The Var Digital Art Award is a biennial prize, promoted by Var Digital Art by Var Group, which aims to be the first in Italy to showcase trends in digital art.
In recent months, a scientific committee composed of professors, critics, journalists, and experts of renowned fame and expertise, has selected a shortlist of 12 artists from the excellences of our country. They were chosen to offer an in-depth perspective and narrative on the relationship between art and new technologies, showcasing facets, trends, and possibilities of the new grammar of our millennium.
In recent months, a scientific committee composed of professors, critics, journalists, and experts of renowned fame and expertise, has selected a shortlist of 12 artists from the excellences of our country. They were chosen to offer an in-depth perspective and narrative on the relationship between art and new technologies, showcasing facets, trends, and possibilities of the new grammar of our millennium.
The 12 Italian artists (established, mid-career, emerging), distinguished by their education, approach, language, and research direction, were invited to participate in the VDA Award with a screen-based work, either previously published or conceived for the occasion, providing a comprehensive snapshot of digital art, both by consolidating pioneering research that has emerged for some time and by giving shape to new practices and visual alphabets.
Chiara Canali, Valentino Catricalà, Rebecca Pedrazzi, Domenico Quaranta, assisted by Davide Sarchioni (curator of VDA Award and artistic director of Var Digital Art), then voted on the 12 competing works, selecting a shortlist of 4 finalists.
The 4 selected artists for the final round of the award are Chiara Passa, Roberto Fassone, Luca Pozzi, Kamilia Kard, who will present their works on the 26th and 27th of October at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rimini, during the Var Group Convention "Shape the present, build the future".
An expert jury, along with the audience's vote, will determine the winner of the 1st Edition of VDA Award 2023.
Chiara Canali, Valentino Catricalà, Rebecca Pedrazzi, Domenico Quaranta, assisted by Davide Sarchioni (curator of VDA Award and artistic director of Var Digital Art), then voted on the 12 competing works, selecting a shortlist of 4 finalists.
The 4 selected artists for the final round of the award are Chiara Passa, Roberto Fassone, Luca Pozzi, Kamilia Kard, who will present their works on the 26th and 27th of October at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rimini, during the Var Group Convention "Shape the present, build the future".
An expert jury, along with the audience's vote, will determine the winner of the 1st Edition of VDA Award 2023.
The 4 finalist works
And we thought (Led Zeppelin trilogy), 2022
by Roberto Fassone
HD Video, 20:01 min. Ed. 3 + 2 AP
In April 2021, Sineglossa and Roberto Fassone conceived Ai Lai, an artificial intelligence trained on thousands of reports of psychedelic trips written by magic mushroom users...
by Roberto Fassone
HD Video, 20:01 min. Ed. 3 + 2 AP
In April 2021, Sineglossa and Roberto Fassone conceived Ai Lai, an artificial intelligence trained on thousands of reports of psychedelic trips written by magic mushroom users...
HERbarium - Dancing with an AI, 2023
by Kamilia Kard
Website, 3D models / AR filters, HD videos
A performative and multimedia project that combines projection and live performance, featuring an original choreography performed by dancers and enhanced through collaboration with an artificial intelligence (AI)...
by Kamilia Kard
Website, 3D models / AR filters, HD videos
A performative and multimedia project that combines projection and live performance, featuring an original choreography performed by dancers and enhanced through collaboration with an artificial intelligence (AI)...
“Still Life”, 2019
by Chiara Passa
Virtual reality artwork (for Oculus Quest/Rift)
Exploring the processes of nature in relation to what is represented in art today through the depiction of still life: "Still Life" is a fairy tale-like narrative with surrealistic and metaphysical undertones...
by Chiara Passa
Virtual reality artwork (for Oculus Quest/Rift)
Exploring the processes of nature in relation to what is represented in art today through the depiction of still life: "Still Life" is a fairy tale-like narrative with surrealistic and metaphysical undertones...
Rosetta Mission 2022
by Luca Pozzi
VR Game Engine
The project alludes to the Rosetta Stone, an archaeological artifact that has become a crucial document for the comparison and interpretation of languages and history itself...
by Luca Pozzi
VR Game Engine
The project alludes to the Rosetta Stone, an archaeological artifact that has become a crucial document for the comparison and interpretation of languages and history itself...
