FILE 2026

Registration is now closed for participation in  FILE – Electronic Language International Festival 2026 , one of the most important events dedicated to art and technology. FILE invites Brazilian and international artists , as well as researchers, educators, and creators , to submit original artistic works and educational proposals — lectures, workshops, and training activities — focused on contemporary technological poetics.

Applications were open until February 19, 2026 .

With 26 years of experience , FILE is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting creation, research, and experimentation in Art and Technology , bringing together artists, scientists, programmers, and thinkers around exhibitions, events, and publications. The selected projects will be part of the FILE 2026 program, scheduled to take place at the FIESP Cultural Center in São Paulo, between August 19 and October 11, 2026,  with the possibility of parallel activities in other Brazilian states.

The call welcomes proposals in a wide variety of languages ​​and formats, intended for indoor or outdoor environments , in which the aesthetic experience emerges from the encounter between interfaces, data, space, and body . FILE 2026 seeks projects that propose new forms of perception, interaction, and critical and poetic reflection , expanding the debate on the aesthetic, cultural, social, and sensory impacts of contemporary technologies.

Access the registration form.

Robot Journey: Part 1, 2 & 3

ChrisLee

FILE SÃO PAULO 2025: SYNTHETIKA – Art and Technology – Cine SYN
Electronic Language International Festival

Robot Journey: Part 1, 2 & 3 – China

In a future where Earth’s environment has become uninhabitable, a lone robot sets out in search of a new home for humanity. After decades of travel, it discovers a planet strikingly similar to Earth — but it’s not alone. In The Last Explorer, the robot encounters mysterious presences and begins to develop emotions while exploring the unfamiliar world. Confronted with challenges, it must make choices that reflect its growing sense of awareness.

BIO

Chris Lee is a visual artist and independent creator from China. Trained in industrial design, he worked as a visual designer before turning to independent filmmaking. A lifelong passion for drawing now drives his ambition to develop an original series that blends animation with live action, showing that small teams and independent creators can produce powerful, high-quality stories.

Música: Karol Skowronek

SynthPets

Tanja Vujinovica

FILE SÃO PAULO 2025: SYNTHETIKA – Art and Technology – Installations
Electronic Language International Festival

SynthPets – Slovenia

SynthPets is inspired by the evolution of artificial intelligence and robotics, paying tribute to the creator’s robotic vacuum cleaner. These mysterious cyber-organic companions emerge through sketches, digital drawings, 3D sculptures, and AI-generated forms. The work explores humanity’s entanglement with electronic pets and devices that have become integral to everyday life.

BIO

Tanja Vujinovic is a multimedia artist who blends video art, games, music, and research to explore how technology shapes human experience. Her work examines the influence of synthetic environments and electronic devices, often featuring playful small figures—drawing inspiration from dolls, figurines, and talismans—that serve as symbolic guardians and companions.

3D computer graphics, digital sculpting and painting, generated AI, sound: Tanja Vujinovic

Production: Tanja Vujinovic/Ultramono, 2024—ongoing.

Consulting

RonBreIan, Software and Audio Engineer

https://www.tanjav.art/

@tanja_vujinovic_ultramono_

THE PSYCHEDELIC PUPPET SHOW

Brad Necyk & Jason Silva

FILE SÃO PAULO 2026: Inter-creativity – Art and Technology – Animation
Electronic Language International Festival

The Psychedelic Puppet Show – Canada

The Psychedelic Puppet Show is a surreal satire that confronts the mental health crisis through absurdity and childlike wonder. When Edgar is admitted to a psychedelic puppet hospital, he undergoes bizarre, revelatory treatments that unravel his understanding of sanity itself. As the line between therapy and control dissolves, a playful rebellion emerges—challenging the authority of Western psychiatry and imagining liberation through imagination.

BIO

Jason Silva is a futurist, filmmaker, and Emmy-nominated host of Brain Games on National Geographic. Creator of Shots of Awe, his work explores technology, consciousness, and human potential through cinematic philosophy.

Dr. Brad Necyk is an artist, filmmaker, and writer with a PhD in psychiatry. His work bridges mental health, creativity, and emerging media.

LAVAFORMING

Arnhildur Pálmadóttir & Arnar Skarphéðinsson

FILE SÃO PAULO 2026: Inter-creativity – Art and Technology – Discrete Architecture
Electronic Language International Festival

Lavaforming – Iceland

Lavaforming is the technique of harnessing volcanic eruptions to shape new architecture. A single effusive eruption provides enough building material for an entire city. In a matter of weeks, the foundations are laid without harmful mining or reliance on non-renewable energy. In this short-film, we travel a hundred years into the future to visit the city of Eldborg. Through the eyes of its future inhabitants, we learn how the development of this technique, alongside the collapse of the climate, ushered in an era of radical change driven by architectural innovation.

BIO

Sukanya Mukherjee is a designer and filmmaker based out of Los Angeles, CA. With a focus in speculative design, her work lives in the overlaps between film and architecture which she considers innate extensions of one another. Lavaforming is her second short-film, previously exhibited in the Icelandic Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture and is currently being shown at the Reykjavik Art Museum.

Arnar Skarphéðinsson is an architect and filmmaker based in Reykjavík, Iceland. His work focuses on architecture’s ability to visualize different futures through filmmaking techniques and video game technology. He is the co-creator of Lavaforming, which was previously exhibited in the Icelandic Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture and is currently being shown at the Reykjavik Art Museum.

