Digital meets Culture

Ljubljana, April 18 - 20, 2024

SONICA festival 2024 “Glocalisation”: discover the lineup

SONICA 2024: “Glocalisation”

The festival of contemporary electronic music and transitory art SONICA, which will take place in Ljubljana between 18 and 20 April, has finalised its 2024 lineup.

SONICA is a Ljubljana-based festival that champions diverse niche trajectories in contemporary music — experimental, electronic, modern classical, avantgarde and transgenre — and sound art. The festival consists of concerts, club nights, production and research residencies, exhibitions, public interventions, presentations and talks.

This year, SONICA returns with an electrifying program. With the theme of “Glocalisation”, the festival sheds light on the tensions between the unrelenting, merciless forces of globalisation and local identities, beliefs, and traditions.

“In order to escape the flattening and standardisation of electronic, and experimental music expressions, it is essential that we maintain vital cultural hubs throughout the world. It is therefore urgent to look for new models that seek to empower local creative hubs and communities. We must dare to imagine more independent and self-sustaining modes of production that transcend established local, European, and international concepts of networking, collaboration, exchange, funding, cultural policies, trends, and the demands of the music market and scene(s). How can we transform these, making them more accessible and inclusive. Can the festival as a specific form become such a space?” – SONICA 2024: Glocalisation

Lineup

JAAR (CL) / Deena Abdelwahed ‘Jbal Rrsas’ AV Live (TN) / KMRU (KY)
re:ni b2b Laksa (UK) / Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective (VN) / NZE NZE (FR)
Martyna Basta (PL) / Nicola Ratti (IT) / SAUD (RS) / Iztok Koren (SI)
Bridget Ferrill, rouge-ah & Pixel Bambi: SONICA Residency Premiere (US, SI)
Fujita Pinnacle (SI) / Marc Vilanova (CT, ES)

Discover the program

Buy your ticket here

Sound Workshop with Nicolás Jaar

April 15 – 18, 2024, at Komuna (Kino Šiška), Ljubljana, Slovenia

You can still apply for the sound workshop with Nicolás Jaar at SONICA 2024!

Jaar is finally coming to Slovenia, not only as a performer, but also to share his vast knowledge and expertise on sound production and editing with aspiring producers and artists from the CEE, Eastern European and Balkan region.

The sound workshop is for participants who already have prior knowledge of sound editing tools. The software used will be Ableton Live and the classes will be molded to the students’ interests. Apply if you want to learn more about sound and expand your knowledge of music production with one of the most renowed producers of the last 15 years.

Learn more here.

London, from May 10, 2024, to May 31, 2025

NG200, the festival of art and creativity celebrating the National Gallery’s Bicentenary

NG200 Summer on the Square, designed to unlock the nation’s creativity and bring the collection to the streets of Westminster

On May 10, 2024, the National Gallery will start its celebration of the Bicentenary – marking 200 years of bringing people and paintings together.

Throughout the entire year, it will celebrate its past and look forward to its future with NG200, a year-long festival of art, creativity and imagination that sets the stage for its third century.

National Treasures
Opening May 10, 2024

As part of the Bicentenary celebrations programme, twelve of the nation’s most iconic and well-loved paintings from the collection are being lent to twelve venues across the UK. Paintings including Constable’s The Hay Wain, Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond will each travel to a regional centre such as Bristol, Newcastle and York. For some of the works, not least the The Wilton Diptych and Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, it will be the first time that they will have left the Gallery since they were acquired. Each of the partner venues is set to mark the national treasure’s stay by organising events, exhibitions and digital interventions to showcase their works.

Discover the 12 paintings and their displays

Art Road Trip
May 2024 – May 2025

From this May to May 2025, the National Gallery’s travelling art studio programme, Art Road Trip, is visiting eighteen places across the UK, taking art and creativity on the road. It will work with 24 local arts organisations to create community-led arts projects. In each location, events will be designed for people with the least access to creative opportunities and the arts.

Find out more about the organisations involved

Summer on the Square

A festival is set to take place in Trafalgar Square, designed specifically for children, young people, and their families, aiming to engage new and diverse audiences. It is designed to unlock the nation’s creativity and bring the collection to the streets of Westminster.

Stay updated on the NG200 site to discover the dates and programme for Summer on the Square

Online and virtual experiences

NG200: Behind the Scenes

A new online film series that takes viewers behind the scenes of the National Gallery creating a continuous micro documentary that engages people with key aspects of the NG200 programme.

