After more than 10 years away from Europe,  the International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA) will land in Barcelona this summer thanks to the involvement of an enthusiastic local and international community. 

"It will be the largest simultaneous exhibition of works of art linked to technology ever held in Spain," Pau Alsina, director of ISEA, told the newspaper La Vanguardia.

ISEA is one of the longest-running annual media art events internationally, serving as a meeting point to explore the direct intersection between art, design, science, technology and society. 

Globe-trotting around the world to cities such as Montreal, Durban, Manizales, Hong Kong and Sydney since 1998, ISEA has allowed artists, scientists, technologists and theorists to share their research and latest prototypes, technological breakthroughs and artistic works linked to science and technology. 

The 27 th International Symposium on Electronic Arts will take place from 10 to 16 June 2022 in Barcelona under the theme of "Possibles".

During the symposium, participants will be invited to join the growing debate on what is possible in today's world, not only by exploring the future we need to build, but also by opening the doors to the past and the present through four sub-themes. 

The first, "Human and Non-Human", delves into our relationship with machines and animals; the second, "Natures and Worlds", explores climate change and the viability of living off-world; the third, "Futures and Heritages", considers the role of history and data excess; and the last, "Educations and Societies", raises challenges such as how to embrace art as a part of scientific and technical knowledge. 

Besides, the ISEA Conference, the more academic part of the event, will include keynotes, panels, institutional presentations, artist talks, performances, screenings and workshops honing in on the intersections between art, science, technology and society. These sessions will address current issues such as the creative capacity of artificial intelligence, the possibilities of immersive experiences, the imaginary of biotechnologies in the arts, the predictive potential of machines, new ways of managing our heritage and milestones in human-robot communication. 

On 10 and 11 June, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), as part of its Possible Archives project, will play host to a landmark international archiving summit called the Second Summit on New Media Art Archiving.

 Another Barcelona museum, Santa Mònica, will host an electronic art exhibition featuring local and international artists

The exhibition, titled The irruption, will run from 9 June to 21 August. Proposals by renowned international and local artists such as Robertina Šebjanič, Eric Berger, Joan Soler-Adillon and Andy Gracie will be on display. 

The program also includes a drone show on Somorrostro beach (at the Barceloneta) or a large immersive installation at the CCCB museum by artists Maurice Benayoun and Refik Anadol -recently popular in the Catalan capital for their mapping at Casa Batlló, which fetched a million-dollar price tag-.

In times of uncertainty, the deputy mayor of Culture of the Barcelona City Council, Jordi Martí, sees in this event a way to "illuminate different paths and face a life in common that is becoming more and more complicated". "Art connected with science and technology opens up new spaces for reflection that must allow us to ask new questions," Martí remarked.

A detailed programme of the first confirmed activities for ISEA2022 is now available at https://isea2022.isea-international.org/.