For a few more days, until November 28, you can move from the galleries of the Malopolska Garden of Art in Krakow to another reality. This is thanks to the first edition of the Interdisciplinary Biennial of Future Art and Technology, Kultura Futura, an event combining the real and virtual worlds. Aleksander Janicki, interdisciplinary artist and initiator of the Culture Futura program, talks about the event.
Installations at the Culture Futura Biennale in the Malopolska Garden of Art in Krakow.
photo: Michal Musielak
Ola Kloc: The first edition of the Interdisciplinary Biennale of Future Art and Technology Kultura Futura is underway. What distinguishes this concept?
Alek Janicki: This is the first event in the world to combine various disciplines: art, science and technology into a single festival entity in a special, holistic way. This is to allow the creation of a panorama of the future shown through the prism of interdisciplinary projects combining low-tech with high-tech. The only limit is the imagination of creators, artists, scientists, engineers, programmers forming teams combining different competencies. For it is only at their intersection that innovative solutions are created. Networking is also a distinctive feature - as in pandemics: the physical presence of creators is not required (we minimize the carbon footprint). Thus, the Culture Futura E-POLIS Biennale is a multithreaded event with a broad structure that builds an image of the future. Its distinguishing feature is also the principle of admitting works in progress - under construction. Here the perspicacity of the jury, the many years of experience of its members, their knowledge and the purpose and path of realization defined by the creators, determine whether a given work will be qualified and presented to the public.
The biennial is the first venture to combine multisensory installations, large-format projections, Big Dada Installation, mapping, theater and performance and innovation in the creative industry and VR, AI, AR art.
Culture Futura Biennale at the Malopolska Art Garden in Krakow, Poland.
photo: Nick Belevtsov
Ola: The real part of the exhibition is - hearteningly - green, it also reaches for interesting technological challenges. Tell us, please, how the arrangement of this space was created and how it works.
Alek: I designed the gallery space in a special way: interactive installations meet imersion, mappin and... an innovative ecosystem, where - in cooperation with the University of Agriculture - diffusers from BioMedAqua operate, which provides a healthy microclimate in the gallery. A dry mist juxtaposed with vegetation eliminates pathogens in the room - this is an element of scenography and at the same time a space for implementing innovative solutions from the biodesign category. This is an innovation in architecture on a scale so far unheard of: we have created the first public place related to culture that has a healthy microclimate at a level similar to clean rooms, as in hospitals or laboratories. In an era of threatening pandemics, a thing not to be underestimated.
Interactive installations meet an innovative ecosystem that provides the gallery with a healthy microclimate
photo: Michal Musielak
It's also the IT is ART competition organized by AGH and AYA Found presenting works in the field of art and therapy using VR or, finally, the Creative Industry Platform - showing the most interesting things happening, for example, at the interface of computational medicine using artificial intelligence. This will be presented on November 28 at Sano - the Center for Computational Medicine International Research Foundation.
Culture Futura Biennale at the Malopolska Garden of Art in Krakow.
photo: Michal Musielak
Ola: The biennial exhibition combines the real world with the virtual world, tell us, please, what is this virtual world like?
Alek: Surprising, unpredictable, sometimes frightening, often beautiful - always stimulating reflection. It is the result of creation, the limits of which are set by imagination and mastery of tools. On the one hand, it is an encounter of an almost intimate nature with another human being, or a virtual garden with a poetic thread, as in the NOCCC installation. It's a virtual ecosystem, using various strategies also from the field of games, but created... to make a statement. It simply has to be seen. It's an almost meditative space. These eleven works are different worlds to be immersed in. Importantly: the works also touch on the problem of exclusion - we are creating a report on access to new technologies for people with disabilities. So we invite everyone to dive into the world of Culture Futura e-POLIS.
Ola: Thank you for the interview.
The Culture Futura Biennale at the Malopolska Garden of Art in Krakow.
Photo: Michal Musielak
