January 29–February 2, 2025
transmediale festival: (near) near but — far
The 38th edition of transmediale festival will form an understanding of how algorithms place us in weird proximities and new intimacies with one another by way of their machine-driven actions. By attending to the affects of proximity and closeness, the festival will reach beyond constructing a dichotomy of the two terms to ask: how can the capacities of technologies foster relations better adapted to responding to the complexities of our individual and collective discontents?
At Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) and silent green Kulturquartier, transmediale 2025 will feature a weekend of extensive discourse, screening, and performance programme, with a series of workshops as a prologue to the festival. Additionally, artists whose work materialises the destabilisation of proximity and closeness have been invited to occupy the public spaces of the festival venues. Installations by Hana Yoo, Felicity Hammond, and Hamishi Farah are on view at HKW as well as an interactive installation and cyberperformance by Ali Akbar Mehta at silent green.
With Samra Mayanja, Bhenji Ra, Tati au Miel, SUUTOO, Laura Kurgan, 2girls1comp, Nina Davies, Federico Campagna, Cait McKinney, Sinthujan Varatharajah, Alex Martinis Roe, David Isaac Hecht, Sorowit Songsataya, Julian Oliver, Mercedes Bunz, Ren Loren Britton, Nelly Y. Pinkrah, Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich, Hulubalang, Silvio Lorusso, Ali El Darsa, DeForrest Brown, Jr., Ari Benjamin Meyers, Lého Galibert-Laîné, Thomas Keenan, Charlotte Zhang, Maud Craigie, eobchae, ZULI, Basir Mahmood, Portrait XO, Olga Goriunova, Chris Lee, Vivienne Griffin and Úna Monaghan, and more.
Find the full programme, line-up, and schedule online. Livestreaming of the main stage will be available for the festival weekend.
The 2025 edition of transmediale is curated by Elise Misao Hunchuck and Ben Evans James. The festival is produced by the transmediale team.
Open call: festival curation 2026
As part of a renewed curatorial framework developed by transmediale e.V., its team, and advisory board, transmediale follows a new rhythm and welcomes a different festival curation for each edition.
transmediale e.V. invites applications for Festival Curation for transmediale 2026. The festival curator's central responsibility is the development of the curatorial concept and programme for the upcoming edition of transmediale festival in Berlin. The position invites one or more persons with previous curatorial experience to critically engage with topics at the intersection of art, technology, science, society, and politics, and to contribute to transmediale’s long history as one of the leading festivals of art and digital culture.
transmediale creates a space for critical reflection on art and technology, bringing together transdisciplinary communities and diverse audiences with a shared interest in digital cultures. For nearly forty years, the annual festival for art and digital culture has built the core of the organisation’s programming. Beyond the yearly event at the end of January, transmediale is a transversal, dynamic platform with a vibrant community and a strong network that facilitates year-round activities including publications, events, commissions, and artist residencies.
Read the full open call on transmediale’s website.
