ASTE

Category: update

  • Media Arts and Technology Festival UPDATE in Liepāja to Explore Democratic Technologies

    Media Arts and Technology Festival UPDATE in Liepāja to Explore Democratic Technologies

    From September 28 to October 3, the media arts and technology festival “UPDATE: Democratic Technologies” will take place in Liepāja as part of the “Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027” programme. The festival will bring together artists, designers, engineers, researchers, and students from across Europe to explore through creative practice how technology impacts society and how it can be made more accessible, transparent, and inclusive.

    This year, the festival focuses on the question of technological neutrality: technologies shape how we communicate, learn, and govern, while simultaneously serving as instruments of power consolidation or social inclusion. Throughout the week, the festival will host hands-on workshops, expert masterclasses, a symposium, and an exhibition.

    During the festival week, participants will work in intensive interdisciplinary workshops and masterclasses led by local and international experts. The creative processes will explore and apply virtual, augmented, and extended reality (VR/AR/XR), 3D scanning and photogrammetry for cultural heritage preservation, motion capture suits, interactive data interfaces, and soundscapes, as well as bio-art using bacteria and plants in interactive installations.

    Events Open to the Public

    • Monday, September 28, at 17:00 at Pegaza Pagalms (Kuršu street 20) – Festival opening featuring an artist and researcher symposium alongside sound art performances. Special guest: sound artist Felicity Mangan (Germany), who creates sensory vibration performances accessible also to audiences with hearing impairments.
    • Friday, October 2, at 14:00 at the RTU Liepāja Academy Art Research Lab (MPLab, Kūrmājas pr. 13, basement, entrance from the back) – Public presentations of festival workshop outcomes and prototypes.
    • Friday, October 2, at 20:00 at the digital culture centre “Savādā realitāte” (Roņu iela 8a) – Concert and performances. Special guests: Latvian experimental electronic music producer and sound artist EIII and Estonian sound artist Sander Saarmets.
    • Saturday, October 3, from 12:00 to 16:00 at MPLab – “Demo Day,” where visitors can explore an exhibition of workshop results and take part in creative and tech activities led by local and international artists. Open to everyone – kids, young people, and anyone curious about technology. Free entry, no registration needed.

    The media arts and technology festival UPDATE is implemented as part of the “Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027” programme, with funding provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the Liepāja City Municipality, South Kurzeme Municipality, and Kuldīga Municipality. The festival is organised by the Liepāja media artists’ association ASTE. Art, Science, Technology, Education (https://aste.gallery) and the RTU Liepāja Academy.

    The “Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027” project is delivered by the foundation “Liepāja 2027 Foundation”, Liepāja City Municipality, and official partners – South Kurzeme Municipality and Kuldīga Municipality. Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture. The “Liepāja 2027” programme is supported by general partner for environmental education and sustainability AS “CleanR Grupa”, general partner for air mobility and international communication AS “Air Baltic Corporation”, legal partner SIA “Sorainen ZAB”, ground mobility partner SIA “Lux Express Latvia”, and maritime mobility and international communication partner SIA “Stena Line”. Media partners: VSIA “Latvijas Sabiedriskais medijs”, SIA “Žurnāls Santa”, SIA “Tvnet grupa”, AS “Kurzemes Radio”.

    ASTE’s activities are supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation (VKKF) and the Liepāja Culture Department.

    More information: https://www.updatefestival.lv/

    Contacts: Maija Demitere (maija.demitere@rtu.lv, +371 29948430)

  • Exhibition “Sensory Imagination” in Liepaja

    Exhibition “Sensory Imagination” in Liepaja

    On Friday, November 22, at 16:00, the exhibition “Sensory Imagination” will open at the Liepāja Music, Art, and Design High School Gallery (Alejas street 18). The exhibition will showcase virtual and augmented reality artworks, art installations, and results from workshops conducted during the media art and technology festival UPDATE. The exhibition will be open from November 25 to December 6 on weekdays from 8:00 to 19:00.

