Exhibition "Vivarium Imaginem"
September 11, 2025.
Valencia
This exhibition is a curatorial project focused on the experience of immersion and co-creation. It presents the nature-cultural environment «Vi varium Imaginem», where scientific and artistic practices intertwine 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.
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.
Vivarium Imaginem"
Curator Elena Posokhova
Artists Alessandra Carosi - Alexandra Knie - Manel Bafaluy
Researchers Cristian Morales, Hugo Dezellus in collaboration with scientists of IMEDMAR-UCV.
International Art and Science Program (IASP-Maritima). Living Lab Residency.
The program took place from September 4–7, 2025, offering selected artists the opportunity to work in an open air studio within a unique ecological setting in a natural park reserve, located between beach vegetation zones, watershed areas, and the Mediterranean Sea. This unique coastal space was awarded the ADEAC-FEE designation as a European Blue Trail in 2017 for its ecological value and the quality of its crystal-clear waters. Artists will have 24-hour access to designated workspaces.
The institutions organized an experimental masterclass program that offers:
on-site workshops with scientists, artisans, and the audience (coastal space was awarded the ADEAC-FEE designation as a European Blue Trail in 2017),
a visit to the bio-marine research laboratory IMEDMAR-UCV in Calpe,
studio visits by curators and art professionals,
the final exhibition featuring selected artworks and documentation of the research process wiil be held at the Claustro Hall of the San Carlos Borromeo Building (1760) on the Universidad Católica de Valencia campus, located in the historic center of Valencia.
Selected final works will also be presented in France in 2026, extending international visibility and collaboration.
The residency at IASP provides an interdisciplinary experience across multiple art and craft mediums (new media, visual arts, engraving, ceramics, sound art) and fosters an international network involving artists (including those from POUSH (Paris)), scientists (bio marine and biological researchers), artisans (from Valencia and France), and curators.
PRESS RELEASE
Living Lab Festival 2025
Art, Science & Ecology on the Mediterranean Coast
Dates: 6–7 September (festival) | 11 September – 5 October 2025 (exhibition)
Locations: Senda Azul, Belcaire Coastal Natural Park (festival) | Cloister, Catholic University of Valencia, San Carlos campus (exhibition)
The Living Lab Festival 2025, part of the International Art and Science Programme (IASP), brings together artists, scientists, and the public to explore the intersections of contemporary art, science, and ecology through innovative and sustainable practices.
Two-Part Programme
6–7 September – Festival: Site-specific interventions, performances, and interdisciplinary dialogues in the natural setting of Senda Azul, Belcaire Coastal Natural Park.
11 September – 5 October – Exhibition: Works created during the festival, along with new projects, showcased at the Cloister of the Catholic University of Valencia, San Carlos campus, creating a dialogue between nature and academic space.
Participating Artists
Alessandra Carosi (Italy/Paris): Photograms with seawater exploring water as a transformative entity.
Manel Bafaluy (Valencia): Real-time digital sculptures blending natural and technological worlds.
Alexandra Knie (Germany/Valencia): Hybrid algae-based works combining textile and marine materials.
Hugo Dezellus (France): Transforming agricultural spaces into natural reserves through art, ecology, and ancestral knowledge.
Activities & Workshops
The festival offers workshops, guided walks, expert talks, and participatory activities connecting the natural environment of the park with the exhibition space at the university. Activities are designed for all ages and knowledge levels.
Organisation
Curator & Programme Director: Elena Posokhova (Paris)
Organisers: Art Made Association | IMEDMAR – UCV
Support: UCV Vice-Rectorate for Research (EU-CONEXUS member)
Collaboration: Moncofa City Council
More information & registration: Art Made Association
Living Lab Festival 2025 continues the commitment to sustainability, innovation, and collaborative dialogue between art, science, and society.
08.05.2025
LIVING LAB FESTIVAL 2025
September 6–7 and September 11 – October 5, 2025.
Valencia and surrounding region.
The International Art and Science Program (IASP) invites artists, curators, researchers, and the public to explore new creative practices and ecosystems along the Mediterranean coast through an innovative ecological art and science festival ...