200 Paintings for 200 Years

The National Gallery will open the door to the entire history of a painting, in one place, sharing the wealth of its research, digitally available for everyone, everywhere, anytime.

The Virtual Gallery

A new, large-scale digital Gallery experience will be created for the Bicentenary, available via National Gallery’s website.

National Gallery Stories

The story of the National Gallery and the people who have played a part in its 200-year history, delivered through a series of digital experiences that will create new personal connections with the collection.

Stay tuned for the online and virtual experiences release

The remote rural village Fikardou launches its very own online platform to make its rich cultural heritage accessible to all.

Village in Cyprus goes digital to promote its cultural heritage

The UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology, one of the key partners the EUreka3D project, has officially handed over an online platform dedicated to the holistic digitisation of Fikardou village to its community. A post about this initiative recently appeared on CORDIS, the European Commission’s website dedicated to showcase the most important research results of EU funded projects.

The platform will be used to record the community’s memory and tangible heritage so as to enhance tourists and researchers’ understanding and appreciation of the importance of this village. Located on the south-eastern slopes of Cyprus’ Troodos Mountains, about 40 km south-west of Nicosia, Fikardou is a village that has preserved its traditional mediaeval characteristics. The village is on the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and has been declared an ancient monument by Cyprus’ Department of Antiquities.

The platform’s development was also made possible through the contribution of the EUreka3D project funded under the EU’s Digital Europe Programme, and with knowledge gained from the EU’s VIGIE 2020/654 ‘Study on quality in 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage’.

Read thefull post on CORDIS website

Istanbul, May 2 - 5, 2024. The Open Call deadline is April 15, 2024

Istanbul Digital Art Festival ’24 edition and Open Call

Nohlab at IDAF 2022 with the audiovisual journey “Prima Materia”

This year, the Istanbul Digital Art Festival will hold its fourth edition at AKM from 2 to 5 May 2024. It will gather artists and digital artworks from around the world to celebrate the transformation of art.

Since its inception in 2021, the festival has been the first ongoing event in Turkey and Istanbul exclusively featuring digital artworks. It aims to provide space for artworks created with technology, increase their visibility, and organize exhibitions that meet the requirements of the transformation of art. IDAF aims to explore how digital art and virtual worlds interact with the concept of reality and how this interaction transforms the human experience. It invites participants to think, question, and delve into the depths of virtual worlds as a platform of art, music, and games.

The festival encourages thought about the complex interaction between our real and digitally constructed identities and directs us to understand how art shapes identities in different realities. This year, the festival will be a platform that invites contemplation on how identities constructed in the virtual world reflect and influence our real-world identities, delves deeply into the relationship between humans and technology, and shows audiences the doors to different worlds.

Artists use digital tools to interpret reality from unique angles, offer alternative perspectives, and question established norms. They create original compositions that transcend traditional genres, providing a music experience in another reality. They shed light on the interaction between reality and the digital world with games that allow participants to build their digital identities and provide a unique sense of reality. From textile art to wearable technology, digital music and games, they express emotions, experiences, and concepts in innovative ways through digital works.

Open Call

The festival’s conceptual framework and artists are determined each year by a different curatorial team.

Applications must be completed by 15 April 2024

Who can apply? Artists working in areas such as performance, data visualization, kinetic arts, bio-art, artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronics, and those with projects within the context of technology, art, and science, producing works under different subheadings of digital arts, can apply to the festival. Applications are open to all departments and faculties, primarily including fine arts, architecture, design, engineering, natural and physical sciences, and communication faculties of universities.
Can I apply with my collective? Yes, groups or collectives with a project can participate.
Can I apply with more than one project? Project owners can apply with more than one project.
What is the application age limit? The application age limit is 30 years old.
Do I have to pay to apply? No, applications are free of charge.

Send you submission here

New IN SITU survey

Investigating the innovation potential of CCIs in non-urban areas

The IN SITU project that participates in the INCULTUM network of common interest launched a survey investigating the innovation potential of cultural and creative industries (CCI) in non-urban areas.

Focusing on IN SITU’s six Lab regions, the survey aims to discover CCI sub-sectors with high innovation potential, capable of acting as catalysts for economic development and significantly contributing to socioeconomic growth and sustainability in the EU.

Who should participate? The survey is seeking insights from organisations, enterprises and individual professionals who are legally registered in one of the IN SITU Lab locations (Azores, Portugal; Western coastal region, Ireland; Western region, Iceland; Rauma and Eurajoki municipalities, Finland; Valmiera County, Latvia; Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia) and are active in cultural or creative fields.

