Vivarium Imaginem"

The exhibition is a curatorial project focused on the experience of immersion and co-creation. It presents the nature-cultural environment "Vivarium Imaginem", where scientific and artistic practices interwine and where the images of digitized and material metamorphic beings emerge as living entities in objects and images.

This is a research wich takes the form of a living laboratory, rooted in the principles of interaction and solidarity. At its core, it addresses the pressing issue of climate change, highlighting impermanence, our vulnerability, and interdependence.

«Vivarium Imaginem» is a transforming and redefined socio-natural-cultural space for interdisciplinary (art-science) interactions, immersive experiences, knowledge exchange, and practices that combine digital with traditional techniques. It engages all participants in the discourse of sustainable development and ecology, rethinking the role of humanity and raising that questions as: What responsibilities do we bear toward the planet and other forms of existence? And what might the world look like in the near future in the face of climate change?

The project serves as both an experiment and an artwork, where the creative and research process is affirmed as a medium in itself, organized within an interdisciplinary space of live performance. Each participant plays their part in creating a unified living space, fostering connections with the natural and cultural ecosystem of the Mediterranean coastal park.

This experience examines biodiversity along the Mediterranean coast, which has already begun facing significant collapse in 2024-2025 due to rising sea temperatures. These changes are transforming the ecosystem, leading to a mixing of Mediterranean and tropical species, resulting in a new, previously unseen biodiversity adapted to the altered climate.

Curator: Elena Posokhova
Artists: Alessandra Carosi - Alexandra Knie - Manel Bafaluy
Researchers: Cristian Morales, Hugo Dezellus in collaboration with scientists of IMEDMAR-UCV.

The artists and researchers of the project work on biomodulation, rethinking organic forms and the symbioses of life along the coast in collaboration with biological scientists.

This exhibition is a constantly transforming in stallation where new visual and performative works emerge throughout its duration, showcas ing the continuous changes in the world and nature while fostering communication between humans and the natural environment.

This project showcases the art practices of three artists involved in group work, illustrating how they integrate new digital technologies like VR and AI with analog photography and traditional techniques. This unique blend fosters interdisciplinarity, diverse experiences, and transcultural collaboration, opening new horizons for perspectives and potential interactions.

The installation «Vivarium Imaginem» is accompanied by documentation of the art and science research, both collective and individual creativity.

«Vivarium Imaginem» invites active engagement from viewers and participants in the process of exploration and co-creation, allowing the development of art practices, and entering into dialogue between the human and the non-human through audiovisual images and narratives.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with:

Universidad Católica de Valencia; Institute for Research in Environmental and Marine Science IMEDMAR–UCV, with the support of Vice-rectorate for Research of UCV (Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir) member of EU-CONEXUS, European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability, and Art Made Cultural Association.