SÓNAR 2023. Artificial Intelligence’s impact on the Arts, the central theme of the Sónar+D 2023 programme.

The impact of AI on the arts, the central theme of Sónar+D 2023. The headliner of this edition of Sónar+D is Artificial Intelligence. This year’s programme offers a large number of training and dissemination activities, led by some of the leading creative studios, artists and researchers working with AI today. Names include from the programme, which is open to all audiences, include: Daito Manabe and Yuya Hanai from Rhizomatiks (Japan), Joel Gethin Lewis from Universal Everything (UK), Pau García from Domestic Data Streamers (Spain) and CJ Carr from Harmonai (part of Stable Diffusion).

In addition, as part of the SonarExtra programme, Sónar+D hosts a series of complementary activities that also revolve around AI. In 2023, SonarMies will return with the evolution of the ‘Piano+AI’ show that was co-produced by Sónar and the UPC in 2021, turning the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion into an open laboratory for ‘Reprocessing… Piano+AI’. As a prelude, Sónar+D is also promoting, together with the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), the +RAIN Film Fest, the first international film festival for cinema made entirely using AI to be held in Europe. Project Area, a new exhibition area where creative-technological projects can be seen, heard and touched

Project Area is the new exhibition area of Sónar+D, where the most groundbreaking creative-technological projects of today will be available to see, hear and touch. This brand new area will showcase over 80 works, the majority of which were selected via an international Open Call.

This year’s area will include works based on music and sound, visual and immersive projects (Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality), video games, as well as tools and instruments developed by artists, scientists, designers and technologists.

Many of the pieces have been developed locally, with works from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), the Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología and HacTe (the Barcelona hub for art, science and technology). They’re joined by work from around the L’Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (L’Ircam) in Paris, Aalto University in Finland, Tokyo Denki University, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, amongst others. As part of the music section, there’ll be exhibits from Befaco, PioneerDJ, TribeXR and Teenage Engineering, plus many more. Experts from around the world at Sónar+D 2023, with two discussion forums and two symposiums

Sónar+D will also host two open forums for debate and reflection. The first, organised in collaboration with HacTe, will explore the intersection between art, science and technology, while the second will focus on innovation in the music industry. There’ll also be two symposia: the International Symposium on Soundscape, Advanced Music & AI, organised in collaboration with the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), and the AI & Web3 Creatives Summit, organised in collaboration with the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

Amongst dozens of experts from various fields, key invitees include the artistic directors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the most important research laboratory in the world, the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), as well as guests from institutions such as the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), and the MEET Digital Centre in Milan. Plus representatives from companies such as Ableton and SoundCloud and members of the Black Artist Database and Water & Music collectives.
The climate emergency and digital counterculture, other themes of this year’s programme

In addition to AI and the connections between art, science and technology, two other themest form the backbone of this year’s programme. Creative studio Playmodes (Spain) together with the UPC, Stefanos Levidis from Forensic Architecture (Greece) and Jana Winderen (Norway) all show how the artistic community is raising the alarm and disseminating information about the climate emergency. There’ll also be appearances that focus on digital counterculture and new visual languages on the web, with visual artists Weirdcore -a regular collaborator with musicians like Aphex Twin- and Parafeno, the latter in conversation with Spanish queer icon and performer Samantha Hudson.
Tech shows: new audiovisual narratives across Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night

Year on year, Sónar+D offers a space across the festival’s stages for new musical and technological narratives, which reach across genres and formats. Here is where the public comes into contact with a vital part of Sónar’s original DNA: artistic experimentation. From Kode9 to Daito Manabe; from Nosaj Thing to Jokkoo Collective; and from Max Cooper and Oneohtrix Point Never to Desert, CLARAGUILAR and Ryoji Ikeda. And not to forget the headliners for this year’s celebrations at Sónar by Night: a new show from Aphex Twin and Eric Prydz’s spectacular immersive, three-dimensional spectacle HOLO.

PROGRAMME.
Activities throughout Sónar by Day – 15th, 16th & 17th June.
The new Project Area exhibition space is split into five distinct zones, where the public can interact with music and sound tools; Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology and pieces; video games; works covering art, science, design and technology; and audiovisual projects.

Artificial Intelligence headlines Sónar+D 2023, and is highlighted by the installation ‘Processing… 30 years of Sónar’ presented by ME by Meliá, an immersive film based on the 30th Anniversary image campaign. An aural and visual journey through the Sónar universe as processed by the AI, featuring music by Fennesz, a longtime friend of the festival.

