Istanbul's vibrant digital art scene is set to captivate art enthusiasts once again as the highly anticipated third edition of the Istanbul Digital Art Festival (IDAF) commenced on Thursday.
Presented by Mezo Digital and backed by Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, this exclusive festival, sponsored by PASHA Bank, promises a mesmerizing experience for visitors at the prestigious Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) from June 2 to 5.
With its innovative digital artworks and immersive installations, IDAF is poised to showcase the boundless creativity and technological innovation that define the digital art landscape in Türkiye.
Speaking at the opening event, Türkiye's Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Özgul Özkan Yavuz said the world is swiftly digitizing, and art, like all aspects of life, is not exempt from this reality.
"Especially during the global pandemic period, this process has accelerated and the digital realm has increasingly become a new platform for the presentation of art, while also profoundly affecting the content, language and style of art," Yavuz said.
Yavuz noted that digital art expands their horizons by facilitating artists' collaboration with fields such as science and technology.
"It also makes the interaction of art with different disciplines even more possible. Thus, extremely striking and mind-opening works emerge."
The event will feature artists from various countries, including Azerbaijani artificial intelligence artist Shusha, whose name is inspired by the Azerbaijani city of Shusha. It is being curated by Avind, Türkiye's first artificial intelligence curator, along with Julie Walsh and Esra Özkan.
It will be organized based on questions asked about digital art and will feature kinetic art, bio-art, algorithmic art and different areas of new media.
The festival will also showcase quality artwork by international artists, emphasizing the potential of digital art to bridge cultural diversity and bring people together.
It will also feature workshops and panels that cover diverse subjects such as non-fungible token (NFT) developments, the influence of bio-art and bio-design on the future, the impact of robotics and software on art, and artificial intelligence and emerging artificial algorithms.
"Unlike other exhibitions, the festival will bring together works that would not normally come together and seek what contributions different disciplines can make to each other. Thus, it will encourage the audience to think about the relationship between different disciplines," according to the festival.