Arnhildur Pálmadóttir is an architect and founder of s.ap arkitektar. She approaches projects through innovative thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration, with focus on research and circular innovation in the construction industry. Arnhildur also works on experimental projects including the Lavaforming project, Iceland’s contribution to the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Arnhildur and s.ap architects have received numerous awards and international nominations, and their work has been featured widely in both Icelandic and international media.

Director: Sukanya Mukherjee, Arnar Skarphéðinsson. Writer: Andri Snær Magnason. Executive Producer: Arnhildur Pálmadóttir . Animators: Sukanya Mukherjee, Arnar Skarphéðinsson. Sound: Kjartan Thors Hagedorn-Olsen. Music: Jack Armitage. Mixing and Mastering: Josh Wilkinson. Voices: Edda Björg Eyjólfsdóttir, Úlfur Hansson, Andri Snær Magnason, Melkorka Ólafsdóttir, Helga Lára Þorsteinsdóttir. Costume Design: Björg Skarphéðinsdóttir

CAIRN

Game Bakers

FILE SÃO PAULO 2026: Inter-creativity – Art and Technology – Games
Electronic Language International Festival

Cairn – France

Reach an unexplored summit in this climbing and survival game from the creators of Furi and Haven. Plan your route and climb wherever you choose, carefully managing pitons and resources to survive the unforgiving Mount Kami. Discover what Aava is willing to sacrifice to complete the greatest ascent of her life. 

BIO

Independent game studio dedicated to creating memorable games that make players feel alive and energized. They approach game development the same way they approach cooking: with a lot of heart, unique recipes, and a passion that shines through in every project. The studio focuses on developing original creations and self-publishes its own titles.

MIMICROCOSMOS

Lepša Studio

FILE SÃO PAULO 2026: Inter-creativity – Art and Technology – Installations
Electronic Language International Festival

MiMicrocosmos – Czech Republic

Interactive installation inspired by a world that we normally see only under a microscope. It is a physical game with a childish design that, when rotated, transforms the installation into a playful and intuitive experience.

BIO
Lepša Studio is a creative collective that brings together fine art, scenography, spatial design, and contemporary technology. The studio was founded in 2026 as a new creative project building on the team’s long-standing collaborative experience. The studio’s key principles are originality, experimentation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a focus on site-specific work. The creators of the MiMicrocosmos installation are Josef Lepša, Jiří Rouš, Marek Volf, and Michal Vrba.

File Festival
Paul Robertson is an Australian animator and digital artist who is known for his pixel art used in short films and video games. He is mostly known for Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World: The Game and the recent release, Mercenary Kings. Apart from his seasoned career as a game designer and movie creator, Robertson has been recently spotted on Tumblr with these GIFS. His interest in inserting flashing neon colors, geometric shapes, Japanese character animation, and 1990′s computer imagery, deems his work as heavily influenced by the Seapunk/Vaporwave aesthetic.

STEVE WILHITE
R.I.P
dancing baby
GIF (JIF)
graphics interchange format

The inventor of the Gif file has revealed that the world has been mispronouncing his creation.
Steve Wilhite, who invented the Gif file in 1987, told the New York Times that the word is pronounced “jif” not “giff”.
“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story,” he said.
The internet has reacted strongly to Wilhite’s claim, pointing to a range of evidence from the White House announcing their allegiance via a note on their Tumblr: “Animated GIFs (Hard ‘G’)”, to simple common consensus.
Others have suggested that the hard ‘G’ relates to the acronym that the word springs from, which stands for Graphical Interface Format.
The Gif has enjoyed a surge of success in the last five years thanks to Buzzfeed-style listings of puppies and kittens and ‘live-giffing’, a form of on-the-spot reporting that had its first major outing during the 2012 presidential debates.
Wilhite may be the parent of the Gif, but most agree that the creation has outgrown its creator.
When even the White House is on the other side of the debate, it seems it might be best if Wilhite concedes defeat with grace.

InSIDEs
author, director and media artist, since 1994 | auteur, réalisateur/metteur en scène et artiste transmédia depuis 1994
co-founder of Electronic Shadow (2000) | co-fondateur et associé d’Electronic Shadow (2000)
creator of Elyx (2011) | créateur d’Elyx (2011)
Free Lance Consultant and Art Director | Consultant et Directeur artistique indépendant

B R A I N L I G H T
“The catalyst for this research project was my flourishing intrigue and desire to harnesses my own Brain as the creator of an interactive art experience where no physical touch was required except the power of my own thoughts. To experience a unique visualisation of brain activity and to share it with others I have created a large freestanding brain sculpture that is made of laser cut Perspex hand etched with neural networks that glow when light is passed through them.” Laura Jade

Айрис Ван Эрпен
イリス ヴァン ヘルペン
Iris van Herpen is a Dutch fashion designer who is widely recognized as one of fashion’s most talented and forward-thinking creators who continuously pushes the boundaries of fashion design. Since her first show in 2007 van Herpen has been preoccupied with inventing new forms and methods of sartorial expression by combining the most traditional and the most radical materials and garment construction methods into her unique aesthetic vision.

黒川良一
Syn
2011 –
Audiovisual Concert
Diptych | 2.1ch sound
Duration: 30’00” – 45’00”
The Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa has been a pioneer in audiovisual art in the past fifteen years, working with multiple media that bring together sound and image in a totally new language. Currently based in Berlin, Kurokawa continues to explore the symbiosis between technology and nature, order and chaos.Kurokawa stands as out as a new international reference in the field of digital art, a creator of trends and a pioneer in new aesthetics in artistic work.