The artists
Discover the artists who participated in the Var Digital Award, click and read their biographies.
The Scientific Committee and Coordination
Chiara Canali
Art critic, journalist, and independent curator.
Author of the book "Tecno-sociality. Participation and Interactivity in Contemporary Art" (Postmediabooks, Milan 2020).
She is the artistic director and curator of PARMA 360 Festival of Contemporary Creativity, for which she has developed multimedia projects. As the creator and promoter of artistic events and cultural initiatives, in her critical path she has devoted particular attention to New Media and digital and interactive technologies.
She is an adjunct professor of Contemporary Art History and Artistic Languages of New Media in the Faculty of Arts at eCampus University, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the PRISMA Research Center at eCampus University.
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Valentino Catricalà
Scholar and contemporary art curator.
Currently the curator of MODAL Gallery at SODA in Manchester and a lecturer at IULM University. Responsible for the digital art area at La Quadriennale in Rome and co-curator, alongside Barbara London (MoMA), of the D’ORO/D’ART project in collaboration with D’ORO Collection and Marian Goodman Gallery.
Has curated exhibitions at major institutions such as Fondazione Prada (Milan and Tokyo), Hermitage (St. Petersburg), Minnesota Street Project (San Francisco), New York Media Centre, Stelline (Milan), MAXXI Museum (Rome), Palazzo Reale (Milan), Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome), Ca’ Foscari (Venice), New Delhi Italian Cultural Institute (India), among others. Has written several books, including 'The Artist as Inventor' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021); co-edited with Sean Cubitt, 'Art in the Age of Ubiquitous Media' (VCS-Visual Cultural Studies, Mimesis, 2022).
For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, authored 'Arte e tecnologia del terzo millennio' (Electa-Quaderni della Farnesina 2019).
Co-curates the 'arte e innovazione' (art and innovation) section for WIRED Italia along with Luigi Maccallini.
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Domenico Quaranta
Art critic, curator, and lecturer at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
He is the author of several works, including 'Media, New Media, Postmedia' (Postmedia Books, 2010; 2018); 'Surfing con Satoshi. Arte, blockchain e NFT' (Postmedia Books, Milan 2021); 'Net Art. Scritti sull’arte nell’era dell’informazione' (Postmedia Books, Milan 2023).
Since 2005, he has curated exhibitions for various Italian and international institutions, including: MNAC, Bucharest; iMAL, Brussels; LABoral, Gijon; HeK, Basel; 319 Scholes, New York; Kunsthaus Langenthal; +MSUM, Ljubljana; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; MGLC, Ljubljana; GAMeC, Bergamo.
He is a lecturer and co-founder of the Link Art Center (2011-2019).
Rebecca Pedrazzi
Historian, art expert, journalist.
She graduated in History and Criticism of Art from the University of Milan with a thesis on the Contemporary Art Market.
In 2017, she founded the online art and culture magazine NotiziArte.com, and in 2018, she became a licensed journalist.
Since then, she has written over 3,500 articles on national and international art and culture events, now with a focused approach on the most current themes of the latest technologies applied to the art world.
In 2021, she published the book 'Possible Futures: Scenarios of Art and Artificial Intelligence' - Publisher: Jaca Book.
Currently, she teaches courses and masterclasses on AI and the world of Art and is active in the educational field through publications, conferences, and webinars.
She is responsible for art projects at the Iulm AI Lab, Milan, and coordinates the 'AI Creator Lab' courses.
Davide Sarchioni
VDA Art Director, VDA Awards Coordinator.
He is an art critic, curator, and lecturer at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
After graduating with honors in Contemporary Art History with Enrico Crispolti at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Siena, he participated in international workshops and began working as an art critic, consultant, and curator in 2005 for public bodies, foundations, art galleries, and individuals in Italy and abroad. He curated exhibitions, collections, and art catalogs, collaborating with established and emerging Italian and international artists.
Since 2018, he has been a curator and consultant for art projects at the Luca and Katia Tomassini Foundation in Orvieto, where he also organized the significant retrospective 'Achille Perilli Beyond,' in collaboration with the Municipality of Bagnoregio.
For the Digital Art division of Var Group, he is a curator and artistic director, responsible for artist selection in the field of digital art.