    The exhibition will feature four virtual reality works:

    1. Jekaterina Jevdokimova’s “I (Don’t) Remember” – an interpretation of the artist’s childhood memories from the late 90s and early 2000s.
    2. Kaspars Lēvalds’ “Mist” – based on the 1919 Latvian War of Independence in Liepāja after World War I.
    3. Elīna Dreimane’s “Lost in the Mist” – exploring Latvian power sites described in traditions, folklore, and stories.
    4. Olga Barbina’s “Pneuma” – experimenting with human breath as a means of navigation in a virtual reality environment.

    As part of the exhibition, ten new augmented reality works will be launched on the mobile application ART+ (https://artplus.app). The augmented reality artworks will be viewable in various locations in the city of Liepāja. The works reflect on cultural heritage, contemporary world issues, the climate crisis, and pollution, experimenting with technologies, as well as expressing personal experiences and reflections on mental health through art. The works will be visible on Liepāja’s beach, Seaside Park, Karosta, and other city locations. To view the works, a smartphone or tablet with GPS and internet connection is required, the ART+ application must be downloaded or updated, and visitors need to go to the designated location of the artwork. Currently, 50 augmented reality artworks are already on display in Liepāja.

    The exhibition will also feature two international artists who participated in artist residencies organized by the foundation “Foundation Liepāja 2027” from September to October this year. Spanish artist Carlos Munnoz will present his social platform experiment and installation “Deficiencies of Utopia”, while Ukrainian artist Iryna Loskot will showcase a series of works titled “Invitations” that explore the self-destructive and self-renewing nature of our planet.

    The exhibition will display the results of the annual media art and technology festival UPDATE workshops – an interactive sound installation created during the workshop “Become an Antenna” led by Tata Frenkel, a guide on how to be an artist in a world without digital technologies, developed during the workshop “OFFLINE/OFF-GRID” led by Vytautas Michelkevičius, and an interactive work combining motion capture suits and photogrammetry, created during the workshop “Experimental Motion Capture” led by Oleksandr Sirous.

    Exhibition Opening: Friday, November 22, at 16:00.
    Exhibition Open: November 25 to December 6, weekdays from 8:00 to 19:00.
    Exhibition Website:www.updatefestival.lv
    Contact: Maija Demitere (maija.demitere@gmail.com, +371 29948430).

    The exhibition “Sensory Imagination” is part of the UPDATE festival, organized by the Liepāja-based media artist association ASTE (https://aste.gallery), RTU Liepāja Academy’s Art Research Laboratory (MPLab, https://mplab.lv), and the association ART+ (https://artplus.app). ASTE’s activities in 2024 are supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation (VKKF) for professional non-governmental cultural organizations. UPDATE is realized with the support of Liepāja City Culture Department, VKKF, and RTU Liepāja Academy. The event is implemented with the co-funding of the foundation “Foundation Liepāja 2027” and the European Union’s “Creative Europe” program project “CreArt 3.0 #STRINGING_TOGETHER.”

  • Media Art and Technology Festival UPDATE in Liepaja

    Media Art and Technology Festival UPDATE in Liepaja

    The annual UPDATE festival combines technology and innovation with art and creativity. The festival program includes workshops for registered participants and public events for everyone – masterclasses, a Family Day with workshops for families and children, a science symposium, an exhibition, and performances by various sound artists and musicians.

    Part of the festival program is for registered participants, while another part is open to the public. Registration is required to join the workshops, but other festival activities are available without pre-registration. Since the festival is organized in cooperation with international partners, some parts of the program will be in English. All festival activities are free of charge.