Deadline for responses: Friday, March 15, 2024. 23h59 CET

For more information about this survey, contact: in-situ@ces.uc.pt

arebyte’s new exhibition “Homage To Quan Âm” by Maria Than

Winner of the 23/24 hotel generation development programme, Maria Than soon will open her exhibition at arebyte, Homage To Quan Âm.

Step into the immersive world of Homage To Quan Âm, an exhibition that delves deep into the intricate layers of personal identity, cultural assimilation, and the evolution of self-discovery.

img. courtesy: arebyte Gallery

Drawing inspiration from Maria’s own experiences as Viet-British-French, this exhibition serves as a visual and emotional exploration of the complex journey towards acceptance and understanding.

Book your free ticket for the opening party on 28 March here
Book your free ticket for the curated tour on 30 March here

London, April 22-28, 2024. The call for speakers will run until March 30, 2024

Digital Art Week London 2024

Digital Art Week London

Digital Art Week is a week-long city-wide takeover of the world’s leading cultural capitals for digital artists, tech innovators, and digital fashion pioneers to collaborate and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the fusion of art and technology.

With the next edition scheduled for April 22-28, 2024, Digital Art Week centres on bringing digital experiences to life in exciting spaces and iconic locations. Powered by NextGen technologies, the event brings brand storytelling to life through experiential digital arts.

Take a look at the artists

The aim of the event is to immerse you in art and tech through citywide activations, reimagining some of London’s most recognised locations to let you experience your favourite artists and brands in ways you have never before.

The call for speakers is now open and it will run until March 30, 2024 at 11:59 PM.

Submit your session here

Barcelona, 4-6th April 2024

OFFF festival returns to Barcelona

OFFF visual campaign by ManvsMachine

The OFFF festival in creativity, digital art and emerging talent, returns to Disseny Hub in Barcelona 4-6th April.

With the aim of promoting creative talent in the fields of design and digital arts, OFFF offers three full days of inspiring talks, workshops, masterclasses, a design market, networking, and other exhibition activities.

Now in it’s 24th year, OFFF will present a carefully curated program, full of surprises and innovative proposals. More than 70 internationally renowned speakers in the fields of creativity, design, visual art, and digital culture will be part of the lineup.

Explore the OFF programme

Buy your ticket

About OFFF 24 visual campaign

The OFFF 2024 creative campaign is titled LIFFFE/FFFORMS.

The concept reveals an abstract family of living forms derived from the feelings and emotions we share in our daily lives as creative individuals. The concept and its creative execution were developed by ManvsMachine, and sound design is by Resonate.

Take a look at the campaign teaser:

25 April 2024

Mining Treasures of Central Slovakia

The Mining Treasures of Central Slovakia conference will take place on April 25, 2024 at the Radnica – Town Hall in Banská Bystrica.

This is event is organised by Matej Bell University in the frame of the pilot of the INCULTUM project.

The main objective of the conference are:

to present mining heritage of Central Slovakia with a special focus on the Barborská cesta
to exchange knowledge and experience of developing mining cultural routes in Europe with the members of the Mines B. – European Mining Routes of Santa Barbara Federation and beyond
to strengthen networking among various stakeholders
to promote the usage of participatory platform Mining Treasures.

The conference takes place in close collaboration with the City of Banská Bystrica, Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region, Banský región – Terra Montanae Civic Association, Regional Office of Tourism (Oblastná organizácia cestovného ruchu) in Banská Bystrica.

Full programme of the event, registration and further information are available on the conference website.

Conserving culture and cultural heritage through inclusive and sustainable development

The INCULTUM project is on CORDIS

CORDIS is the service of the European Commission to discover the results of the research and innovation initiatives in Europe. It provides information on projects, topics, and publications funded by the EU’s research programs, in multiple languages.

A new ‘Results Pack’ has been published online by CORDIS about the results of the projects funded in Horizon 2020 on the theme of cultural tourism. The title of new publication is “Conserving culture and cultural heritage through inclusive and sustainable development”.

The publication states that “Sustainable cultural tourism puts cultural heritage and local communities at the centre of the decision-making process. This will drive good conservation practices and provide an authentic experience for visitors while supporting the local economy.”

In the frame of the Results Pack, together with its sister projects, INCULTUM is presented with a dedicated article titled “Local communities and stakeholders give cultural tourism a boost in Europe’s periphery”. Here you can read about the results of INCULTUM with regard to: Participatory models and collaborative practices for cultural tourism, Exploiting heritage resources as a common good, Capacity building and knowledge transfer for sustainable tourism.