Malitzin Cortés (CNDSD)·Iván Abreu, Pre(N)atura / Fonocene, 2024 ©Art Center Nabi
The International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging
Art (ISEA), a global media art festival that serves as a multidisciplinary
platform for the convergence of art, science, and technology, will take place
across Seoul from May 23 to 29.
Celebrating its 30th edition since its
inception in the Netherlands, ISEA 2025 is co-hosted by Art Center Nabi, the
ISEA International Headquarters, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Seoul National
University Institutions for Culture and Arts. The event will be held at major
venues including the Seoul Arts Center and Seoul National University. ISEA has
established itself as a leading international symposium in the art and
technology field through a wide range of academic and artistic programming,
including paper presentations, workshops, and keynote lectures.
ISEA 2025 will unfold under the overarching
theme "Dong-Dong (憧憧): Creators’ Universe,"
exploring a global movement that transcends divisions between East and West,
art and science, materiality and spirituality, and technology and
humanity—including discourses in posthumanism.
The symposium also delves into four
subthemes: “Digital Heritage” explores reinterpretations of tradition and its
connection to the contemporary; “Techno-Human” addresses the co-evolution of
humans and technology and the emergence of digital humanity; “Future City”
imagines neo-futuramas and the Seoul of tomorrow; and “Space Creative & The
Stars” considers imagination, creative energy, and planetary thinking.,
Hwia Kim, Setu
Bandha Sarvangasana, 2024 ©Hwia Kim
1. Academic
Program
The academic program, to be held at Seoul
National University and Sogang University, will feature over 80 sessions
including paper presentations and artist talks. Special thematic sessions
include “Nam June Paik: Live S.F. Movie”, “New Media Art Archive”, and
“Barriers and Alienation in Art X Tech Education”, presented in collaboration
with the Nam June Paik Art Center, the ISEA Archive, and the education team at
Art Center Nabi.
The program will showcase selected papers
and invited works from global art and tech platforms, chosen from over 900
submissions from more than 70 countries around the world.
2. Exhibition
At the Seoul Arts Center and the Seoul
National University Museum of Art, audiences will encounter globally acclaimed
artworks alongside performances (AR/VR, audiovisual), citizen-participatory
workshops, and talks hosted by partner institutions.
The event will also present diverse
outcomes of Korea’s support for interdisciplinary creative projects in
collaboration with the Arts Council Korea, the National Asian Culture Center,
the Korea Arts Management Service, and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and
Culture—providing an overview of the current landscape of contemporary media
art.
Myriam Bleau, Nien Tzu Weng, 〈Second Self〉, 2024 ©MUTEK
3. Special
Events
This year’s ISEA features an enriched
program through collaborations with both domestic and international art and
technology creation platforms. Highlights include “SOUND SEOUL 2025,” presented
in partnership with WeSA, the founding body of Korea’s sound art festival; a
commemorative tour program marking the opening of the Photo SeMA; and “Focus
Quebec,” supported by the Quebec Government Office in Seoul. “Focus Quebec”
will showcase works from renowned Quebec-based institutions such as ELEKTRA and
MUTEK.
Full schedules and further details are
available on the official ISEA 2025 website: https://isea2025.isea-international.org/