Throughout the weekend, Room+D and Lounge+D will host sectoral meetings, pitches, expert content, meet-ups, open mic sessions and other forms of knowledge exchange between creators. Lounge+D – exclusively for Delegates – will be the epicentre of Sónar+D, a space where the different communities (local and international) that make up the festival can meet and exchange.

For their part, the Barcelona City Council will present Plaça de Barcelona, an interactive installation designed to encourage the building of bridges between different European cities. Throughout the weekend it will host activities that bring together actors and companies from the tech and innovation sectors, the blue economy, the creative industries and the digital economy to share ideas, exchange opinions and discuss opportunities and challenges.
Activities outside of the festival – SonarExtra

As is the case each year, in parallel with the main programme from 15th to 17th June at Fira Montjuïc and Fira Gran Via, the festival will spread throughout the city via the SonarExtra programme.

During the festival, just next to Sónar by Day, SonarMies returns for 2023 with ‘Reprocessing… Piano+AI’, the latest evolution of the project co-produced by Sónar and the UPC, premiered at the AI and Music S+T+ARTS Festival in 2021. The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion will be transformed into an open laboratory, with artists from the Sónar 2023 line-up interacting with the AI developed by UPC researchers and pianist Marco Mezquida. These open rehearsals between artists and AI will be open to the public.

The exhibition ‘Digital Impact’ (open from April to August at Disseny Hub Barcelona and open to visit during Sónar week) will be the first exhibition of entirely digital art held in Barcelona. Aimed at all audiences, it’s a thought-provoking experience that blurs the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds. Sónar is collaborating with the exhibition and festival ticket holders will receive discounted or free admission (dependent on ticket type).
Activities – Thursday 15th June 10am to 10pm (exclusively for Delegates before 3pm)

Sónar+D kicks off with a brand new discussion forum: the Art, Science and Technology Forum in collaboration with HacTe (Barcelona’s hub for art, science and technology). The forum will bring together artists, scientists, researchers, and cultural representatives to discuss how to cultivate relations between art, science, technology and society. Invitees include representatives from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research, and the MEET Digital Centre in Milan, amongst others. The forum ends with a presentation of two Spanish projects: the ACTS Network, an initiative that aims to create common spaces for collaboration between artists, researchers and institutions; and a presentation of the updated White Paper by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).

The day will continue with more educational and informative activities, focusing on Artificial Intelligence and its use in audiovisual creation. Daito Manabe and Yuya Hanai will talk about the research and work of their Rhizomatiks studio on AI image generators; CJ Carr, director of research at Harmonai (Stable Diffusion), will demonstrate how AI can be used to create music; and Pau Garcia, founder of creative studio Domestic Data Streamers, will examine the importance of ethical and responsible use of AI in the creative industries. The day will end with Spanish queer icon and performer Samantha Hudson in conversation with her regular collaborator, the visual artist Parafeno, for a discussion on digital counterculture.

Sónar+D will also welcome the presentation of the results of the International Symposium on Soundscape, Advanced Music and AI, a symposium organised by the University of Barcelona (UB) on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th June, with the aim of disseminating knowledge around interdisciplinarity in advanced music and the application of Artificial Intelligence. In the framework of this symposium, researchers from the UB are carrying out a sonic and audiovisual mapping of Spanish artist LEÏTI, studying his ‘soundscape’: the sounds that surround him as part of his day-to-day life.

The first part of the two-day AI & Web3 Creatives Summit, led by UPF Ventures and co-produced by Sónar+D, will also take place on Thursday. The day will be divided into two sessions: one on the role of AI in film and the other on the role of AI in music. The summit aims to discuss the relationship between creativity and emerging technologies, the ethical use of AI, copyright and the role of Web3 in the cultural and creative industries. On the second day, two new topics will be addressed: expanded media (virtual reality and augmented reality) and creativity on Web3.

The innovative multi-screen Stage+D by MEDIAPRO will host a first afternoon session, featuring researchers and artists who are exploring and responding to the effects of the climate emergency. Barcelona creative studio Playmodes and UPC professor and engineer Francesc Rey will present their project ‘Astres’, where they examine the potential of using natural light for works of visual art. Jana Winderen will discuss her field recordings in aquatic environments and glaciers. And finally, Stefanos Levidis, researcher on migration crises at Forensic Architecture, will explain how audiovisual and creative technologies can be used to investigate human rights violations.

