The Art and Technology working group focuses on exploring the relationships between artistic practices and the development of new technologies. Its main aim is to critically analyze, assess and discuss the ways the alliance between art and technology poses new challenges and offers new ways to respond to contemporary issues related to social, political, and economic paradigms, such as social justice, ecological sustainability, and economic development.

Its work is developed in close relationship with NOVA’s University current project for the founding of a new Institute, within the University, the NOVA Institute of Art and Technology (NOVA IAT). IAT’s aim to establish itself as a center for artistic creation that simultaneously enhances, and transfers technology linked to the Arts. (more information here). The CineLab’s Art and Technology group has been working as a thinking hub that aims to help establishing the theoretical basis for IAT’s concept, and implementation, which broadly envisages to offer:

• High level training in different artistic areas with a strong technological focus.
• Applied research in different artistic areas (music, design, audiovisual, among others).
• Collaborative research between industrial and artistic corporations, the academic sector and other free-lance professionals from different areas, with focus on the development of new products and services.
• Enterprise acceleration and incubation in arts and culture.

Within this framework, the Arts and Technology working group has already helped to successfully prepare the submission to an Horizon 2020 winning project called T-Factor (see more information here) in partnership with several European Universities such as the University of the Arts London and companies such as La Friche La Belle de Mai (Marseille), amongst others. The T-Factor’s pilot project linked to IAT aims at turning the future site of the Institute into a vibrant hub for inclusive urban (re)generation, social innovation and enterprise, harnessing culture, creative collaboration, and wide engagement to steer radically new, transformative approaches of waiting time until the project is completed with several activities already developed and launched. (see here).