    As part of the festival, the “Liepāja 2027 Foundation” (“Nodibinājums Liepāja 2027”) organizes an artist residency. This September, two artists will arrive in Liepāja—Carlos Munnoz from Spain and Iryna Loskot from Ukraine. During the residency, the two artists will collaborate with Liepāja-based artists to create and exhibit new artworks as part of the UPDATE festival exhibition in November. Carlos Munnoz will share his experience of working with artificial intelligence during the festival’s workshops, while Iryna Loskot will present a performance exploring the sense of belonging and ecology in the The Printing House Creative Quarter on September 28, during the Afternoon for Art and Science

    Festival Program

    Afternoon for Art and Sciences in The Printing House Creative Quarter on September 28

    The afternoon at the The Printing House Creative Quarter (Andreja Pumpura iela 10, Liepaja) will start with presentations of researchers working in interdisciplinary fields, combining work methods from different scientific fields, and creating hybrid and brand new, innovative approaches to discover new knowledge. Presentation will take place from 13:00 to 15:00.

    The program will continue with a performance by Iryna Loskot, where visitors are invited to actively participate. During the performance, participants will reflect on contemporary crises and discuss care for each other and for the planet we all share. 

    The day will end with a concert featuring various artists. A detailed programme and further descriptions are available on the festival website.

    Masterclasses (Online) 

    Sound Art. Tuesday, 1 October, from 18:00 to 20:00

    Germany-based media artist and musician Heinrich Lenz will present his philosophical and technical approach to a unique sound art composition technique that uses self-similarity – a property where parts of an object’s structure resemble the whole object at different scales. Examples from nature include the shape of a cauliflower, where each small part resembles the entire cauliflower, or the veins of a tree leaf, which resemble the tree’s structure. 

    AI and Animation. Wednesday, 2 October, from 18:00 to 20:00

    French artist and researcher Stéphanie Cadoret will present the results of her research and observations on the use of artificial intelligence tools in 3D and 2D animation.

    Exhibition and Family Day on Saturday, 5 October, from 12:00 to 16:00

    At the Art Research Laboratory (MPLab, Liepāja, Kūrmājas prospekts 13, basement – entrance from the rear), activities for children and young people will be available during Family Day. The exhibition will showcase artworks and projects created during the festival.

    Workshops

    The festival offers an educational program for registered participants – week-long workshops where everyone can learn a technological tool or software, participate in conceptual arts practice-led research, or explore different aspects of art and technology. Workshops are free of charge. Some workshops require prior experience with digital technologies, but most are accessible to people with no previous knowledge. Spaces are limited, and participants are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Registered workshop participants will learn motion capture (MOCAP) technologies, create interactive and spatial audiovisual installations and performances, experiment with artificial intelligence systems, and explore new cinematographic techniques using laser scanning. In two conceptual workshops, participants will discover how people, accustomed to being constantly connected to mobile devices, can gain new inspiration by spending time outdoors and off-grid. They will also explore the philosophical potential of the “blue humanities” – the relationship between humans and the sea.

    Workshops will take place from September 30 to October 4, every day from 11:00 to 15:00. Workshops are led by international and local artists and researchers, including Zil Lilas (DE/LT), Vytautas Michelkevicius (LT), Tata Frenkel (LT), pETER Purg (SI), Oleksandr Sirous (UA), Heinrich Lenz (DE), Gustavs Lociks (LV), Carlos Munnoz (ES), Anis Haron (MY).

    For more information and to apply for workshops, please visit the festival website.

    Contacts:

    Festival website: www.updatefestival.lv  

    Maija Demitere (maija.demitere@gmail.com, +371 29948430)

    UPDATE is organised by the association of Liepaja media artists ASTE (https://aste.gallery) and RTU Liepaja Academy Art Research Laboratory (MPLab, https://mplab.lv). The activities of the association ASTE in 2024 are supported by the VKKF for professional non-governmental cultural organisations. UPDATE is supported by the Liepaja Municipality institution “Culture Department”, the VKKF, RTU Liepaja Academy and RIXC, a network for art, science, culture and innovation. The event is co-organised by the foundation “Liepāja 2027 Foundation” and the European Union Creative Europe Programme project “CreArt 3.0 #STRINGING_TOGETHER”. The workshop “Soundscapes” is realised in the framework of the Artillery 35 project “Soundfields”, supported by Nordplus Horizontal.