The trip of Ars Biologica project partners to the prestigious Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria.

On Friday, September 6, 2024, a one-day trip of the Ars Biologica project partners took place to the prestigious Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria. Over more than 45 years, the Ars Electronica festival has become a global leader in connecting art, technology, and society and is ranked among the world’s most important events focused on digital technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration. Thanks to its long-standing experience, it serves as an inspiration for us and demonstrates how to effectively connect the worlds of science and art.

The visit included a tour of the festival’s main venue—the former Linz post office building, Post City, which was transformed into a fantastically functioning festival area during the event. During the visit, participants met with representatives from the Ars Electronica team, who presented the festival’s vision and highlighted key aspects of the current year’s edition, whose theme was Hope. This was followed by a guided tour of festival works and projects created through the collaboration of scientists and artists. After an afternoon reserved for independent exploration, personal meetings, or visiting other festival venues, the South Bohemian delegation returned to České Budějovice

The trip was primarily intended for local partners of the Ars Biologica project, including cultural organizations, the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the University of South Bohemia. The purpose of the visit was to introduce participants to the possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration in the fields of art and science and to showcase the potential of the Ars Biologica project for future cooperation. The visit to the Ars Electronica festival provided participants with valuable experiences and new perspectives that will be important for the further development of the Ars Biologica project and its ambition to create innovative cultural and scientific platforms as part of the České Budějovice 2028 program.

Ars Biologica is one of the key projects of České Budějovice 2028, European Capital of Culture, with the aim of creating an environment for the collaboration between science and art, focusing on environmental issues such as climate change and sustainability. The project connects cultural organizations, the University of South Bohemia, and the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences with local residents, as well as national and European partners. It mainly focuses on the local impacts of global climate changes in areas such as agriculture, food production, land management, and water resources. At the same time, it explores the possibilities of applying permaculture principles in the development of the city and in creating a long-term, thriving cultural ecosystem.