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URBAN GUIDE

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October 2022

Chroniques

Re-enchantment through astonishment

The Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques is an eagerly-awaited professional and artistic digital creativity event that puts a spotlight on our region’s vigorous economic and cultural energy in that field. Its international, multi-disciplinary programme involves 15 exhibition venues, three towns and nearly 70 artists,

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Veille Infinie, installation immersive (2022) / © Donatien Aubert
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The Shape of things to come, installation (2022) / © Diego Ortizr
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Boréalis, projection (2016) / © Dan Acher

‘Incubateurs des Imaginaires Numériques’, ‘Seconde Nature’ and ‘Zinc’, united under the title of Chroniques, have been working for years to promote today’s digital creativity. All year round, Chroniques proposes cultural activities as part of the arts programme at La Friche Belle de Mai in Marseille and also other partners’ venues during the Biennale, exhibitions, concerts etc. They aim to help people make technology their own and so generate ever more creativity. It’s to this end that Chroniques is holding the third Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques, from 10 November 2022 to 22 January 2023, in Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Avignon. Nearly 70 artists will be exploring digital ideas and how to construct new narratives around digital resources and the new technologies. “Digital art questions our relationship with the digitised society. It takes various forms from purely digital creations to hybrid forms, pairing with art, live entertainment, music etc.” says Mathieu Vabre, co-founder of Second Nature and artistic director of the biennial. Chroniques is also a platform supporting emerging creativity in France and abroad. It issues calls for projects to help people circulate their work. This year, 17 original works have been selected for presentation to the public at the biennial.

Theme: Night
After Levitation in 2018 and Eternity in 2020, the theme this year is Night. “We work with topics that have no apparent link with digital, and we approach them from different angles. For example we’re looking at the disappearance of night, with light pollution, the transformation of sleep patterns, darkness, and night in terms of our relationship with festivities,” says Mathieu Vabre.

Guest of honour
The event aims to be international and foster the circulation of ideas, cultures and artists. Each edition has a guest of honour: Québec in 2018, Taiwan in 2020 and this year Belgium (Wallonia – Brussels – Flanders). A delegation of 20 Belgian artists will be hosted and their work displayed at the festival.

A rich programme
The biennial will start off with late night trails around exhibition opening nights, concerts in small venues or on a large scale out of doors, and entertaining light installations. There follow several weeks of concurrent exhibitions in Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. The three towns will be enlivened with digital art works, many of them interactive, surprising the public with an immersive experience. The biennial’s closing nights, dedicated to live entertainment, will be a chance to experience creations involving digital art along with other disciplines like dance, sound art and music. Lastly, the great closing event, dreamed up jointly with 6MIC, will involve concerts, performances and DJ sets all through the night.

By Clotilde Roux
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Les nuits d’ouverture
Marseille  - Jeudi 10 nov. 2022 à la Friche la Belle de Mai à Marseille (17h-1h) / Aix-en-Provence  - Vendredi 11 et samedi 12 nov. 2022 (centre-ville)

Les parcours d’exposition
Marseille - Du 10 nov. 2022 au 22 janv. 2023. Friche la Belle de Mai, SCENE44 Pôle Média Belle de Mai et Digital Zone. / Aix-en-Provence - Du 11 nov. 2022 au 22 janv. 2023.  Centre d’arts contemporains, Fondation Vasarely, Méjanes, Musée et Jardin du Pavillon Vendôme et Musée des Tapisseries.
Avignon - Du 9 sept. 2022 au 22 janv. 2023. Grenier à Sel.

Les nuits de clôture
Marseille, Aix-en-Provence et Avignon - Mer. 18, jeu. 19 et ven. 20 janvier 2023 - Aix-en-Provence : sam. 21 janvier 2023

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