News
Art, technology and digital society: a present in constant transformation with Talking Galleries
Focus Digital 2025 returns as a space to rethink innovation and new horizons in the visual arts on November 28 at the Santa Mònica Art Center in Barcelona.
In recent decades, art has ceased to be an exclusively contemplative space to become a field of experimentation where technology redefines both creative processes and forms of perception. In the midst of a digital society, where immediacy, hyper-connection and the constant circulation of data shape everyday life, artists and creators explore new languages to interpret an increasingly hybrid reality. Talking Galleries with Focus Digital 2025 creates an encounter between art and technology, and how this relationship transforms cultural experiences, generates new ethical debates and opens doors to imagining aesthetic and social futures that are still uncertain but deeply stimulating.
On Friday, November 28, the Santa Monica Arts Center will host a new edition of Focus Digital 2025, a conference that aims to delve deeper into these intersections between creativity and technological innovation. Talking Galleries is once again promoting a space for shared reflection, critical thinking and contrasting ideas, with the aim of bringing together relevant voices from the artistic and digital scene. The event is presented as an opportunity to analyze the emerging challenges of digital culture, explore new models of interaction and cultural production, and identify the possibilities that arise when artistic practices dialogue with contemporary technological tools and imaginaries. In this way, Focus Digital 2025 is configured as an essential meeting point to understand where art is headed in a present in constant transformation.
As a platform specializing in analysis and reflection on the art sector, and with the desire to promote and participate in the most current debates, Talking Galleries celebrates a special edition dedicated to examining how digital technology is transforming the art industry in multiple dimensions. With a full one-day program that combines debate sessions and conversations, Focus Digital brings together key professionals from the local and international fields to foster a space for thought, dialogue and connection between digital innovation and the visual arts sector.
PROGRAM
10.00 – 10.15
Welcome words
—
10.15 – 11.15
“Barcelona: city of cultural innovation?”
Ricard Robles, Co-founder, Sónar
in conversation with
Cristina Salvador, Founder, Both
—
11.15 – 12.00
“Who's afraid of digital art?”
Pau Waelder, Senior Curator, Niio
in conversation with
Llucià Homs, Director, Talking Galleries
—
12.00 – 12.15
Coffee break
—
12.15 – 13.15
“New equipment, new narratives for digital creation”
Marisol López, General Director, Innovation and Digital Culture, Department of Culture
Andreu Rodríguez, President, New Art Foundation (NAF), Reus
Moderator: Llucià Homs, Director, Talking Galleries
—
13.15 – 14.00
“Art and technology: the challenges of conservation”
Vicente Matallana, Director, New Art Foundation (NAF) / New Art Center (NAC), Reus
Yolanda Uriz Elizalde, artist
Moderator: Pau Waelder, Senior Curator, Niio
—
14.00 – 15.30
Lunch
—
15.45 – 16.45
“Digital arts beyond the cultural sector”
In collaboration with La Salle URL
Albert Barqué, Artist, researcher and coordinator of the Master's Degree in Digital Arts and Creative Technologies at La Salle URL
Eduard Marfà, Global Marketing Director, Digital Enterprise at Siemens Digital Industries
Jordi Picas, Innovation Director, Suara Cooperativa
Diego Schiaffino, Executive Creative Director, OWEB
Moderator: Xavier Baño Coral, Director of Technology Transfer, La Salle Campus Barcelona
—
16.45 – 18.00
“From code to rooms: institutional practices facing the digital challenge”
Claudia Elies, Director, La Fabra Contemporary Art Center
Antonia Folguera, Curator, Sónar+D
Enric Puig Punyet, Director, Santa Monica Arts Center
Moderator: Vicent Fibla, Director, Mèdol. Contemporary Arts Center of Tarragona and director of Festival Eufònic