As always, Sónar+D offers a home for new audiovisual narratives, with genre-defying shows that eschew traditional formats and feature unique collaborations, designed especially for the festival. From Kode9’s ‘Escapology’ live show to Nosaj Thing and Daito Manabe’s ‘Continua’, plus Rian Treanor and Elias Merino’s collaborative project Grievous Bodily Harmonics, and Sabrina Bellaouel, who’ll perform her latest album ‘Al Hadr’ using technology developed by the L’Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (L’Ircam) in Paris which links her movements to the music. Oneohtrix Point Never’s new live show, developed with visual artist Nate Boyce, will use real-time animation to reinterpret graphics from their first collaborations a decade ago. And finally, Barcelona’s Jokkoo Collective, alongside artist Coco Em and producer Monrea, will unveil the work they’ve developed at the Santuri East Africa creative hub in Kenya, as part of artistic residency organised by Sónar in collaboration with the Institut Ramon Llull.
Activities – Friday 16th June 10am to 9.30pm (exclusively for Delegates before 3pm)

Friday opens with the second debate forum: the Music Innovation Forum. Invitees from companies such as Ableton, SoundCloud, Cercle, and Gallery, plus members of collectives like Black Artist Database and Water & Music will debate the future challenges facing the music sector, one of the industries where digitalisation has most impacted processes from creation and distribution to communication. They’ll discuss how new tools for creators have led to new ways of creating and managing their work; the future of the live concert in a digital world; and the role of communities in distribution, with an eye on how the Web3 paradigm is reshaping the fan-artist relationship.

Friday’s educational and informative content will look to decode the imminent future for the creative and technological sectors. Producer, thinker, and writer Elijah will bring his famous ‘Yellow Squares’ (digital post-its that provide reflections, questions and advice on how to be a creative professional in 2023) to the stage in an interactive session. Dr. Zina Cinker, from the PUZZLE X conference, will explore frontier technologies (such as quantum computing, biosynthetic intelligence or genomics) and how they can be expressed creatively. And Ugandan musician and maker Afrorack will explain how he’s short-circuited the Eurocentric world of modular synthesisers. The day will end with another in conversation session, this time between musician and thinker Steve Goodman (Kode9) and Moor Mother, the artist and co-founder of the Philadelphia research group Black Quantum Futurism; and a panel featuring artists DALILA, B2BBS and Ylia titled ‘Rave, breaks and folklore from Andalusia’, presented by DICE.

And the AI & Web3 Creatives Summit, a symposium organised in collaboration with UPF Ventures, will hold its final pair of sessions: expanded media and creativity under Web3.

On this day, Stage+D by MEDIAPRO will tackle the relationships between humans – in particular, scientists and artists – technology, and the natural world. Kate Darling, a world-leading expert on robot ethics, will discuss the future social, ethical and legal relationships between humans and robots in a talk presented by SEIDOR. The creative director of Universal Everything, Joel Gethin Lewis, will present the work of the British digital art and design studio. His appearance takes the form of an audiovisual talk, organised in collaboration with the Digital Impact exhibition at Disseny Hub Barcelona, open from April to August. And Claire L. Evans will examine the links and parallels between the natural world and information technologies, from fungal networks to computers made from organic brain cells.

Friday’s musical performances are headlined by Aphex Twin, with the godfather of modern electronic music returning to the stage at Sónar by Night for the 30th anniversary celebrations. Other innovative performances include new shows from Daito Manabe, Max Cooper, and Ryoji Ikeda; an audiovisual show from Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void + Pedro Maia; and exclusive concerts by Desert, MANS O, and Santiago Latorre & Colin Self.
Activities – Saturday 17th June 10am to 9.30pm (exclusively for Delegates before 3pm)

Saturday starts with a morning guided tour of Digital Impact, the exhibition of digital art at Disseny Hub Barcelona. Any Sónar+D accreditation holder will be able to sign up for the visit for free. The doors of Project Area and Lounge+D will remain open all afternoon to offer a dedicated meeting space reserved for the Sónar+D community during Sónar by Day.
One of most intriguing speakers at this edition is Weirdcore, a visual artist known for his regular collaborations with the likes of Aphex Twin and M.I.A., who’ll explore his delirious visual universe inspired by pop and internet culture.

