The National Asian Culture Center (ACC), under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, held the ‘ACT (Arts & Creative Technology) Festival 2026’ from October 23 to November 8.
 
Now in its 11th edition, the ACT Festival is one of the ACC’s flagship interdisciplinary arts festivals. Bringing together art and cutting-edge technology, the festival has attracted considerable public interest each year. This year’s edition was held under the theme “I, Human: Responding to the Technecene” and featured 29 participating teams and artists from 10 countries..
 
Technecene, a neologism coined for the ACT Festival 2026, refers to an era in which technology (techne) has become the dominant force shaping the world (-cene). This year’s festival explores glitch—a term referring to technological malfunctions and disruptions—through two categories: “cognitive glitches” and “physical glitches.”

The festival drew particular attention for presenting Avatar, a video work by German artist Anne Imhof, for the first time in Korea. Imhof represented Germany at the 2017 Venice Biennale, where she received the Golden Lion, and is a leading contemporary artist who has held solo exhibitions at institutions including Tate Modern and Palais de Tokyo.
 
Following her first solo exhibition in Asia at Tai Kwun in Hong Kong earlier this year, Imhof met Korean audiences for the first time at the ACT Festival 2026. In Avatar, the background dissolves into abstract colors and light, leaving only a single human body sharply visible for 32 minutes.
 
The work poses the festival’s central question—“What remains irreplaceable in the age of technology?”—with particular depth.

Another featured work, Wu Tien-chang’s Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions initially appears to be an AI-generated video. Yet through the magic and manual techniques of old-fashioned theater, it deliberately unsettles the viewer’s perception.
 
In contrast, Jinah Roh’s new work, Nerva Artificia, presents a machine that is remarkably talkative. Equipped with artificial intelligence, it converses fluently with visitors like a close friend, yet its responses may include plausible-sounding fabrications, or “hallucinations.”
 
Opposite it stands Robot K-456, produced in 1996 based on the same design as Nam June Paik’s original work, first presented in 1964. While the machine of more than 60 years ago revealed itself through its own body and unsteady movements, today’s machines speak so smoothly that their flaws are far more difficult to detect.

On the opening day, an audiovisual concert featuring Tamanaramen, Zai Tang, and Kohui took place at the Big Door Theater of the ACC Theater. On October 24, participating artists gathered for a dialogue session featuring presentations and discussions.
 
At the ACC Media Wall in the Asia Culture Plaza, 15 media facade works co-curated and produced in collaboration with China’s City Digital Skin Art Festival (CDSA) will be screened daily from 4 to 5 p.m., except Mondays, through December 31.

References

• 국립아시아문화전당 보도자료 (National Asian Culture Center Press Release)
• ACT 페스티벌 2026 (ACT Festival 2026)