In Pesaro, Italy, a force is connecting nature and culture.

Based on the theme of the Italian Capital of Culture in 2024 - ‘The Nature of Culture’ - the city of Pesaro is promoting an open call that challenges creatives, artists, designers, and musicians to develop a site-specific immersive video work using emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Generative 3D Simulations.

Promoted by Fondazione Pescheria with the support of CTE Square Pesaro | House of Emerging Technologies, in collaboration with Artifact - the company behind Biosphere - and Artificial Humanism, the call creates an environment conducive to the promotion and circulation of digital arts and electronic music. Based on this desire, the city created Biosphere - a four-meter spherical LED sculpture located in Piazza del Popolo - created as part of the Capital of Culture.

This centerpiece of the prize will serve as a screen for the audiovisual projects selected in the open call, providing a suitable physical space for the presentation of new forms of digital art that are becoming increasingly important in the connection between art, nature, and technology.

Through the ‘Biosphere Prize’, artists are challenged to explore new creative boundaries and express bold and innovative visions through 360º audiovisual works created using emerging technologies. The competition is open to individuals or groupsworking with new digital technologies (artists, creatives, designers, musicians, researchers, etc.), of any nationality and with a minimum age of eighteen years.

Each project will be analyzed by a jury of experts chosen by the Pescheria Foundation, based on criteria such as originality, technological innovation, coherence with the theme ‘The Nature of Culture’, technical feasibility, aesthetics, and potential visual and sound performance within the Biosphere. The call will select one winner, who will receive a cash prize of €4,000, and three special mentions, who will receive a cash prize of €500 each. The winning works will be presented on 11 January 2025, during the closing ceremony of the year as Capital of Culture, and included in the Biosfera programme in the following weeks.

The open call closes on 15 December. More information about the prize and the application is available here.