Saturday’s musical performances on the Sónar+D stages will feature collaborations between musicians and digital and visual artists. Sónar audiences will be able to enjoy the multidisciplinary artist GAIKA together with the design think-tank einaidea; CLARAGUILAR presenting a new show together with Oscila Studio; Lolo & Sosaku with a new piece designed especially for the 30th anniversary of Sónar in collaboration with Sergio Caballero; Ana Quiroga & Estela Oliva‘s new show ‘Azabache AV’; Deena Abdelwahed with a new live show using technology developed in collaboration with L’Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (L’Ircam) in Paris; and Carles Viarnès joining forces with Alba G. Corral to present his latest album. Eric Prydz will provide the big finale at Sónar by Night with HOLO, the most spectacular immersive show around.

SÓNAR+D 2023 PROGRAMME.

Masterclasses, talks, and forums.
+RAIN Film Fest | Afrorack | AI & Web3 Creatives Summit | Art, Science, and Technology Forum in collaboration with HacTe | CJ Carr | Claire L. Evans presents ‘Wild Information: New Frontiers in Biocomputing’ | Digital Impact | DJing in VR presented by Pioneer DJ and Tribe XR | Domestic Data Streamers present ‘Artificial Ignorance and the Arts’ | Elijah presents ‘Yellow Squares’ | Forensic Architecture with Stefanos Levidis | In conversation: Samantha Hudson & Parafeno | In conversation: Steve Goodman (Kode9) & Moor Mother | International Symposium on Soundscape, Advanced Music and AI | Jana Winderen | Kate Darling presents ‘The Future of Human-Robot Interaction’ presented by SEIDOR | Music Innovation Forum | Music Tech Pitch session presented by Barcelona Music Tech Hub and Music Tech Europe | Plaça de Barcelona presented by Ajuntament de Barcelona | Playmodes & UPC-Telecos present ‘Astres’ | ‘Processing… 30 years of Sónar’ presented by ME by Meliá | Project Area | PUZZLE X presents ‘MATTER EXPRESSIONISM’ | ‘Rave, breaks y folklore desde Andalucía’ presented by DICE | SonarMies: ‘Reprocessing… Piano + AI’ | Rhizomatiks with Daito Manabe & Yuya Hanai | Universal Everything | Weirdcore

LINEUP BY DAY AND BY NIGHT.

All types of ticket are now on sale for Sónar Barcelona 2023.
Delegate Passes, SonarPasses, VIP SonarPasses, 2-Night Tickets and individual day/night tickets for Sónar are all available for purchase. All tickets are on sale at sonar.es.

Institutions, partners and sponsors.
Sónar Barcelona 2023 is an initiative of Advanced Music, in collaboration with the Ajuntament de Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya. Estrella Damm is the main sponsor, with additional sponsorship from Thunder Bitch, MEDIAPRO, TOUS, SEIDOR, ME by Melià, LACOSTE, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, MELLER, Tanqueray 0.0% y OCB. DICE is our ticketing partner and Pioneer DJ is our technology partner.

What is Sónar?
Sónar is a pioneering European festival, setting the agenda for electronic music and digital culture since its first edition in 1994. Each year, Sónar converts Barcelona into a focal point for music lovers, artists and professionals from across the world, drawn to the festival’s innovative content, format, and celebratory atmosphere.

True to its name, Sónar reflects and amplifies the present and future musical landscape, hosting the most influential artists of the current moment across its multiple stages and venues. It acts as a proving ground for new and emerging trends at the intersection of performance, music, science, information technology and beyond.

After three decades and over 100 editions worldwide, Sónar continues to re-define what a festival can be, removing barriers and forging connections between audiences, genres and creative disciplines.

What is Sónar+D?
Sónar+D is the international meeting of art, science and digital culture hosted by Sónar during the festival, exploring how creativity changes the present and imagines new futures. Since 2013, this anti-disciplinary event has brought together leading artists, technologists, creatives, musicians, designers, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, makers and hackers in Barcelona for a carefully curated programme of talks, masterclasses and groundbreaking performances, with a focus on inspiration and networking.

For thousands of professionals and curious individuals from over 100 countries, Sónar+D offers a unique, open and relaxed environment to meet. Across three fruitful days, they come to discover groundbreaking new work and opportunities, learn new skills and showcase initiatives via talks, demos and workshops, performances, live concerts, exhibitions, immersive and interactive experiences and encounters with different communities.

H/T Sónar festival.