This distinguished award celebrates projects and ideas that exemplify responsible usage of technology and actively contribute to the accessibility and impact of culture while fostering meaningful engagement between creators, distributors, and audiences. Embracing the powerful intersection of culture and technology, it aims to support initiatives that drive sustainability, encourage responsible technological advancements, and facilitate digital transformation within the cultural and creative industries.
The CultTech x Ars Electronica Award supports endeavors that harness the power of innovation and creativity to drive positive social change, not only on a local or regional level but also on a planetary scale. By spotlighting outstanding initiatives, this award underscores the need to responsibly utilize technology and resources, fostering inclusivity and promoting positive transformations.
Through this recognition, we seek to amplify the importance of social impact within the realm of culture and technology. We invited individuals, collectives, and organizations to submit their groundbreaking initiatives that exemplify the transformative potential of culture and the arts, while addressing critical issues, fostering inclusivity, and promoting positive change.
Jury Statement
Embracing the Truth
The CultTech x Ars Electronica Award 2024 is being held for the second time, showcasing a remarkable array of 147 projects from 40 countries. This year’s submissions demonstrated exceptional quality and diversity, reflecting a global commitment to leveraging technology as a catalyst for positive social change.
The jury was particularly impressed by the range of themes addressed, including wellbeing, personal data protection, social feedback mechanisms, and water environment protection. Each project exemplified a dedication to enhancing cultural accessibility and fostering sustainability within their respective communities.
A prominent trend in this year’s submissions was community-driven technological empowerment. Many projects provided tools that enabled individuals and groups to engage with their environments, capturing local issues through data collection and interactive design. Furthermore, the integration of gamification in cultural heritage emerged strongly, with several projects utilizing gaming to immerse audiences in history and culture, particularly appealing to younger generations.
Sustainability also featured prominently, with numerous submissions proposing innovative solutions to environmental challenges, emphasizing long-term ecological, social, and economic viability. Additionally, many projects explored inclusive citizen engagement, creating pathways for the public to actively participate in decision-making processes and contribute their perspectives in real time.
This year’s winning projects resonate with themes of truth and tenderness, addressing vital questions about how to distinguish reality from deception, navigate social barriers, and sustain empathy and connection in an increasingly complex world. The jury found these approaches particularly compelling, as they invite users to explore the most fragile aspects of human experience. The CultTech x Ars Electronica Award 2024, to be presented at the CultTech Summit in Vienna, not only showcases innovation and creativity but also highlights the vital role that culture and technology play in forging a more inclusive, empathetic, and sustainable future.Jury members: Veronica D’Souza, Dmitry Aksenov, Gerfried Stocker
Honorary Mention 2024
Pg F. Spagnuolo
Embracing Places – Margherita Landi (IT), Agnese Lanza (IT)
There is something that touches us all when we let go of our resistance and share a hug. Embracing Places uses immersive technology and body practice to foster connection, solidarity, and appreciation of artistic and cultural heritage. The project actively involves residents and the unique landscapes of small towns, creating site-specific, community-based artworks that resonate with the emotional significance of each place, establishing an archive of different hugs and a network of towns.
Embracing Places explores how immersive technology and body practices can deepen connections within communities through a universal gesture: the hug. The core question is how technology can bridge emotional, social, and geographic divides by creating a collective experience. The audience participates in a 360° Virtual Reality experience, where residents of small towns are filmed performing simple gestures like hugging in meaningful local locations. Wearing VR headsets, users are invited to mirror these gestures, transforming their movements into a personal, intimate experience. Spectators without headsets witness the participants’ synchronized movements, creating a live performance that blurs the boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds. The project emphasizes the importance of preserving local culture and fostering empathy in an age of digital interaction. By highlighting the unique ways different communities express connection, Embracing Places aims to address issues of isolation and bring awareness to the cultural richness of underrepresented towns, creating a living archive of shared, universal gestures.
Credits
A project by Margherita Landi and Agnese Lanza
Co-design: Massimo Bevilacqua
VR concept and direction: Margherita LandiPost-production: Sasan Bahadorinejad and Cosimo Lombardelli
Production Siena Area: Giardino Chiuso (Italy)
with the contribution of MiC (Ministry of Italian Culture) PNRR funding of European Union– Next Generation EU
Partners: Imaginarius – Festival Internacional de Teatro de Rua (Portugal)
In collaboration with GOLD Enterprise and DIDA (Department of Architecture, University of Florence)
www.landilanza.com
www.margheritalandi.com
www.instagram.com/landimarghe
www.instagram.com/lanzaagnese
www.facebook.com/landimarghe/
www.facebook.com/agnese.lanza
