 6 a l’11 de setembre de 2023.

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